So I definitely read the books out of order which definitely reflected in my review of the second book. When I realized what I'd done, I had higher hopes for this book, but I just don't think these books are my cup of tea. It's a sweet romance, but the pacing is just slow and the over storyline always seems to fall flat.I don't think the writing is bad, I just don't think these books were for me.

Sweet and sassy Leah, aloof but kind Zach...I liked watching their attraction grow and develop.

I just couldn't get into this book no matter how hard I tried. This is the second book in the series I've tried & sadly I didn't finish either book. Story too slow & I felt no connection with the characters.

This author is not for me

As always I want to start by thanking NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing us with a copy of these books so that we could bring you this review.

Cloud Bay and the Harper siblings were such a joy to read. Each one had something that their father left them with. Not necessarily a good thing. Most of it is fears and scars, but they were each able to find someone that loved them and showed them that those things that Grey did didn't define who they were and didn't have to let them hold them back. Each person that the siblings fell in love with were strong in their own way because they were able to help them. Though it took the Harper siblings some time to realize that they had love staring them in the face, the eventually did and were able to recover something they almost lost. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to reading a lot more from Emma Douglas in the future.

I gave all these books as a series 5 kisses.

Happy Reading... Adri

I've wanted Zach's story from the very beginning, but knew we would have to wait a bit for him to be ready for more than the road. I absolutely adored Zach and Leah's story from the moment I started reading it.

First I love that Zach and Leah had been together on Leah's 18th birthday and kept it a secret from everyone. The fact that Leah and Faith, one of Zach's sister are best friends, makes it pretty amazing that no one ever knew about their one night together. I loved that Zach and Leah still had something between them years later. It started out with a bit of a slow build initially to their attraction, but there was something between them that grabbed me. I have to say I didn't love that Leah wanted to keep their relationship a secret, but knowing Zach was leaving eventually, I understood her reasoning.

I really felt like Zach and Leah both pretty much got each other when it came to music and the more time they spent together, they clicked as a couple. I loved they had pretty hot chemistry, but honestly my favorite thing was Zach making such a big deal about Leah's birthday. I seriously pretty much fell in love with him then. Not that Zach still didn't make huge mistakes when it came to Leah and his career choices, but he also fixed those mistakes in a big way.

No Place Like You was a great addition to the Cloud Bay series. I've loved seeing the Harper kids find their happily every afters. I know it was originally set to be just a trilogy, but with the huge bombshell that was revealed at the end of the book, I'm so hoping we will get to revisit Cloud Bay in the future.


Rating: 5 Stars (A)

Zach Harper returned home after being gone for six long years. The tour life demands kept him from returning home and rebuilding his relationships with his sisters. Returning home is never easy after a long absence and he is ready to take his life in a different direction. Along the way he reconnects with Leah. They work together and help each other find the pieces that were missing from their souls. It is truly better when you find the one person who completes you.

Loved the first and second Cloud Bay books. I'm pleased to say I've now read and reviewed them all. Thanks so much to St Martin's Press and Emma Douglas for my ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Zach, Faith and Mina Harper's estranged brother, is back on Lansing Island because the lead singer of Fringe Dweller (the band he's been touring with since book 1) quit suddenly.

Leah Santelli, Faith's best friend, and Zach know each other from awile ago, bavk when Leah tuened 18.
Can they rekindle their relationship?

Much of the book focuses on them and has some very sensual and stemy scenes. Faith and Mina put in some small appearances and there's also Leah's 21st birthday and Faith and Caleb's wedding. Leah has to deal with her feelings over the fear that Zach may up and leave the island again. Not much happens in this book compared to the previous two, but I felt I knew Zach and Leah better by the end of it. As always, Emma Douglas writes really well and I was absorbed in the book throughout while I got a sense of each of the characters ' internal and external conflicts. I must say, I was secretly begging Zach to stay, if for nothing else than for Leah. Understandably, Things are still tense between Faith, Mina and Zach as they have been since Zach's departure from the island.

Very sad the Cloud Bay series has ended. Every book is a great read and I felt very "at home" in the island community and with the characters. I'll definitely be looking out for Emma Douglas's next books! Romance on a cosy island at it's best!

great read and easy to follow story line. look forward to reading more from this author.

When Zach Harper, famous musician, comes back to his hometown for the town’s famous music festival Leah Santelli, a music producer who is sister’s best friend, asks him if she can produce his music. Zach and Leah have always had sparks and they’d been together a long time ago, but will they be able to work together and not complicate their relationship? The highs and lows in this book keep you reading to the very last page and beyond.

Finished this book in a few hours. Easy to read and a nice, sweet romance. Will be reading more from this author.

I've been enjoying this series very much. Leah and Zach were a great match with a long history and many obstacles, professional and personal to overcome in order to be together. I look forward to more from Emma Douglas.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Bit of a slow start for me and could not really get into the book

This is the third book in the Cloud Bay series. Leah grew up with the Harper family and that didn't change the fact that she had a crush on Zach. Enough so to hit on him on her 18th birthday. It wasn't soon after that he left to pursue his music career.

