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Puffin Bay by Annie Dyer
4.0
lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Four years ago, Amelie decided to leave London and invest in a pub in the small coastal town of Puffin Bay, on the Welsh island of Anglesey. Since then, she's become an integral part of the community, with plans on how to revitalize the town and create more year-round jobs that don't depend on tourism. Unfortunately, those plans may be in jeopardy after out-of-town investor Roman Tominey purchases several properties that Amelie's had her eye on. She's concerned that his ideas to develop them will only benefit his company's bottom line, not the community. When a storm rolls in one evening and Roman and Amelie are stuck together in her bar, the sparks that have been flying between them finally ignite, and they're forced to admit the attraction that underlies their animosity. But Roman never stays in one place long enough to have a relationship, and besides, he's already got too much on his plate with a cantankerous grandfather recovering from hip replacement surgery and a newly discovered teenage son who's coming to visit for the summer. Are he and Amelie destined for a summer fling, or has he finally found the place - and person - who can make him want to stay?

I really enjoyed the fun, quirky vibe of Puffin Bay and its characters, and there is plenty of potential for future stories set in this world. Since it was the first book of the series, a fair amount of time was devoted to establishing the setting and introducing secondary characters, and if I'm being honest, I was more interested in some of them than I was in Amelie and Roman. That's not to say that I didn't like them, because I did. I was amused by their witty banter and empathized with the struggles they faced in working through the baggage leftover from their childhoods. Overall, they really seemed to bring out the best in each other, and I love where they ended up.

I'd recommend "Puffin Bay" for all contemporary romance fans and look forward to the next book of the series.
 
*Review copy provided by the author via Wildfire Marketing Solutions. All opinions expressed are my own.

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