Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace by Kate Forster is a heart-warming novel full of charm and beautiful compassion.
Tressa Buckland lives in Port Lowdy, a charming village on the Cornish coast with picturesque scenery surrounded by sea cliffs, quaint houses and locals banding together. She works part time at the local newspaper giving her time to explore her passion for art. She is independent and content sharing her life with her cat Ginger Pickles.
When George the owner of the newspaper is called to an emergency and leaves for 6 months Tressa is left to run the paper and find a replacement to help her. Dan Byrne, a popular journalist in Ireland with his own column is looking for a fresh start after being fired from his job after writing a controversial story. He answers a job advertisement and arrives in Port Lowdy with his best friend Ritchie, his golden retriever.
Tressa and Dan are great lead characters. I loved their antics, but more than that I loved the complexity of their relationship. It gets to a point where they’ve had enough and fighting becomes exhausting and you get exposed to glimpses of vulnerability and tenderness, which made me choke up a bit.
I loved seeing the journey of their hate to love relationship, Tressa is strong, self-sufficed and passionate in the best way possible whilst Dan is one of those characters you don’t love at first, but once you see the real him you yourself will fall in love. They both come with their own individual frustrations and heartache especially when it comes to family, mistakes are made and unexpected paths are taken as thoughts alter and grow. Feelings falter, fall and soar taking you along a fabulous ride.
Remi, Pamela, Marcel and Penny among others are intertwined within the storyline, you get to know their personalities and stories which are just as enjoyable as the main characters to the point you feel you are a local of Port Lowdy.
I love small-town romances and if you do as well then you don’t have to look any further. I was completely invested in this story and couldn’t put it down.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review.
ISBN: 9781800246027
A selection of our members are reading Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
I absolutely loved Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace.
A sleepy seaside town, Port Lowdy, with all it’s life long residents, who are more like one big family. They look out for each other and know each other well, but some have secrets, some have shame, and all are complex individuals in one way or another.
In to town come 2 newcomers, both to work, which changes the town dynamic enormously.
Their sleepy town is suddenly a hive of film crews and interviews, and newspaper stories, all of which turn the lives of some prominent old, and new residents, upside down.
Lost loves are found, relationships, old and new, flourish, and memories of those who have passed, are brought to life in an unexpected way.
A story of love, fear, anger and mistrust, heartache and sorrow, but in the end, love and a strong community whom have opened their hearts and minds to change, all come together, stronger, wiser and closer than ever.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review.
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this story, the setting was the sort of place I’ve always thought I’d like to live. The two main characters Dan, a journalist who’s been sacked for writing a story about corruption and Tressa who is an artist in hiding and a photographer for the local paper, both of these characters had plenty of issues, their upbringings weren’t the best and these have led to behaviours that aren’t always in their best interests. I got a bit annoyed with Tressa’s over-the-top reactions to things, especially as she didn’t even stop to ask questions or make sure she had her facts right. I liked their relationship, but their often lack of communication and overreaction dropped a bit of my enjoyment of the story. ‘
Tressa’s family were a massive part of her problems and I liked how over the course of the story, her mother learnt a bit about herself and her behaviour and the impact it had had on Tressa. She went from very unlikeable to likeable by the end.
There were two other love stories in this novel.
I loved the characters of Remi and Juliet, an ex-con and the love he left behind. What Remi had been through was enough to pull on the heartstrings and the bad deal he got because he was poor is, unfortunately, something that happens all too often.
Penny, the often overlooked postmistress, discovers a lot about herself after Dan publishes a story on her, I felt sorry for Penny and I was glad she got a happy ending.
Overall a lovely reading in a gorgeous small village setting.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace Bookclub and Head of Zeus for a digital copy in return for an honest review.
Tressa Buckland lives very contentedly in her cottage called Mermaid Terrace in the very small coastal town of Port Lowdy.
She is an aspiring artist and also works part time as a photographer at the local paper, The Port Lowdy Occurance.
