Teaser Tuesday/review: A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading and asks you to:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share 2 "teaser"sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser.
4. Please avoid spoilers


This week's teaser comes from A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware. Don't miss my review after the teaser. Fabulous book!

Product ISBN: 9781402222702
Price: $15.99
Publication Date: June 2010

" However, in one corner of her mind she chewed on the fact that, undeniably, she and Luke were confronted with a daunting number of decisions and concerns. And lurking behind everything was the matter of secret bookcases and uninvited eighteenth-century ancestors materializing in and around the estate when least expected. It was a situation best left unexplored, yet it always lingered on the edge of Blythe's thoughts."

From the publisher: "All the romance of the beautiful Cornish coast and a wealth of local color add richness to a story that crosses the centuries…. When a Hollywood scandal leaves her life and her marriage in ruins, Blythe Stowe escapes to the wild coast of Cornwall and a cottage by the sea. There she finds herself both physically drawn to her handsome neighbor, Lucas Teague, and literally drawn into a haunting 200-year old love story as an elaborate family tree on his study wall sends her rushing back into the past. As Blythe struggles to make sense of what is happening and discovers family secrets that have been long concealed, she realizes Lucas holds the key to both her past and her future… "

My thoughts : I . . . loved this book! Loved it!! It has so many elements that appeal to me in a story. First off, the fabulous setting of Cornwall in a stone cottage overlooking the sea.I could picture that cottage and surroundings as if I were watching a movie. *Sigh*, such beautifully descriptive writing! Add in a woman who is trying to re-invent the rest of her life after a nasty ever- so-public hollywood divorce and a lonely widower in the manor house just a little way up the path. A kindly housekeeper, a broken hearted little boy still grieving for his mom, secret bookcases, family ties, second wife wannabes, mysteries, flashbacks to the late 1700's, a little bit of Cornish smuggling references and the possibility of some reincarnation made this a book I had a very hard time to put down.

It was almost as if I opened the book and was magically sucked into the pages while I walked every step with the characters. I could feel Blythe's anger and heartbreak at her ex-husband and sister who betrayed her with their flagrant affair. I definitely enjoyed her journey of finding herself and some family ties in Cornwall where she rented Painter's Cottage from the young and handsome widower, Lucas Teague. I felt the same sense of bewildered amazement as I was hurtled back in time with Blythe where she discovered some family secrets through some very unconventional means.

Ware has written a book with some of the most endearing characters I have read in a long time. The addition of some despicable characters just serves to heighten the tension in the story. With the use of short flashbacks, Ware takes present day Blythe back the late 1700's to tell the story of her name sake Blythe Barton. The similarities to some of the events in both Blythes' lives are eerie and disquieting but Ware makes a wonderful story of both of them. With very smooth transitions from present to past I found I liked both time frames equally. This book had me emotionally immersed in the story from page one and didn't let go until the last sentence. A 5 ***** read for sure and one I will be savoring for quite some time.

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Sourcebooks. Thank you, Danielle, for a most enjoyable read.