Scan barcode
A review by dennasus
The Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan
5.0
I've got so much love for this one. I enjoy(ed) most of Jenny's books so far, some more than others, but this one is set on a Scottish island which made it all the more interesting to me. Because I love Scotland, the Highlands & Islands especially and Jenny captures the landscape and nature and solitude and people and atmosphere of this beautiful place on earth so perfectly. To me at least, who loves visiting the Highlands in general and has spent a few wonderful days on Lewis & Harris in 2015.
Flora has left Mure - the tiny Scottish island she grew up on - to work as a paralegal in London and she hasn't been back since her mother's funeral. She also has a crush on her boss Joel, who unfortunately for her is a heartless bastard lawyer shark. Or so it seems :-) When an American billionaire, who had bought property on Mure hires her law firm to prevent a wind farm close to the island, and this case demands her return to Mure she is thrown back into the fray of her family and of island life, with islanders who aren't welcoming her back with open arms.
I don't want to give too much away, but I loved how the story and various subplots about Flora's brothers and about the billionaire and about a hunky outdoor-experience operators evolved. For over half the story I still hadn't made up my mind which guy I wanted Flora to end up with and I like when a romance isn't too predictable. The story about how Flora's brother Fintan falls in love, blindsided me, but I enjoyed it very much.
Most surprising, but in a totally good way, probably was, how much I could relate to Flora as the only girl among three bothers, who have lost one parent. I've been there and it's a special kind of dynamic, I think. All in all I think Jenny captured typical male and typical brothers towards single sister behaviour perfectly.
And the way Jenny writes about the island itself, the air, the sea, the beach, the landscape and about the weather and the general atmosphere of this place brought up so many lovely memories of my days on the Hebrides or in similar small and secluded places at the Scottish coast. There is a reason, why I return there for a vacation again and again...
Flora has left Mure - the tiny Scottish island she grew up on - to work as a paralegal in London and she hasn't been back since her mother's funeral. She also has a crush on her boss Joel, who unfortunately for her is a heartless bastard lawyer shark. Or so it seems :-) When an American billionaire, who had bought property on Mure hires her law firm to prevent a wind farm close to the island, and this case demands her return to Mure she is thrown back into the fray of her family and of island life, with islanders who aren't welcoming her back with open arms.
I don't want to give too much away, but I loved how the story and various subplots about Flora's brothers and about the billionaire and about a hunky outdoor-experience operators evolved. For over half the story I still hadn't made up my mind which guy I wanted Flora to end up with and I like when a romance isn't too predictable. The story about how Flora's brother Fintan falls in love, blindsided me, but I enjoyed it very much.
Most surprising, but in a totally good way, probably was, how much I could relate to Flora as the only girl among three bothers, who have lost one parent. I've been there and it's a special kind of dynamic, I think. All in all I think Jenny captured typical male and typical brothers towards single sister behaviour perfectly.
And the way Jenny writes about the island itself, the air, the sea, the beach, the landscape and about the weather and the general atmosphere of this place brought up so many lovely memories of my days on the Hebrides or in similar small and secluded places at the Scottish coast. There is a reason, why I return there for a vacation again and again...