Book blurb...
Twenty years ago, Ellen O'Shea left her beloved Ireland to make a new life in Australia. Now a popular local in a small coastal town, but struggling to cope with the death of her much-loved Greek husband, Nick, Ellen finds her world turned upside down when an unexpected visitor lands on her doorstep. The arrival of Gerry Clancy, her first love from Ireland, may just be the catalyst that pulls Ellen out of her pit of grief, but it will also trigger a whole new set of complications for her and those she holds dear.
Home is where the heart is - but where exactly is home? Can Ellen and Gerry's rekindled romance withstand the passage of time, family, young adult children with their own lives, and the shock disclosure of a long-held secret that will put all their closest relationships at risk?
Set in Ireland, Greece and small-town coastal Australia, Leaving Ocean Road is a warm-hearted, poignant story about treasuring our memories while celebrating our new beginnings.

My thoughts…
It is great to see another debut Australian Author writing about love and family relationships and giving readers everything they need in a story to curl up with.
This book certainly shows how characters lives can 'turn on a dime’ and how resilience (and a little humour) helps overcome, no matter what is thrown at them. In this case, not only is Ellen dealing with the tragic loss of her husband, but also her daughter’s grief.
If you like heartwarming stories that included adventures in Greece and Ireland, then be prepared to snuggle up with this one.
Leaving Ocean Road is a sweet story and an easy read, bringing light and humour to the topic of loss and grief.

An enjoyable story about loss, secrets and carrying on with life when it doesn't go as we planned. A story of old love, new love and renewed love. I found all the characters easy to relate to, Port Lincoln is a place I could easily find myself settling down in, a small town where friends are always around. The conclusion was satisfying but there were moments I wondered how it would all turn out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the copy of this book

Huge congratulations must go to MS Campion for a fabulous debut book it was amazing it pulled me in from page one and that was it I didn’t want to put it down, I got lost in this beautiful story of heartache, of life and of living again. Ellen Constantinopoulos is a strong Irish woman who has moved to Australia and loved and lived and lost and learnt to love again, sit back and enjoy.

I loved the strength that Ellen shows through this story the ups and downs that follow the loss of her beloved Greek husband Nick and how her and her daughter Louise cope in their own ways and the friends that help them. But it is not till Ellen’s first love Gerry Clancy arrives at The Block on Ocean Road that Ellen starts to come alive again 9 months after Nick’s death and there is a secret to reveal that will change lives and cause some big upheavals.

This story is a fabulous journey through some tough times for Ellen, Gerry and Louise this one takes us from beautiful Port Lincoln South Australia to Santorini Greece and Cork in Ireland where Ellen and Gerry hail from. Gerry is now divorced but when he first sets eyes on Ellen again after so many years it doesn’t take him long to realize that he has never stopped loving her and Ellen knows that she has never forgotten Gerry.

Make sure you have some tissues at the ready when you read this one I am still tearing up writing this review after finishing the book late last night, I cannot highly recommend this one enough it is fast paced there are so many fabulous characters that add so much to the story, but in the end love surely will prevail and Ellen and Gerry will realize that home is where their hearts are if they are together and I was defiantly left smiling. Thank you MS Campion for a beautiful story that will stay with me for a long time and is one for the keeper shelf and I look forward to more of your stories.