A new Maggie Christensen book means just one thing! I am absolutely going to be reading it!
This book is the seventh book in the Pelican Crossing series which is set in a small coastal town in Queensland. Lou Chambers is owner of the local bookstore in town and she is proud of everything she has achieved in her life. After being betrayed by her first love who ran off with her sister, Lou became a librarian and then later followed her dreams to open Books and Coffee. The store is now an integral part of the town and she often tries new events to try and draw in the towns people. She has watched many of her friends fall in love and have their own later in life romances, but Lou is convinced that it won't happen for her, especially seeing as she has never had another love since Darren left.
She never did speak to her sister again after that betrayal, despite Fleur trying to reach out to her several times over the years. It is particularly hard for Lou at Christmas. Lou tells her friends that she is fine on her own, after the business of the pre-Christmas sales in the bookstore, but the reality is that she is lonely and laments the fact that she will once again be alone.
Widower Blair Stevens has recently moved to Pelican Crossing with the encouragement of his daughter. He was a university lecturer in Tasmania but now he has moved to the town to be closer to his family, including his two grandchildren. He sees this as the time that he can finally start writing that book he has been talking about for years, although his daughter, Katrina, seems to see him as a built in baby sitting service.
After meeting at the bookstore, Lou and Blair become friends, and Lou surprises herself be telling Blair that she has decided that it is time to track down her sister and try to build some bridges with her. So far Lou hasn't had any luck finding her, but maybe Blair can help given his experience in researching. The more time they spend together, the more they like each other, but will Lou be willing to open her heart to Blair after all these years alone.
As usual, I enjoyed my visit to Pelican Crossing, seeing the community that the author has built in this coastal town. It was interesting that there have been some seeds planted to suggest that there may be some trouble ahead for the town given the rising cost of real estate and the difficulty in finding workers. I wonder if this will play out in future books.
It is always fun to read one of the Pelican Crossing Christmas books because it more reflects what my Christmas is like, although the weather is more likely to be better in Pelican Crossing than it is in Melbourne. Christmas for us is in summer which means long days, carol singing at on a summer evening at the local park and lots of seafood.
The next book in the Pelican Crossing series has already been announced, and I am here for it!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.
Rating 4/5
About the book
A Family for Christmas in Pelican Crossing
For Lou Chalmers, Books and Coffee in Pelican Crossing isn’t just a bookshop and café, it’s the realisation of a dream. But with her sixty-fifth birthday approaching, she’s beginning to feel the weight of time and harbours regrets over her estranged relationship with her sister. Facing yet another lonely Christmas, she wonders if it's time to try and reconnect.
When retired widower Blair Stevens leaves Tasmania to join his daughter in Pelican Crossing, he questions if he’s made the right decision. But as he delves into the town's history and starts writing the novel he's always wanted to, he becomes engrossed in his new life.
When an event at Lou’s bookshop brings the two together, they strike up an unlikely friendship. As Blair helps Lou search for her long-lost sister, their connection deepens in a way neither of them anticipated. But as fate pushes them towards each other, will their friendship blossom into something more?
A heartwarming story of two strangers who find unexpected companionship in this small town on the Queensland coast.
Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/AFamilyinPC
About the Author
After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations, and historical fiction set in her native Scotland. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her trips to visit family in Scotland, in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them. Maggie has been called the queen of mature age fiction and her writing has been described by one reviewer as like a nice warm cup of tea. It is warm, nourishing, comforting and embracing.
From the small town in Scotland where she grew up, Maggie was lured to Australia by the call to ‘Come and teach in the sun’. Once there, she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!
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