This started off really well but I didn't expect it to return to the start of the relationship, it felt wrong for a while but once into this it was a very god story. 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

Felicity and Jim met at Oxford. After getting married, a melding mother in law basically put an end to their marriage and they split. Jim comes from the a less off family, while felicity comes from the other side, which helps the mother in law cause the doubt. In the end the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. This was a slower paced novel that I am used to, but still good. A lot of issues could have worked itself out with communication, but that would make for a less than interesting story….

I received this ARC through #netgalley and I am voluntarily reviewing this book

🍂 BOOK TOUR 🍂 Starting Over At Sunset Cottage by Lisa Hobman.

*AD/Gifted Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to @rachelsrandomresources and @bookandtonic

I love a good second chance romance! But this was so much more than that. It’s such a wonderful story, with brilliant characters, full of unexpected twists and turns that really had the pages turning!

BOOK REVIEW | Starting Over at Sunset Cottage by Lisa Hobman

SYNOPSIS | Do you love someone enough to let them go? It was love at first sight when talented art student Felicity “Flick” Johnston-Hart and Jim MacDuff’s worlds collided at Oxford University. However, after years of blissful marriage, everything crashes down when their marriage comes to a painful and abrupt end, thanks to Flick’s interfering mother Penelope.

Finally succumbing to maternal pressure, Flick falls into the high-flying career her mother believed she was destined for. However, she soon realises life without Jim isn’t all she’d hoped, and that some decisions, once made, cannot be undone.

Meanwhile, Jim is settling back into life as a single man in the beautiful Highland village of Shieldaig, when an unexpected visitor brings painful news. A letter from beyond the grave leads him to do something he never imagined and takes him on a journey he didn’t anticipate.

Can either of them heal and truly move on? Or is it true that a broken heart can never be a blank canvas?

MY THOUGHTS | Starting Over at Sunset Cottage tells the tale of family, love, and loss. I loved the way Lisa Hobman wrote the unique timeline and through both Jim and Flick’s perspectives. I felt Jim’s heartbreak (thank goodness for Jasper and Charles!) and had a hard time understanding how Flick let her mother interfere with her soulmate. A heartbreakingly beautiful read.

RATING | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Flick, I've never stopped loving you either. I let you go because I thought that I didn't make you happy. That was all I ever wanted for you, to be happy."
- Jim, Starting Over at Sunset Cottage

Can two broken souls, find each other again? This book made me feel believe in love wherein to be his/her even you are separated, and how pure and sincerity of the heart is all that matters.

This book was published Through the Glass. You will understand what it looks like to see yourself living just like through the glass.

Flick and Jim met and being together at Oxford University. After a year of being married their life was starting to scattered that leads to a heartbreaking divorce. When Jim finally living a life in Scotland, he had an unexpected visitor that bring grief to him.

Firstly, let’s all take a moment to fully appreciate how charming this cover is, isn’t it lovely?

I thought the first half of the book was a little on the slow side for my liking, but then it picked up the pace. This is one of those books that makes you work as a reader to become fully invested in the story and the characters, but once you get over that hump I was pleasantly surprised how easily I fell into the second half of the book. I think what did it for me was the sudden drama later in the book, it brought it all together nicely.

I found it hard to fully fall in step with the story at first, I think my aversion to Flick put me off slightly. I can’t help it, but there is something about her that took me a long time to come round to liking.

I mentioned earlier my aversion for Felicity (Flick), she just came across as a very unpleasant, snobbish, spoiled little brat. Even by the end, I may have warmed to her, but to be perfectly honest she will never be a character who I would wish to meet again. She’s memorable but not in a good way, I can see why other readers may take to her, but not for me, I did roll my eyes far too many times whenever she – and her awful mother (do not get me started on that dragon) – were in a scene. Sorry about that!

