Sorry to all my lovely followers – it has been a slow blogging start to 2018!  However, I am back and my fourth review of the year is of Linda Seed’s Moonstone Beach.

She’s a divorcee who’s still struggling to recover. He’s notorious for his reckless ways with women. What could possibly go wrong?

Kate Bennet owns a small bookstore in the breathtaking Central Coast town of Cambria, California. Two years out from a divorce that left her emotionally fragile, she’s starting to think that maybe she’s ready for love again—or at least for a fling with a hot man. Jackson Graham is a local chef who’s controlling when it comes to food, careless when it comes to love, and temperamental when it comes to just about everything.

When Kate’s friends set things up between Kate and Jackson, she expects some casual pleasure followed by a hasty goodbye, but Jackson’s long-term crush on Kate means that he’s in this one to win. The problem is, neither he nor Kate knows whether he can change the self-defeating habits that usually send women scurrying for the door. (Thanks Amazon!)

So here we have a small town American novel WITH a bookstore thrown in – an ideal book for Chapter and Cake!  Moonstone Beach is the first in the Main Street Merchants series by Linda Seed, and the blurb really sold me the story.

Kate has been put off dating following her divorce from a man who sought to destroy her self esteem.  In order to rebuild her life she moves to Cambria in California, living in the home left to her by her mother and running her mothers bookstore.

Jackson is a talented but temperamental chef who works in a nearby restaurant.  He has had a crush on Kate ever since she moved to the small town but when it comes to women he doesn’t usually manage anything other than short term.

This is a typical small town American romance novel: just the kind that I love.  There are no surprises in the story, it is more about the journey and the obstacles two people have to overcome before they can be together.  I enjoyed learning more about both Kate and Jackson, they were relatable characters who have both had to deal with relatable issues.

All in all this was a successful read – the next time I need a small town American romance fix I will make sure that the Main Street Merchants series is at the top of my list of novels to consider!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📗