After his band takes off, the lead singer decides to take a break leaving the rest of the band floundering. Zach decides to make a go of a solo career and heads back to his home town, to Leah.

Leah wants to produce his record in order to make a name for herself, even if it means works so closely with Zach. She just needs to keep her heart safe.

Great chemistry, great characters, love the family dynamics.

I enjoyed this friends to lovers, second chance romance. Leah has always loved Zach, so much so that on her 18th birthday she asked him to have sex with her. He did and it was amazing but then he left to go make an album and basically never returned, until now. He needs her, she still wants him and the sexual tension is thick. Throughout the read there are the usual anticipated hijinks and a few other surprises that weren’t expected. We of course get a HEA in the end, though it is pretty hard one. This one ends in a cliffhanger that could really just be called a teaser, but forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

I received an ARC of this book, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC copy of this novel that I freely chose to review.
Although I am not a big reader of romance, this novel is an example of what I think is a subgenre of it, the romance that takes place in the world of music and musicians. The setting of the novel is a small imaginary American island called Cloud Bay, off the coast of California, best known for a music festival and for being home to the musicians of a well-known band and their families. Grey Harper, the singer and leader of the band, passed away a few years back, and his family members and associates have been keeping the music festival and the studio going, quite successfully, but although the business is going well, their personal lives have seen a fair amount of turmoil.
The story centres on the second generation of the family, on Zach, Grey’s son, and Leah, a good friend of his sister Faith, and daughter of the sound engineer of the band. She also does sound engineering and producing now, and has had a crush on Zach since they were teenagers, and they have a bit of a history together. Their professional and personal lives get entangled in a way that seems impossible to avoid in Cloud Bay, and no matter how determined they are not to allow things to get complicated, they do.
The author manages to create a good sense of place and of the strange and slightly incestuous relationships that happen in such a setting, where everybody knows everybody and nobody can step outside of the house without somebody knowing about it. Nothing is private and the actions of one person have far-reaching consequences. I particularly enjoyed the exchanges between the female friends (Faith and Leah in particular) and the wedding preparations (Leah is due to get married after the festival, at the end of the summer), as their friendship is portrayed in an easy and natural way and the way they support and care for each other is heart-warming and feels real. Those and other elements of the novel reminded me of a chick-flick (there are plenty of cakes, pastry, and ice-creams as well) but the fact that half of the story is told from the point of view of Zach gives it a different emphasis.
As for the romance, although both of the characters are gorgeous, as is to be expected, this is not a love-at-first-sight story, as Leah and Zach know each other and have a bit of a history (however brief) together. I found it interesting that their behaviour at times goes counter to the traditionally expected male and female roles, as Leah is the one to initiate their relationship (both in the past and now), and she is the one to suggest a no-strings-attached sexual relationship, while he initially resists (although his resistance doesn’t last long). I don’t think you need to be an eager reader of romance novels to suspect how things are going to go from the beginning, and although there are some twists and turns, there are no major surprises. There is sex, but it is not very explicit (described in a lyrical and poetic manner), and although I do not like erotica or sex scenes, as I feel they slow the action, I don’t think many readers would feel offended by it (but I would not class it as “sweet” or “clean” either). The ending… I think romance readers will enjoy it, and there is a hook to keep people coming to read the next novel, although it is a side-story not directly related to the romance.
The story is told in the third-person from the alternating points of view of Leah and Zach. This is not always separated into chapters, but the transitions are clear and not confusing. As mentioned above, the division between the characters is not down to standard gender roles, and they both seem to behave more in keeping with their characters and their history (that we get snippets of thanks to their conversations and memories throughout the book) than with traditional male or female roles. There is a moment of crisis towards the end of the book, and I felt that the novel’s pace grew faster at that point, while until then it had moved steadily. I realised later that this is the third book in the series (for some reason I thought it was the first) so I am not sure how well it fits in with the whole series, although I had no difficulty following the novel (but I imagine the background story would increase the expectations and enjoyment). I must admit that I did not think there was much depth to the characters and they seemed to act younger than they were (Leah had been married, and Mina, Zach and Leah’s sister, is a widow), but perhaps they have developed slowly and it is unfair to judge them by the events in a single book. Leah is a fairly rounded and sympathetic character, and I felt she behaved in a consistent manner, although I was not as convinced about Zach, who has much to atone for.
The music business background will be of interest to those who enjoy that genre, and the descriptions of the way the characters feel about music are inspiring, but it is not as detailed or technical as to interfere with the enjoyment of readers of other types of romance.
In sum, a romance set in the background of the rock music business and in a lovely setting, which will be enjoyed by lovers of the genre and followers of the series, but with few surprises for the rest of readers.