Yet, Jim – ah, yes now he is a memorable character in entirely the right way. He is wonderful, I did feel as though he could have done far better than the snooty-tooty Flick, but hey each to their own. Jim is everyone’s best friend, he and his lovely Labrador have melted my heart and he is really the main reason I invested too much time into reading this book, it was his Scottish charm, hardworking, down-to-earth person that hooked me right away and I was really wanting him to have the happiness hs deserved. But when heartbreak strikes (for the first time) Jim and dogo move back to Scotland to start life anew.

Jim is what keeps this book together, he is a thoroughly decent man, he never looks down on others, he is more than happy with his life. But when Flick throws a spanner in the works of their happy marriage and his world comes crashing down. Once again it’s that dragon who’s to blame, everything is her fault!! But as is always the case Flick has made her bed and now she doesn’t want to lie in it, she misses Jim (who wouldn’t?) but has she burnt all bridges? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out.

I liked how the story is written, it’s set partly in the present and partly as flashbacks that take us back over the course of when they met, their instant romance at university, to marriage and then what happens after. I have to say I did prefer the flashbacks more than the present, I liked seeing how their story evolved and how they came to be where they are in the present, it puts meat on the bone of the story.

Despite my reservations and how much I disliked certain characters, I have to say how well they were written. The author has done a sterling job at creating a cast of characters that affect the reader in such an emotional way, they are richly described which makes them very realistic. I did enjoy that part of the book, the author’s character development is second to none.

Overall, Starting over at Sunset Cottage is a charming and tenderly written story, I really enjoyed it, I won’t lie and say I loved it because I didn’t, but it’s a sweet, life-affirming story with lots of emotion and drama.

I went into this book thinking it would be a lovely heartwarming rom-com, but obviously with a few ups and downs to keep the story interesting and not too mushy. Lisa completely surprised me with the turn of events in this story. I was super emotional and crying my eyes out! That’s all I am going to say, you will just need to read the book for yourself and get carried away by this extremely gifted writer!

It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally a male main character comes along that is just so wonderful that he is practically too good to be true and much too good for the female lead and love interest. That was definitely the case here. I absolutely loved Jim, but my feelings towards Felicity, Flick, were hot and cold and lukewarm. I am not sure that makes sense, but maybe when you read this book you will understand. Flick was stubborn and headstrong for the wrong reasons at times and also naïf when I didn’t expect her to be, but then at other times she was just a sweet girl and I couldn’t help loving her despite her flaws.

What to expect:

✅ a quirky bookshop with an interesting owner

✅ love for books and art and writers and artists

✅ Jasper a black Labrador

✅ a difficult relationship with a mother who always “knows best”

✅ various stunning settings including busy London, a quiet village in Scotland and Chicago.

✅ a mystery to solve

✅ romance with all it’s ups and downs, new love, past love…

✅ personal journey of growth for both main characters, discovering what is really important to them

I love Lisa’s books and can’t wait to read more of them!

The Blurb :
It was love at first sight when talented art student Felicity “Flick” Johnston-Hart and Jim MacDuff’s worlds collided at Oxford University.
However, after years of blissful marriage, everything crashes down when their marriage comes to a painful and abrupt end, thanks to Flick’s interfering mother Penelope.
Finally succumbing to maternal pressure, Flick falls into the high-flying career her mother believed she was destined for.
However, she soon realises life without Jim isn’t all she’d hoped, and that some decisions, once made, cannot be undone.
Meanwhile, Jim is settling back into life as a single man in the beautiful Highland village of Shieldaig, when an unexpected visitor brings painful news. A letter from beyond the grave leads him to do something he never imagined and takes him on a journey he didn’t anticipate.
Can either of them heal and truly move on?

