Book Review - Escape to Starshine Cove by Debbie Johnson

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Title: Escape to Sunshine Cove

Author: Debbie Johnson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Storm Publishing

Publication Date: 19th July 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

​Ella steps through the gate, and within seconds is standing at the edge of the most perfect beach she’s ever seen – a small horseshoe of sand fringing a rolling blanket of sparkling turquoise sea. Breathing in the fresh, salty air, she wipes the tears from her cheeks. Surely, in a place as beautiful as this, she can finally be happy?

Ella Farrell has reached breaking point. Shattered by her job and her boyfriend’s recent betrayal, she grabs her stuff and flees down the coast. When her car breaks down a few miles short of Cornwall, she’s astonished by where she’s ended up. Not on any map, the tiny seaside village of Starshine Cove is almost too perfect for words. A cobbled lane lined with pretty, thatched cottages slopes towards a pristine white beach… has she finally lost it, or is this place for real?

Spotting a little café on the edge of the cove, Ella settles in. It’s not long before – with a wedge of homemade raspberry cheesecake in front of her – Ella finds herself promising Connie, the café’s Dolly Parton-lookalike owner, that she might just stick around.

As days turn into weeks, Ella warms to the quirky little village and the people who live there. Particularly Jake, the broad-shouldered, dark-haired landlord of the Starshine Inn. As they sip cocktails together at sundown, Ella feels they’ve been friends for years… except that her heart does a little flip-flop whenever their eyes meet. Jake also came to Starshine Cove by chance – was he too trying to run away from something?

Just as Ella begins to feel the tension she’s carried for so long beginning to ease, the past comes knocking on her rustic, driftwood door. Will Ella find the strength to embrace this place and forge a new path, or is Starshine Cove – and her growing connection with Jake – simply too good a dream to last?

From the million-copy bestselling author of the Comfort Food Café series, this is a heart-warming tale of second chances, self-discovery, and the extraordinary healing power of a community that finds you when you need it most.

From the first chapter, this book was giving me the same warm and fuzzy feeling that Debbie Johnson's previous Comfort Food Cafe series, gave me.  It's a book I felt completely at home at within pages, and I couldn't read it quick enough. 

It's not all warm and fuzzy though, as it definitely also touches on themes such as the affect of the pandemic on healthcare professional's especially their mental health. 

While set in the most amazing of settings, Starshine Cove.  I loved every single description of Starshine Cove. It is such a special setting, and all of the locals at a mix of bonkers, and totally loveable.

And for Ella, it may be the place she can finally stop running and start sorting out her life. If she can bring herself to connect with people again.  

Between naked karaoke, mystery cricket, a Dolly Parton lookalike, a doctor who is unsure if she wishes to continue working in the field, and a gorgeous "pub daddy, along with a village that communicates by walkie talkies - this is quirky, it's fun and I couldn't get enough of this book. 

It is such a heartwarming story, and it's the most perfect first book of a brand new series. I'm already keen to read the next one, I'm missing my friends in Starshine Cove already.  

Thank you to Storm and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.