REVIEW
Starting Over in Starshine Cove by Debbie Johnson is filled with all the wonderful elements we have come to know and love in the previous three books of the series. This fictional place on the Dorset Coast is magical in its ability to heal hearts. We would all like to escape to such a haven from time to time: a place of natural beauty and caring community with intriguing residents. The novel is filled with delightful moments of laughter, wit and winsome humour: refreshing as a rising sea-breeze. Here characters learn to live again, take a deep breath, wander on the beaches and work through their plight. In this special community, like in real life, there is also sadness, loss, fear and grief but passion always runs at its core. Positive and negative experiences litter the pathways but hope is like a neon sign in this emotional landscape. In fact, if you could set up a sign on the road to Starshine Cove, it would say: Enter Here for Second Chances.
Connie runs the local bakery. She was an important chef in the past. She lived a pretty dangerous and reckless existence. A party girl of the highest order. But then life took her on a detour and she ended up at Starshine Cove. We are taken back to her life before to see who she was then and all the issues she had. But on an escape she crashes her car and meets Simon, the man of her dreams, and he ends up becoming her husband and the father of her children. During this time she matures; taking on a whole new dialogue and direction. And for a heavenly season, she reaps all the joy and love imaginable. Until something drastic happens that turns her world upside down. A loss that seems impossible to recover from.
I coasted easily through the first three quarters of the story until the last quarter when it truly gripped my heart hard. Connie, now in her fifties, is faced with an old acquaintance and romantic feelings stir. A part she thought was dead. Just when she begins to set sail with her once locked up emotions, reality hits again. But I cannot say what happens without giving away a plot twist. I will admit, though, the shocking news is a hard pill to swallow—considering all she has been through. But I have to declare Debbie Johnson does an amazing job delivering the verdict and outcome.
If I could shout from the rooftops one major message that runs through the heart of this story, it would be the wise words of Connie’s friend Ella. No one can predict the future or know how much time we will have with those we love. So take every opportunity available now. Live for today. Tomorrow will come soon enough with its unpredictability, heartaches and loss. Get past any fears, hesitation, conflicts or differences. Take advantage of those precious moments that exist in front of you. In Connie’s life, she met the man of her dreams unexpectedly and she was blessed with many happy years, but he was suddenly taken away. Yet as sad as that was, life did not have to end for her—as her father-in-law, kept reminding her. When she allowed herself to live again, another surprise came along, much later in her life. She was presented with a second chance to reopen the door of her heart.
This novel is essentially a love story: full of hope, light and positive vibes and a message that resounds through the ages to live for today. Stop fretting about trivial things. Enjoy what time and love you have been given. There might be a whole new world on the horizon! I enjoyed Starting Over in Starshine Cove and particularly loved the lead up to the ending. Powerful truths swept over my heart like the waves on a shoreline. It reminded me there is starlight even in the dark spaces of life like the glittering caves in Starlight Cove! That we often find beauty and love in some unusual places and sometimes in the arms of those who may come our way. And like Connie, we can start a new chapter in life and move forward. 4 Solid Stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for a review copy.
