Book Review - A Fresh Start at the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett

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Title: A Fresh Start at the Cornish Country Hospital

Author: Jo Bartlett

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 11th January 2026

Rating: 5 Stars

When life changes in an instant, how do you find the courage to begin again? ❤️‍🩹

A&E doctor, Eve Bellingham’s life changed forever the night her fiancé Max was the victim of a brutal attack. Now, two years later, she has moved her life to Cornwall and is working at St Piran’s Hospital, helping his family cope as Max struggles with his devastating injuries.

But though Eve’s loyalty has never wavered, the man she loved is gone. Annie - Max’s mother - still clings to the hope that one day everything will return to how it was, but Eve isn't so sure it ever will. Torn between duty and despair, Eve feels trapped in a life that no longer fits.

Then she meets Felix Grainger, the dedicated occupational therapist helping Max towards independence. With kindness and quiet strength, he awakens feelings Eve thought she’d lost forever.

To seize her second chance, Eve must risk breaking the only family she’s ever known. Because sometimes, letting go is the bravest way to begin again.

An uplifting and heartwarming story by bestseller Jo Bartlett set in the gorgeous community of Port Agnes.

I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with empathy and admiration for Eve throughout this book.  She is one amazing character, that just wants her own family, and is willing to put everyone else's needs ahead of her own. 

Ok at some points I wanted to shake her for that too, but her heart was always in the right place. But she is definitely trapped in her life at the moment. 

Before she moved to Cornwall, she was engaged to Max and then one night he was brought into the A&E she was working in, with a life altering brain injury.  His family are in Cornwall and Eve moved down there to help support them and constantly visits Max even though he clearly has changed beyond recognition. 

But she starts to strike up a friendship with Felix, Max's occupational therapist, who is back in Cornwall himself after needing to get away thanks to a tricky a tricky ex. And it definitely awakens all sorts of thoughts from both of them. 

They also start to work a lot closer together, on a few cases that come into A&E, while at the same time Eve starts to wonder if she should open up to her colleagues about anything.  None of them know about Max. 

I thoroughly was gripped and hooked on the stories of both Felix and Eve, and I was also hoping for only good things for Max and his family.  It's a bit tricky at times but it's eye opening, heartwarming and ultimately left me feeling very satisfied. 

It's another wonderful book set in St Piran with plenty of familiar characters, including Gwen, who is as wonderful as ever! I don't think I've written a Jo Bartlett St Piran based review without commenting on ever present Gwen, who by now must be one of my favourite all time characters. And she definitely made me laugh in this one too. 

This is a brilliant book and another triumph for this series. 

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