A Summer Surprise at the Little Blue Boathouse: The uplifting romantic summer read for 2024!: Book 11 (Love Heart Lane)

Another brilliant book full of love heartache mystery and joyous moments you just get lost in the story and wish you were in a place like heart cross

Trigger WarningsThis book contains:• Cheating spouse• Young pregnancy.CharactersBea is a surprisingly fresh breath of air, and a greatly appreciated addition to the Heartcross family. Not only did she take charge of her life in a way few other female leads in this series has done, she’s also a conscientious person who wants to be a part of a close knit community that has meaning.Nolan on the other hand is on a quest to relive his grandfathers glory days, travelling the world in his boat. While he has his own history that he’s not prepared to share, he has his own reasons that are understandable, but also create drama in his current potential relationships.StorylineBea starts a new chapter in her life after finding out that her boyfriend wasn’t exactly faithful by coming to Heartcross. Like many before her, her stay is meant to be temporary, and yet, the Heartcross community, and a certain semi-local artist has drawn her in in ways she wasn’t expecting.Overall ThoughtsWhile I really enjoyed the story and the latest edition to Heartcross, I found myself getting more frustrated with Bea and Nolan than I normally do with the characters.They both had the foundations for great characters, and I don’t know how much of this frustration rolled over from other things in my life. But I honestly just found myself wishing these characters would grow up, communicate and move on.But if they did that then where would the drama for a good romance story be?So, while it did annoy me. I also acknowledge that they had good reason to feel the way they did, and in the end. Adult communication did win!I will also caveat that I’m writing this review like 6 months after reading it because I’ve been so incredibly busy and all over the place this year. Sorry!

‘Heartcross is the place that just keeps giving,’Bea needed a break from her life, from being the doormat girlfriend, from not being listened to, from not being Bea. So she heads to Heartcross – why not??! It’s summer and Heartcross is a beautiful place to forget your troubles!Her stay to Heartcross isn’t just a journey of miles but Bea also takes stock of her life and makes changes; her personal journey is life changing. She finds joy in life and rediscovers her smile!I don’t think I’ve made it through a trip to Heartcross without a few tears being shed and this was not different. I was blubbering like a baby. Barlow brings out both extremes on my crying, but this time they were happy tears.A Summer Surprise At The Little Blue Boathouse is another brilliant addition to the Love Heart Lane series. Barlow has shown how a change of scenery can change a person, allow them to start afresh. Her writing captured my imagination, I had my own little boathouse by the river in my head welcoming all the tourists for some fun on the water. It’s the perfect escape for a Sunday afternoon, leaving me all warm and fuzzy.

Love this series and love this book

I have loved every one of the Loveheart Lane books and this one didn’t disappoint. The characters and pace of the story are great and I’m always sad when a book comes to an end. I only have one criticism….. has the author ever been to Scotland? We do NOT get the tropical weather which always features in her books! Also we do not have white cliffs at the side of rivers and the towns in the highlands are very small and wouldn’t merit river taxis. In this book there’s a mention of crickets - midges are the insect of choice in Scotland! I would love to go to Heartcross but the descriptions don’t match a highland town. Also there are quite a few singular/plural grammar errors in this book.