When Emma sees The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay for sale, she knows it's the seaside haven she needs to recover from a recent trauma. But as soon as Emma collects the keys, her dream of owning a successful guesthouse unravels....
Emma has a month to get the house ready before her guests arrive, a task made harder by the discovery that an enormous dog was included in the sale. Then there's the unwelcoming next-door neighbour, Aidan, who Emma must turn to for help. Over the summer, Emma must navigate unforeseen dilemmas and new friendships, and keep her business afloat. But as she falls in love with Lobster Bay, is she also falling for Aidan?
What did I think?
One of the things I love about audiobooks is how the narrator brings the book to life and Eilidh Beaton does that beautifully in her wonderful reading of The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay. I didn't expect such an emotional story and I found myself laughing and crying as we follow Emma's journey.
Emma suffers a terrible trauma in the opening of the story which forces her to re-evaluate her life. I had goosebumps on my arms and a lump in my throat as the scene was vividly portrayed and my heart completely went out to Emma. At first I couldn't understand her bottling it all up inside herself but as interactions with her family were described I don't think they would have listened to her anyway. A new start where nobody knows anything about her is called for and Emma realises a lifelong dream by buying a guesthouse in Scotland.
Oh my goodness, Lobster Bay sounds so idyllic and I thoroughly enjoyed my virtual visit there, I say virtual but it felt so very real to me. I loved all of the characters in this fabulous story: Emma, previous owner of the guesthouse Hilda, next-door neighbour Aidan and surprise house fixture Wilbur. I felt very honoured to tag along with Emma as we see her overcome various hurdles and deal with many misunderstandings.
It always surprises me how many voices are in a narrator's repertoire. Eilidh Beaton is outstanding as she brings Annie Robertson's colourful characters to life and I wouldn't have been surprised to turn around and find them in the room with me. Isis Audio seem to have a knack of pairing authors with narrators and they've done it again with the perfect pairing for The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay.
Warm and heartfelt, The Guesthouse at Lobster Bay is an emotional and uplifting story. With ups and downs it feels so very realistic and I finished listening to it with a sunny smile on my face. Annie Robertson is a new author for me but I'll definitely be picking up some more of her books.
I received audio files from Isis Audio to review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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