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A review by thebritishbibliophile
Mainstay (Dungeness Hollow, Book #3) by Tess Shepherd
5.0
'A satisfying end to a series which has only gone from strength to strength as each book came along. Simply incredible!'
Thank you to Tess Shepherd for sending me a copy of this book for me as part of her ARC team for me to read and leave an honest review.
----------------------------
First of all, if you've come across this read first, welcome to Tess Shepherd! This is book three in her Dungeness Hollow series and where it can be read as a standalone, I fully recommend that you go back to book one to get to grips with the characters from the very beginning.
You'll meet some along the way, too.
Book Two, Spring Tide, is perhaps my favourite book out of the series. It in no way means that book one, Jessie's Point or this book (Mainstay) aren't up to par, but as I said in my review for Spring Tide I felt more connected to the main character Mary--who you'll see featured in this novel--and her as a whole. The story was a knockout and it set me up looking forward to Mainstay in the best possible way.
You too, will have a favourite book or in fact you'll love the whole series as I did. Yes it's possible to have a favourite and still love a book series.
Whereas I won't be spilling spoilers in this review about the book, I will be gushing about it as a whole and Tess as an author. So don't worry, nothing in this review will spoil anything before this joyful read releases.
Focus this time around shifts to the last of the Dungeness Hollow ladies, Meghan Sanderson, and the leading lad who's not going to give up on his lady, Gage Matthews. Their story has been one that's been building in anticipation since we first dove into the Hollow, and part of our journey winds its way through LA to get back to where all three ladies--and their men--are meant to be. The story woven which would inevitably bring us back to said Hollow is an interesting one, for sure!
Watch out for wielded irons, short dresses and everything in between! You won't be lost for entertainment till the gang returns home.
Unlike Mary and Hayes, Gage and Meghan are two characters who are very much alike. There are distinct differences here and there, but I feel the two of them both are alike and compliment each other more similarly than Mary and Hayes. Mary and Hayes complete each other with what the other lacks, whereas Meghan and Gage are both of equal personality types, likes/dislikes, opinions and both are only looking to make the other happy most of all. Even if means at the cost of their own happiness.
This means too, however, that two people almost identical are bound to butt heads, argue and push until the other relents. Tess writes Gage and Meghan brilliantly to show exactly this. Its one thing to write characters simply for the sake of including them in a book, but it takes an exceptional writer to craft characters so well, that they almost feel real. This was certainly the case here. In fact, you could apply that to all the DH gang. The characters--especially Gage and Meghan--were not two-dimensional and flat. I have a feeling this pair in Mainstay will be quite a few people's favourites in this series.
Where I'm sad to say goodbye to the DH gang, I'm extremely satisfied with how the ending came to be and how we got to it. The story is written so well, that it almost feels real. You feel connected to it and that you're in the shoes of one--or more--characters. Most novels are written to escape reality and to immerse the reader in the impossible. Impossible situations. Things we'd never do or want in the real world. Not Mainstay. I almost feel that if I travelled to LA someday, I'd expect to run into any one of the folks in this novel and I'd be stepping into the pages of the story while in the real world. Tess' love and admiration for LA really shines through and even in the literary world of DH, it still feels like it's a real place and not a work of fictional imagination.
Though this chapter has ended, I'm very much looking forward to Tess' next write and--albeit not so secretly--I'm hoping for a possible return or mention of the Hollow (or one of its characters) in a said future novel.
A girl can dream.
Five stars!
Thank you to Tess Shepherd for sending me a copy of this book for me as part of her ARC team for me to read and leave an honest review.
----------------------------
First of all, if you've come across this read first, welcome to Tess Shepherd! This is book three in her Dungeness Hollow series and where it can be read as a standalone, I fully recommend that you go back to book one to get to grips with the characters from the very beginning.
You'll meet some along the way, too.
Book Two, Spring Tide, is perhaps my favourite book out of the series. It in no way means that book one, Jessie's Point or this book (Mainstay) aren't up to par, but as I said in my review for Spring Tide I felt more connected to the main character Mary--who you'll see featured in this novel--and her as a whole. The story was a knockout and it set me up looking forward to Mainstay in the best possible way.
You too, will have a favourite book or in fact you'll love the whole series as I did. Yes it's possible to have a favourite and still love a book series.
Whereas I won't be spilling spoilers in this review about the book, I will be gushing about it as a whole and Tess as an author. So don't worry, nothing in this review will spoil anything before this joyful read releases.
Focus this time around shifts to the last of the Dungeness Hollow ladies, Meghan Sanderson, and the leading lad who's not going to give up on his lady, Gage Matthews. Their story has been one that's been building in anticipation since we first dove into the Hollow, and part of our journey winds its way through LA to get back to where all three ladies--and their men--are meant to be. The story woven which would inevitably bring us back to said Hollow is an interesting one, for sure!
Watch out for wielded irons, short dresses and everything in between! You won't be lost for entertainment till the gang returns home.
Unlike Mary and Hayes, Gage and Meghan are two characters who are very much alike. There are distinct differences here and there, but I feel the two of them both are alike and compliment each other more similarly than Mary and Hayes. Mary and Hayes complete each other with what the other lacks, whereas Meghan and Gage are both of equal personality types, likes/dislikes, opinions and both are only looking to make the other happy most of all. Even if means at the cost of their own happiness.
This means too, however, that two people almost identical are bound to butt heads, argue and push until the other relents. Tess writes Gage and Meghan brilliantly to show exactly this. Its one thing to write characters simply for the sake of including them in a book, but it takes an exceptional writer to craft characters so well, that they almost feel real. This was certainly the case here. In fact, you could apply that to all the DH gang. The characters--especially Gage and Meghan--were not two-dimensional and flat. I have a feeling this pair in Mainstay will be quite a few people's favourites in this series.
Where I'm sad to say goodbye to the DH gang, I'm extremely satisfied with how the ending came to be and how we got to it. The story is written so well, that it almost feels real. You feel connected to it and that you're in the shoes of one--or more--characters. Most novels are written to escape reality and to immerse the reader in the impossible. Impossible situations. Things we'd never do or want in the real world. Not Mainstay. I almost feel that if I travelled to LA someday, I'd expect to run into any one of the folks in this novel and I'd be stepping into the pages of the story while in the real world. Tess' love and admiration for LA really shines through and even in the literary world of DH, it still feels like it's a real place and not a work of fictional imagination.
Though this chapter has ended, I'm very much looking forward to Tess' next write and--albeit not so secretly--I'm hoping for a possible return or mention of the Hollow (or one of its characters) in a said future novel.
A girl can dream.
Five stars!