A Snowy Seaside Christmas by Eliza J Scott #Review #MiddlewickBayBook6
As snow falls over Micklewick Bay, Lark Harker is preparing
for the busy festive season at her vintage clothing boutique, creating
enchanting window displays of sequinned dresses and crafting handmade Christmas
decorations from shimmering silk ribbon.
But her festive preparations are put on hold when Nate Wilkinson arrives at her cottage door. The owner of a local upcycling business, Nate asks for her help clearing out the long-abandoned Crayke’s Cottage – a place locals whisper is cursed and haunted by its smuggling past.
Deep within the cottage's shadowy rooms, Lark discovers two mysterious leather suitcases. The first reveals a treasure trove of 1940s clothes that sparkle with wartime romance and mystery. But the second holds a darker collection: smuggling artefacts, cryptic coded messages and a rusty iron key that gets Lark’s mind whirring.
As Lark consults the town’s museum curator to unlock the suitcases' secrets, she finds herself torn between growing feelings for her dear friend Nate and the inexplicable intuition that warns her away from love. When the rusty key leads to a shocking discovery in the cottage, Lark must trust her instincts and overcome her fears to finally find the greatest treasure of all...
My Thoughts
As this is the sixth in the series, you get to catch up with several of the characters and locations that you have met before. The central characters in this story are Lark and Nate and the story felt a little different in tone. I think it is because there is a hint of magic realism in the story as they set about clearing out the gloomy Crayke's Cottage. Lark has certain psychic abilities which she has tried to dampen down.Nevertheless, she is very sensitive to her surroundings and gets feelings about people she meets. This causes her to worry about Nate, who she has held as a close friend for years and she shies away from the attraction she feels for him, despite the disparity in their age.
The area is full of tales of past smugglers and these feel central to the history of Crayke Cottage. Lark's father is beginning to come to terms with the death of his partner and arrives in Middlewick hoping for a fresh start. A history teacher, he is drawn to the history of the area and forms a friendship with like minded people. Lark has some deep seated misgivings to sort through but throughout, you feel that Nate is a true friend who genuinely likes her. As the snow falls, Lark begins to get clarity about her feelings. This wintry romance has a lot to offer for the season and provides a great return to Middlewick Bay and the friendships the characters have.
In short: heartwarming reading
About the Author
Eliza lives in North Yorkshire with her family and has wanted to be a writer as far back as she can remember. She is inspired by her beautiful surroundings and loves to write heartwarming stories based on romance and friendship with a generous dollop of community spirit and a hint of humour.
When she’s not writing, Eliza can usually be found with her nose in a book or working in her garden doing a spot of plot wrangling (of the writing variety), and battling against the weeds. The weeds, unfortunately, are currently winning but Eliza is undeterred. Roses are amongst her favourite flowers and she doesn’t need much of an excuse to visit a plant centre, where a new rose always seems to mysteriously find its way onto her trolley much to her husband’s astonishment.
Eliza also enjoys having a catch-up with friends over tea and cake, as well as bracing walks in the countryside, rounded off by a visit to a teashop – for yet more tea and cake!
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