When the owner of the paper needs to take time off to care for his sick wife Tressa is put in charge of hiring a new jounalist to help her out.
Daniel Byrne who is known as The angriest man in Ireland takes a story too far and is fired from his high profile position at The Independant Times in Dublin.
Desperately looking for work and a place to stay he applies for the job at The Occurance.
Both Dan and Tressa have a lot of secrets in their past and neither of them had happy childhoods.
Dan will also uncover some secrets from other people in the town.
As Dan and Tressa become closer these secrets threaten to tear them apart but can they overcome their differences?
This is a lovely, enjoyable read about a group of people trying to be their best in a small seaside town.
Thanks so much to Beauty and Lace for giving me a copy of this lovely book to review.
I really enjoyed this book, Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace by Kate Forster. I really enjoyed getting to know the main characters Tressa and Dan but also the other characters in the town and Tressa’s parents. It was a heartwarming story and lead me to tears at the end. I would definitely read another Kate Forster book again. Thank you for Beauty and Lace for allowing me to read and review!
Thank-you Beauty & Lace for giving me the chance to read & review ‘Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace’ a coastal romance book by Kate Forster.
Tressa is an aspiring but unknown artist hiding happily in the peaceful coastal town full of friends and characters that have been a true part of her life’s journey. Her comfortable world then goes out of Tressa’s control when illness forces her to step up at the workplace and employ a new journalist in the form of Dan.
This is the beginning of Tressa’s journey to love but it is not always smooth with many mistakes made, both in the present and in the past. Will it be possible for Tressa and Dan to have a happy life which satisfies both their needs? Many other characters are also affected by the new arrival in town with some unexpected sub-storylines and happy endings.
This was a great easy read with engaging characters and a beautiful outcome for all – especially explaining the significance of the ‘mermaid’ for Tressa – nice touch. Thank-you ‘Beauty & Lace Bookclub’ for the opportunity to read ‘Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace’ by Kate Forster.
I loved this book ‘Finding love at Mermaid Terrace’ by Kate Forster. It was just such a lovely story about people and families and how communication is really important. The characters were relatable and who could resist reading a story about a place called Mermaid Terrace? The story was easy to read and I finished it in 2 days. It made me laugh and it made me cry and most importantly it just left me feeling happy. Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me read this book, I will be looking out for other books by Kate Forster too.
I absolutely loved this book!
With each page I felt like I was part of the story and will admit I actually dreamt I lived in Port Lowdy!
I really enjoyed the way each characters story linked in with the rest of the town in a way
I would love to read a sequel to this!
Thank you for the opportunity!
Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace by Kate Forster was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. I was surprised to discover that the Author is Australian as I felt that her description of life in a quaint Cornish Village was just as I imagine it to be. Quirky characters that all contribute to life in the village. The different story lines and the growth of the different characters made for a great, easy read.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for my copy for review.
Thanks for the opportunity to read Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace by Kate Forster.
This is an interesting story full of interesting characters and heartwarming plots. The stories develop at a good pace and the characters feel warm and real.
This is a great book for a winters afternoon with a cup of tea or two. You will definitely fall in love with the Cornish Village and Tressa and Dan’s love story!
Thanks again to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the chance to read this lovely book.
I really enjoyed reading Finding Love in Mermaid Terrace. It is an easy summer holiday (or COVID lockdown) read and the main characters are adorable and funny. It was interesting to see how each of the characters’ stories intertwined, and I couldn’t put the book down.
This is the first novel I have read by Kate Forster, and am looking forward to reading more of her books. I really enjoy her writing style.
I enjoyed Finding Love inMermaid Terrace.
The littvillage sounds amazing. I was truly jealous and would love to live somewhere like that. Tressa seems to be hiding from the world and especially her parents so she’s a hard nut to crack.
Dan tries everything he can think of to win her over, but keeps putting his foot in it but in the end, they acknowledge each other.
I think Tressa’s cat Ginger Pickles and Dan’s dog Ritchie have a big input in the outcome.