Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace

Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆/5

Thank you to Aria for gifting me a review copy of Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace by Kate Forster.

This was such a lovely, cozy read! Tressa Buckland is building her own quiet life in Port Lowdy, in a bid for independence from her family and a peaceful existence. She paints and sketches, and works part-time at the local paper, the Port Lowdy Observer. Port Lowdy is her comfort spot, where she feels safe and doesn’t have to push herself too much.

When her boss’ wife falls ill, he puts Tressa in charge of hiring a journalist to help her run the paper in his absence. Enter the angriest man in Ireland, Dan Byrne. He’s a journalist, and not really such a grump, that’s just his public persona, but he’s in a spot of trouble and needs a change of pace and scenery for a while.

I really liked both Tressa and Dan’s characters but I have to say that I didn’t totally buy their relationship or feel much chemistry between them. Plus she was only 26 (and a very inexperienced and naive 26) and he was 36, which felt a bit off to me.

The details of the town were amazing though, I really felt like I was there and could smell the ocean breeze. And Tressa’s art studio—well, I’d give my left arm to have a place like that to create in. There are also some really compelling side-stories in the book too. I particularly loved learning more about Remi, an ex-con from Paris looking for a fresh start, as well as Penny the postmistress.

This story has themes of grief, loss, family, love, and friendship. Oh, and did I mention there is a delightfully rude, crotch-sniffing dog named after Lionel Ritchie, and a cat named Ginger Pickles? Overall this was a really sweet story and exactly what I was in the mood for. It was closed-door but still got one eggplant for some kissing and such.

Synopsis:

Love comes when you least expect it...

Tressa Buckland likes her quiet life in Port Lowdy, with its cobbled streets and colorful terraced houses overlooking the sea. Her job at the local paper allows her to pursue her art in her free time, with no one but her tabby cat Ginger Pickles to mind her in Mermaid Terrace. But then the owner of the paper is called away on an emergency, and it's up to Tressa to run the paper for six months. Her first task: find a new part-time journalist.

Dan Byrne is the angriest man in Ireland – or so the readers of his very successful column, 'Dan takes on the world', think. But after a story goes south and he loses his job in Dublin, Dan has no choice but to start afresh. When an opportunity comes up in sleepy Cornwall, Dan and his Golden Retriever Ritchie set off for a new adventure.

For Tressa, Dan's arrival to Port Lowdy changes everything. Tressa tries not to look too deeply at her own life, but Dan sees a story to uncover in absolutely everyone – even her. The two of them couldn't be more different... yet, if they can find a way to work together, they may just breathe new life and joy into this sleepy seaside village.

Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace is a heartwarming new village romance about the power of love and kindness, from the bestselling author of Starting Over at Acorn Cottage.