The Little Guesthouse of New Beginnings
Donna Ashcroft
Rating: 5 stars
The Sunshine Hideaway, with its big windows, fresh-baked scones, and stunning view of Sunflower Island's golden beaches, is the only place Madison Skylar has ever truly thought of as home. But returning to the guesthouse might not be as easy as she first thought...
Twenty-three-year-old Madison has been running away from the pain in her past, travelling all over the world trying to find happiness, yet her heart leads her back to her childhood home. When she arrives at The Sunshine Hideaway, she discovers the beautiful old building on the tiny island falling into disrepair. So Madison throws herself into transforming it into a stunning wellness retreat. Will this be enough to save the guesthouse, before it's too late?
Handsome and mysterious Connor has lived on Sunflower Island his whole life. He works hard as a builder, with his faithful dog Jaws by his side, but something is missing and he dreams of bigger things. As Connor helps to revamp the guesthouse, he wonders if this could be his opportunity to tell the woman he's secretly been in love with for years how he really feels...
As Madison embraces life on the close-knit island, sharing wine with old friends and ice-cream with quirky new neighbours, she also finds herself being drawn to shy Connor. Despite their clashes on how to paint the rooms and get ready for the grand re-opening, a heat is building between them.
But can opposites attract and find true love this summer? Or will their different personalities bring them heartache... and risk the future of the little guesthouse?
An utterly perfect, feel-good romance about the power of friendship, the meaning of home and the joy of falling in love in the sunshine. Perfect for fans of Carole Matthews, Milly Johnson and Debbie Macomber.
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I've always enjoyed Donna Ashcroft's novels, so was excited when I saw this beautiful cover pop up. I love the pale, pastel colours used throughout the cover, the red gingham table cloth, the cute little cupcake and of course the glittering, bright blue sea in the background! It looks so summery and happy and just automatically draws you in to wonder what the story could be about. I also really love the title of this novel, it's quaint and cute and I love reading about Guesthouses!!!
This novel in particular followed main character Madison as she journeyed home after travelling for 5 years to finally settle down on Sunflower Island, a place she has always thought of as home. However, when she arrives, the family guesthouse isn't as she thought it was. Everything has changed and she's worried that she won't have a place at The Sunshine Hideaway any longer. The story then follows Madison on her attempt to make The Sunshine Hideaway great again and also shows builder Connor, who is struggling to hide his feelings from Madison.
I'll be honest and say I couldn't relate to the characters straight away. At first I really liked Madison but then she started to grate on me a little with her ways, she came across as really hippy and kind of looked down on people who did eat meat and didn't drink camomile tea, or practice yoga etc. Connor as also another one who I couldn't relate to straight away, he seemed so moody and quite angry all of the time and I just couldn't see how someone couldn't actually ever smile! I know this type of thing is meant to be like opposites attract but they really did seem like the complete opposite to one another! Luckily, the more I read on the more I started to understand why each character was acting like how they was and it made me relax into the story a little bit more and as it went on I started to enjoy it more and enjoy reading about their relationship.
The book really did surpass my expectations and I found myself really enjoying it much more as the story went on. As I mentioned the setting sounded ideal and I loved the community feel between the characters. It had a wonderful ending and I'm so glad that Connor and Madison finally found their way to one another. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this book via Netgalley, which I have reviewed honestly.
This novel in particular followed main character Madison as she journeyed home after travelling for 5 years to finally settle down on Sunflower Island, a place she has always thought of as home. However, when she arrives, the family guesthouse isn't as she thought it was. Everything has changed and she's worried that she won't have a place at The Sunshine Hideaway any longer. The story then follows Madison on her attempt to make The Sunshine Hideaway great again and also shows builder Connor, who is struggling to hide his feelings from Madison.
I'll be honest and say I couldn't relate to the characters straight away. At first I really liked Madison but then she started to grate on me a little with her ways, she came across as really hippy and kind of looked down on people who did eat meat and didn't drink camomile tea, or practice yoga etc. Connor as also another one who I couldn't relate to straight away, he seemed so moody and quite angry all of the time and I just couldn't see how someone couldn't actually ever smile! I know this type of thing is meant to be like opposites attract but they really did seem like the complete opposite to one another! Luckily, the more I read on the more I started to understand why each character was acting like how they was and it made me relax into the story a little bit more and as it went on I started to enjoy it more and enjoy reading about their relationship.
The book really did surpass my expectations and I found myself really enjoying it much more as the story went on. As I mentioned the setting sounded ideal and I loved the community feel between the characters. It had a wonderful ending and I'm so glad that Connor and Madison finally found their way to one another. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this book via Netgalley, which I have reviewed honestly.
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