#BlogTour Aunt Ivy's Cottage by Kristin Harper

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Aunt Ivy's Cottage by Kristin Harper.

About the Author

Ever since she was a young girl, there were few things Kristin Harper liked more than creative writing and spending time on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her family. Eventually (after a succession of jobs that bored her to tears), she found a way to combine those two passions by becoming a women’s fiction author whose stories occur in oceanside settings. While Kristin doesn’t live on the Cape year-round, she escapes to the beach whenever she can.

Follow @KHarperAuthor on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads,Visit kristinharperauthor.com, Buy Aunt Ivy's Cottage

About the book

Clearing out the attic, Zoey opens the carved trunk and smiles as she picks up the small, leather-bound diary hiding inside. Curious, she leafs through the pages, and realises this will change everything…

All Zoey’s happiest childhood memories are of her great-aunt Ivy’s rickety cottage on Dune Island, snuggling up with hot chocolate and hearing Ivy’s stories about being married to a sea captain. Now, heartbroken from a breakup, Zoey escapes back to the island, but is shocked to find her elderly aunt’s spark fading. Worse, her cousin—next in line to inherit the house—is pushing Ivy to move into a nursing home.

With the family clashing over what’s best for Ivy, Zoey is surprised when Nick, a local carpenter and Ivy’s neighbor, takes her side. As Zoey finds comfort in his sea-blue eyes and warm laugh, the two grow close. Together, they make a discovery in the attic that links the family to the mysterious and reclusive local lighthouse keeper…

Now Zoey has a heartbreaking choice to make. Nick’s urging her to share the discovery, which could keep Ivy in the house she’s loved her whole life… but when Zoey learns that Nick and her cousin go way back, she questions if the man she‘s starting to have feelings for really has Ivy’s best interests at heart. Will dredging up this old secret destroy the peace and happiness of Ivy’s final years—and tear this family apart for good?

Review

On the surface this is a story about a family squabbling over a possible inheritance. Is it a tale of greed or one of family and identity? Zoey is determined to protect her Aunt Ivy from those who seek to use her age and vulnerability, even if it is the people closest to her. 

Zoey seems hypersensitive to Nick at times. Her reactions a tad overzealous and based on snap judgements, even if they are driven by the disappointments of past decisions and relationships. It's hard for her to see the man without the implications of her experiences.

Set in the landscape of Dune Island and a particularly enchanting house, this is a fictional read that delves into the reality of families having to accept that life eventually comes to an end, and loved ones become fragile and vulnerable. Vulnerable and open to manipulation and deception.

Harper gives readers a tale of nostalgia, secrets and misconceptions. Proof that how we only know what people want us to know is what ultimately determines how we experience them. The fact they have a lifetime of decisions and experiences all tucked away in memories, and behind lock and key, is something we just simply forget. That is captured accurately in this story.

Buy Aunt Ivy's Cottage at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bookouture; pub date 7 Dec. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive. At Waterstones. Kobo. Google. Apple.