Romantic and fun! I'm not usually into rock star romances but I feel like this wasn't the typical one. There was good chemistry and sexual tension between Leah and Zach. However, there wasn't the extra oomph to make this a five star read. The ending was predictable and love scenes were nothing special. Still a solid romance and an easy read!

ARC provided by NetGalley.

The Harper legacy had surrounded Leah Santelli for her entire life; first, growing up with the Harper kids during Blacklight’s heyday, and now as a sound engineer for the recording studio on Cloud Bay. Her father Sal had been the producer for many of Blacklight’s albums, and Leah hoped to follow in his footsteps. Leah’s best friend Faith Harper, who ran the day-to-day operations, was busily planning the upcoming CloudFest, a yearly music event held on the island.

Zach Harper left the island early on, to play with a band called Fringe Dweller. When Fringe Dweller dissolved, Zach headed home, to regroup and plan his next move – recording a solo album. Leah asked for the chance to produce his album, but Zach turned her down flat. He just couldn’t work with Leah without remembering their one night together, ten years earlier. He was also in trouble with Faith, ever since he left her hanging at last year’s CloudFest.

Don’t we all want a second chance with someone we loved and lost? I was cheering for Leah and Zach, even though I knew an HEA was in the works. It was great revisiting Cloud Bay and the Harpers, and I enjoyed seeing Leah and Zach’s relationship grow and develop.

Emma Douglas’s Cloud Bay Series continues with the story of Zach and Leah Santelli.

The legacy that rock star Grey Harper left for his three children includes a tendency for leaving people behind its more convenient to move on, or when life gets too difficult. Grey’s son Zach has taken that lesson all too well to heart, and much as Leah loves him, it may be that Zach just brings on too much heartbreak.

Douglas sets us up for the next books in the series in her cliffhanger ending.

This is going to be a hard review to write. I almost gave up several times (and read four other books after I started this one), and gave myself until the 50 percent mark to get into the story. And it was right at that point in the book things finally picked up and held my attention.

A quick synopsis: Zach is the son of a famous rock star, who is on his way to becoming just as famous as his father. However, the band he’s been a part of for the past several years has just taken a hiatus, so he’s decided to work on a solo album. Leah is the daughter of the producer Zach’s father used to use. She’s now working on making a name for herself in the industry, and offers to produce Zach’s album. He agrees, but lingering chemistry from a past one night stand 10 years ago makes things awkward. They decide to give into their attraction, even though Leah is recently divorced and Zach isn’t staying around. When plans for performing songs from the new album are ruined, Zach makes a decision that not only hurts Leah emotionally, but has the potential to damage her professional credibility as well.

My first thoughts about this story were of confusion. Who are all these people? Is this a sequel? (A quick look on Goodreads confirmed it’s book three in a series.) Should I have read the first two? At 20 percent, I was still kinda confused by who some of the people were. And I don’t like being confused when I read...

The next thing I had a hard time with were the quick jumps in time. One sentence ends, and the next starts with “Two days later” without any discernible break - no extra spaces between the paragraphs, no cute little design doohickey to tell me “we are moving on in the story!” I was reading an ARC and know formatting was probably added for the final print, but usually jumping that far ahead starts a new chapter. So, more confusion.

Then there was some writing that was problematic for me. Too many repetitions of phrases such as “poke the bear” and too much internal dialogue made the story drag. Add in the fact that the hero and heroine’s past relationship is only alluded to in the beginning, and it made it hard for me to understand why Leah was still stuck on Zach after 10 years (because for me, “he’s so hawt” isn’t a good enough reason). I just couldn’t get into the story, nor did I care much about the characters.

But once Zach and Leah decided on their no-strings, sex-only relationship things picked up (and the bedroom scenes were basically closed-door, so that’s not why things got more interesting!). There was more dialogue. And it was good. The banter was funny and playful. The plot moved along “in real life” instead of all in their heads. They dealt with working together and their pasts and just life in general. There was conflict, and Zach behaved selfishly. And while I would have liked to see more groveling when Zach realized the error of his ways - because he really was an ass - he also had a pretty good apology.

“This is home,” he said. “I want somewhere to come back to.” His fingers tightened and he pulled her toward him. “I want us to have somewhere to come back to. So what do you say? Make a life with me, Leah. Make music and memories and mistakes with me. Figure it out with me. Don’t make me go away again.”

If nothing else, it's always good to see a character say "I screwed up, please forgive me, and let me make things up to you."


I would have liked to give this book a higher rating, but a decent last half just isn’t enough for me to say I liked this story as a whole. I may be willing to give Emma Douglas another try, but I’ve no interest in going back to read the first two books in the series, which is sorta telling. A good sequel shouldn’t leave you so confused for so many chapters at the beginning, and should pique your interest for the other characters - which just didn’t happen. Maybe I’ll find the next book more to my liking.