My Thoughts :
We meet married couple Felicity Johnston-Hart and Jim MacDuff. Having met as students at Oxford University, Flick and Jim as we know them hit it off from the start. They have many years of happiness and both thought they would be forever that is until, Flick’s mum Penelope gets her own way and draws Flick away from Jim telling her she can do so much better for herself than living the boring life she leads with Jim. Penelope finally gets her wish and the couple go their separate ways, Jim moving back to Scotland with their dog Jasper and Flick flying high in her career path.
With a few twists and turns are they destined for different things or can they find their way back together!?..
What I really enjoyed with this story is how we jumped right into the marriage break up from the start of the first page. This set the stone for what was to come and I was eager to get started to see what lead the couple up to this point.
Lisa Hobman puts us right in the middle of the action and really brings the characters to life with the background of how they met and what had gone wrong. A story filled with drama, love, loss and family.
I am looking forward to the release of her next book.

Starting Over at Sunset Cottage by Lisa Hobman
Romantic drama with a dark mystery element. This author gave me not just one engaging romantic storyline, but plenty of subplot action to keep me engaged. I loved the characterisation; I was totally immersed in the love story with very strong male and female protagonists. Jim was so sweet and caring, yet grounded at the same time. Flick really came into her own as she got older. The details of character that the author added down to the accents really made me imagine I was an observer in the story.
I have to add that Charles and Jim’s drunken banter made me laugh out loud. As for those descriptions of the remote Scotland landscape – I wished I was there. Simply stunning.
So much realism and poignancy in this couple’s relationship in terms of their love and growth and change over the decades. I guessed who was behind it all in the second half of the book, but still found myself reading the majority of the book in one day. I just wanted things to end happily for Flick and Jim. Overall, a solid love story with lots of twists and turns. With thanks to Boldwood Books, Rachel's Random Resources and NetGalley for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn to this book for two reasons: The cover was instantly appealing to me, but more importantly I was drawn to the author. I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous titles from Lisa Hobman that I have read, and so it was with great anticipation that I started this story.

A relationship breakup is always sad, especially when it’s not overly apparent as to why it has happened and both parties emit the semblance of being inherently decent people. The way that this breakup was portrayed felt how; so real that I felt genuinely sad for the breakup and particularly for Jim, who seemed positively devastated by the turn of events. I had initially warmed to both Flick and Jim, but quickly changed my mind about Flick, after how she treated Jim at the very end of the first chapter. what was a bit of a ‘last hurrah’ for Flick, most certainly wasn’t for Jim!

It seemed wrong for Flick to be taking time sick off work ’to get over it’, when ’it’ seemed to be entirely her doing. It also seemed wrong that she felt her marriage breakdown was something she could ’get over’ in a couple of days. As you can tell, I had really warmed to Jim and I was struggling to come to terms with Flick’s treatment of him. Flick’s behaviour did seem to be driven by her meddling Mother to an extent, but I did wonder why she ever agreed to get married even? As to why Flick would allow her Mother to interfere so, when she is a fully fledged adult?

I was drawn to Ed, Flick’s Father. He came across as a thoroughly decent human being. I respected the way that he was prepared to speak up for what he believed in and was prepared to tell his Wife what he thought about her interfering. He was a true, loyal friend to Jim. i must confess that his wonderful letter to Jim was beautiful and caused me to cry real ugly tears; actually make that emotional tears, as nothing ugly should be associated with his wonderful, heartfelt writing.

I liked the way the story dipped in and out of the past, although I found the relationship breakup all the more confusing, reading about how Jim and Flick met and about how happy they were for much of their time together. It just seemed such a waste of a good relationship. I really did feel strongly that Flick had behaved badly towards Jim though, and to that end I hoped that moving to a new area might herald the start of something new on the romantic front, for Jim. He was just such a good, honest, decent man.

When the couple meet again, I felt more compassion for Flick and I confess to laughing out loud at Penelope’s ’sordid secret’.

I am not going to spoil the end of this book by revealing too much. I did love the story, despite the wide range of emotions it instilled in me and I cannot urge you enough to read the book for yourself.

A quick easy read.

