THE HOUSE ON SUNSHINE CORNER by Phoebe Mills

Publisher:  Forever
Date Published: August 24, 2021
ISBN#   ‎ 978-1538753958
Contemporary Romance
Reviewed by Gina (myreviewbooks@aol.com)
Obtained via publisher
3 Hearts

Abby Engel is kind of living her dream. Along with her grandmother, Hilde, she is running the Sunshine Corner daycare.  Her lifelong friends fill out her life giving her everything she should want except a husband and house full of her own children. 

Carter Hayes left Heart’s Hope Bay as soon as he could along with his dreams of opening his own architectural firm. Over the years he’s worked hard and is on the brink of having his dream come true. But before that happens he gets a call from his sister, Becca, that she’s been in an accident and needs his help. He arrives back in his hometown and is ready to help which assistance includes dropping his three year old niece off at daycare. The same daycare his high school sweetheart and the woman he never quite got over, Abby Engel owns.

Being apart and not seeing each other for years doesn’t mean old feelings have moved into simply pleasant memories. Instead coming in contact again reignites those feelings. But Abby and Carter have different lives in different places, lives neither one is ready to give up.  Or are they?

With world events being what they are lately I needed an escape to a happier, more peaceful place and Heart’s Hope Bay delivered.  Sure, there is drama and some moments that come close to heartbreaking, but it’s a love story in a small town with people who genuinely care for each other. 

Mills hits the Title VII check boxes with the introduction of a gay couple early on in the book and a child who appears to be either minority or mixed race.  I appreciate authors want to be inclusive, but blatantly including those PC check boxes that have nothing to do with the story or to move it along, don’t appeal to me. I’m also not a fan of precocious children and after the first several times of Carter’s niece claiming everything to be her favorite it got old.  It just wasn’t funny to me.

Carter and Abby’s romance hit the spot though. I liked how they reflected on their earlier romance and how their values changed or stayed the same over time.  Abby’s dating other men and considering how they never managed to measure up to Carter is something I think we can all relate to. She and Carter, through their careers, remind us while we can’t go back because we grow and change, we can continue to have our dreams and find ways to make them our reality. We can find a way to have all that truly makes  us happy. 

Grandma Hilde is a hoot. We all need someone like her in our lives. As the series continues I’d like to see her find some romance herself. Given her personality I can see some solid laughs as she moves through her golden years, especially with her part in the day care center. Mills is off to a good start and even if you don’t need an escape from the day to day world, Heart’s Hope Bay is a great place to spend your day.

 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.