REVIEW: Stranded on the Beach by Noelle Adams

Stranded on the Beach by Noelle Adams: This is the first novella in a series of 4 about the Holiday sisters. They run a resort together called Holiday Acres that started as a Christmas tree farm by their father Jed and is now a thriving business that includes rental cottages, an event center and Christmas themed shop.

The Holidays had a falling out with the Matheson family and it caused a lot of pain for all of them, but especially for Rebecca Holiday who had been dating Phil Matheson. Phil and Rebecca had broken up, Phil left town and it’s been seven years since the initial fallout. In that time the Holiday sisters had discovered it was their now deceased father who was at fault and had tried to make amends with the Mathesons, but the only one who’d taken them up on their offer was Russ, Phil’s uncle who now works with them at Holiday Acres.

Rebecca is on a forced vacation, her sisters Olivia, Penny and Laura having dropped her off at a beachside town for 2 weeks of rest and relaxation. The death of her mother a few months prior to cancer and the constant stream of weddings at Holiday Acres has worn her out. She’s thinking that maybe a vacation is a good idea when she runs into Phil who lives there. He’s as shocked to see her as she is to see him, and the way they’d left things means there are hurt feelings on both sides. But closure to mend those wounds and move on with their lives sounds like a better deal than they’ve had to date. And when spending time together rekindles the good feelings they shared, will they discover that closure is the opposite of what they really want?

I really enjoyed this second chance romance! Noelle Adams writes likable characters who, like all of us, make rash decisions and then have to fix things. She also makes her characters empathetic so that you can see both sides of the story when it comes to a falling out.

For Phil, the scandal unfolding in his home town was too much for him and he’d left, hoping Rebecca would leave with him and hurt when she’d said no. Now they have the chance to hash out what really happened and Phil can see that he made a mistake in expecting Rebecca to choose him over her family. But he’s still wary about getting too emotionally involved and risking his heart.

Phil’s father might have been the wronged party in the family feud between the Mathesons and the Holidays but he’d also been an emotionally controlling alcoholic and Phil had learned to keep his feelings under wraps. His relationship with his brothers Scott and Kent has also suffered. Having Rebecca back in his life forces him to look at how things are now and whether he’s really happy away from his family who keep trying to entice him back into the fold.

Once they get over their initial awkwardness they remember what they liked about being together and with Rebecca on a two week holiday deadline they feel free to reconnect intimately in some sexy love scenes. It’s Rebecca who realizes that she’s fallen for Phil again but this time he’ll have to step up if he wants to keep her. It’s a lovely lighthearted romance with a happy ending, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of these two families as romance appears to be in the cards for more of their respective siblings!

Book Info:

Publication: Sep 16, 2018 | Self Published | Holiday Acres #1

A forced vacation on the beach. The man who broke her heart. A second chance at love.

Rebecca Holiday’s sisters force her to take a two-week vacation on the beach for some much needed rest, but then she runs into the man who broke her heart, the only man she’s ever loved. When they decide to spend time together, it’s supposed to be closure, but what they discover is a second chance at love.