I struggled though to like Flick/Felicity and I thought Jim was a fool putting up with both her and her ridiculous mother.

2 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

I loved this novel although I did work out what was going to happen; it was still a great read. The setting makes me want to visit that part of Scotland.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I loved Jim as a character and warmed to Flick eventually even after she annoyed me in the first few chapters. The narrative switching between past and present at times really helped to add depth to the characters as did the switches between Flick and Jim’s perspectives. Overall a lovely lighthearted read that I would recommend.

When Felicity (Flick) decides that her husband, Jim, is not pushy enough for her and that she’d rather pursue her career as a high flying executive in the art world, he is heartbroken. He decides to move to the beautiful Highland village of Shieldaig and start a new life.

When Flick appears on his doorstep, he doesn’t know what to make of this? He’s well aware that her mother was behind their breakup. But her father, recently deceased, has left him some information that reveals Flick’s true feelings

Will they be able to put their marriage back on track? Will Jim be able to forgive Flick and has she realized what she gave up.

A lovely second-chance romance with some mystery and suspense thrown in.

An emotional drama told with sensitivity, warmth and heart, Starting Over at Sunset Cottage is a powerfully written tale by Lisa Hobman.

It had been love at first sight for Felicity and Jim. Having met as students at Oxford University, Flick and Jim knew from the very first moment they met that they were meant to be. When they got married, they truly believed that their marriage was going to go the distance, however, when Flick’s mother Penelope stuck her oar in, she had succeeded in driving a wedge between them and their relationship had broken down leaving them with no other option but to go their separate ways. Flick had thrown herself completely into her job, but she quickly realized that her career was no substitute for the love she had for the man she simply could not forget.

Having been left with no other choice but to pick up the broken pieces of his life, Jim had settled into his life in the Highland village of Shieldaig. Being a single man is hard and he misses Flick with every fibre of his being – until an unexpected visitor brings him painful news and a letter from the grave compels him to do something he never imagined and undertake a journey he never anticipated.

Can Flick and Jim ever heal from past wounds and move on with their lives? Or will old mistakes and persistent regrets condemn them to a lonely and miserable existence?

Keep a box of tissues handy when reading Lisa Hobman’s Starting Over at Sunset Cottage because this heartfelt, dramatic and intense read will move even the most cynical of readers to tears. A wonderful story about letting go of the past, second chances and the power of love, Starting Over at Sunset Cottage is a tale of renewal, redemption and healing readers will be completed enthralled by.

What is it with books making me cry at the moment... I mean this is the second book I've read in the last couple of weeks that has left me in actual tears at the half way point, The Perfect Christmas Gift being the other one.

This book follows a different pattern to others as though we start in the present with Flick deciding to call time on her marriage to Jim, we have quite a few flashbacks to different stages in their relationship which gives us a better understanding of them as a couple. For the first half of the book I really didn't like Flick and could only see the pain that she had caused Jim when she left him, it was clear that he was absolutely devoted to her and would do anything to make her happy, including letting her go.

He starts to make his own life in Scotland with Jasper (his super cute doggy) and I was desperate for him to find someone new in the little village who would make him happy and fully get over Flick. But then she shows up on her door step with some devastating news that will change everything for both of them.

It was at this point that I assumed Flick and Jim would get back together, something I really didn't want to happen. I was sure that she was going to hurt him again as she'd probably change her mind again in a few years time and I just didn't want to see Jim have to go through it all a second time.

As the story went on though, and it seemed less likely that they'd get back together, I found myself actually rooting for them and Jim's idea just sounded amazing, and like it had no chance of failing. Of course, things are never as simple as you think and I was massively surprised by the little twist that Lisa put in. I mean I had my shackles raised when we first met Ella, there was something just not quite about her but wow. That's all I'm saying!

I don't want to say too much about the ending but it really touched me, especially the change in relationship between Jim and one particular person (when you've read this you'll probably know who I mean) as it was so powerful and meaningful. Having never read a Lisa Hobman book before I feel like I need to get reading her back log now as this was an amazing read.

