Review: Starting Over in Starshine Cove

Starting Over in Starshine Cove by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Twenty years ago Connie Llewelyn was a celebrity chef, an enfant terrible, she partied hard, went from restaurant to club to business meeting, she was rude to her staff, and pretty hard on herself. Then, when arguably at her lowest ebb (although potentially about to sign the biggest contract of her career), on a too fast, self-destructive, drive to nowhere, she crashed her car just outside Starshine Cove in Dorset and met Simon the love of her life. Tragically, five years ago, Simon was killed in a car accident taking his pregnant sister to the hospital, leaving Connie to bring up their three children alone.

Connie's life is much lower key these days, she runs the local cafe and holds gourmet dinner nights a few times a year. She is the beating heart of the magical community that is Starshine Cove, the first to volunteer, organiser of local events etc etc.

When Connie goes to collect her daughter Sophie from catering college to bring her and her new BFF back to Starshine Cove for a few weeks of practical experience, Connie is surprised to discover that Sophie's friend Marcy's father is none other than Zack Harris, the TV producer who was offering her a life-changing contract before she met Simon and moved to Starshine Cove (BTW I am finding it incredibly difficult to type Starshine Cove despite having read and reviewed all four books, not only do I get Starshine all kinds of muddled up but my fingers insist on typing Cover instead of Cove). Zack is similarly a widower, his wife having died of cancer ten years ago, raising two daughters alone. When his plans to visit his other daughter Amy fall through, Zack decides to spend a week or two in Starshine Cove, maybe help out with the upcoming Spring Feast Night.

There was always a spark between Connie and Zack and, although she's put on a few mum pounds since her sylph-like twenties while Zack is even more devastating gorgeous with a few streaks of grey in his luxuriant hair (think Pierce Brosnan or George Clooney), Connie feels a similar spark when they meet with their daughters over dinner and every time they meet in Starshine Cove.

This was a pleasant second chance romance, there is some angst, but I think it is justifiable given the different ways in which society views fifty year old women versus fifty year old men, Connie sees the women Zack dated before he got reacquainted with her and they are all twenty years younger and stunningly attractive, how can she compete?

I thought the start was a bit confusing it seemed to go from present day to twenty years ago when the events were actually sequential - maybe its just me.

Apologies if any of this is incoherent, I'm writing this review at 2:30am full of cold and unable to sleep a week before Christmas.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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