Getting snowed in at a cosy cottage in the Scottish Highlands doesn’t sound like too much of a hardship does it? Getting snowed in with a handsome, kind and sensitive Scotsman sounds even better. But maybe not when the handsome Scotsman is your ex-husband – awkward! Perhaps rather unusually for a romantic story, the focus of the book, initially at least, is a wronged husband. Jim is heartbroken and bewildered when his wife Flick announces she wants a divorce. They had been soulmates since they met at Oxford University and he thought they’d be together forever. Fast forward a few years and Jim is living in the Highlands when Flick pays a surprise visit with some sad news. And then she gets snowed in…

What I really enjoyed about this book was the way the story moved back and forwards in time as we find out about Jim and Flick’s relationship from when they met as students, throughout their relationship and eventually up to their present situation. From feeling complete animosity to Flick at first for the hurt she had caused Jim, as I got to know her my feelings switched from sympathy to annoyance and back again several times. The author was excellent at manipulating my feelings! By contrast, I thought Jim was just wonderful right from the start.

A few other characters stood out and deserve a mention too. Jim’s friend and employer before he moved north was Charles, who owned a bookshop. He really was a true friend to Jim. Jim’s father-in-law, Edgar, was a big-hearted man who welcomed Jim into the family and was almost as devastated as Jim when the marriage broke down. Much of the damage done to the relationship was caused by Flick’s mother Penelope and she was definitely a character I loved to hate. I couldn’t understand how such an intelligent young woman as Flick could be so influenced by her mother.

Although for the main part this is definitely a romantic story, rather unexpectedly, the author introduces a dramatic element to the book at one point. This certainly added a frisson of danger and changed the tone of the book quite a bit. There were more than a few moments when I genuinely had no idea just what was going to happen.

Starting Over at Sunset Cottage is a lovely second chance, will-they-won’t-they romance and I was far from certain how the relationship would end. I so enjoyed the snowy Scottish village setting with its real sense of community. Jim and Flick’s story is a captivating one which is told so well through the author’s engaging style of writing. As to whether these two are destined to be soulmates or become just good friends, well you’ll need to get yourself a copy of this lovely book to find out.

This is the first Lisa Hobman book that I have read and it didn't disappoint. One of those book that you can't put down. A different style of writing as the narrative changes times as we find out more about the characters story.

Starting Over at Sunset Cottage - Lisa Hobman

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books and I am leaving this review voluntarily

It was love at first sight when talented art student Felicity “Flick” Johnston-Hart and Jim MacDuff’s worlds collided at Oxford University.

However, after years of blissful marriage, everything crashes down when their marriage comes to a painful and abrupt end, thanks to Flick’s interfering mother Penelope.

Finally succumbing to maternal pressure, Flick falls into the high-flying career her mother believed she was destined for.

This is an emotional and uplifting read, with a good storyline. A well-written book in a lovely setting. Overall I enjoyed this book, it was a lovely escape from reality. Lisa has put in clever flashbacks at appropriate points to give more insight into Flick and Jim.

I found Flick hard to warm to, at the beginning I thought she was heartless but ultimately I found myself warming to her. This book was originally released as Through the Glass.

Rating: 4/5

I absolutely loved this story and really likes that it has been told from Jim's perspective as well as Felicity's as majority of stories are written from the females perspective and focuses on their heartbreak.

Set initially in London we follow Jim as he uproots his life and heads back to Scotland following the breakdown of his marriage. The fact that this story was based around the anguish of Jim made me love it even more as it is so unusual to read a story that empathises with the husband and builds up a dislike of the wife and her appalling behaviour.
I love a true love story and this focuses on the love that still exists between Jim and Felicity even as the years continue to pass and they both move on with their lives. This was my first book by this author and I truly loved it and will definitely be reading more