Tess needs a break from life she works in the family business and she’s recently lost her mum and her father is so demanding so wants to get away. She use to love going to wynmouth a little seaside town she decides to flee there as a cottage she loves is free. She takes what she thinks is her mother’s diary’s to read to. Tess is feeling overwhelmed by her high pressured job, its making her ill, and she keeps dreaming of her childhood holidays to Wynmouth. She is still grieving for her mum, and when she discovers that not everything was as seemed in her parents marriage, she takes off for a break to Wynbridge without telling anyone where she's going. I honestly have my fellow book club friends to thank for this recommendation. After hearing a few of them talk about Heidi Swain’s books I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about. I decided to do a free trial of Audible and start my Heidi Swain journey, thankfully a few of my friends told me about the different series so I started with the first one in the Wynmouth collection. If you're partial to quaint seaside getaways, sprinkled with the most warm and welcoming of characters, and family-focused stories with a whole lot of heart and warmth, then 'The Secret Seaside Escape' by Heidi Swain is perfect for you. If you enjoy novels based around tight-knit communities and people each other out in their time of need then, again, this will be right up your street. Heidi Swain writes straight from the heart and it shows within her books. I already can't wait for the next one.

Tess is in need of a break as she works tirelessly for her demanding father who runs the family successful marketing business. Another thing that irks her is that he rarely shows any affection and in her eyes her poor mother is neglected and seems to fill her days shopping. All is not what it seems. Tess works for Tyler PR and she needs to take a break or her health is going to suffer. She really is non-stop work, work, work, and her latest client is being a bit of a nuisance. As Tess discovers something which needs her attention, she decides that she is going away regardless of the consequences! Tess sets off for Wynmouth - a place that she holds dear and which fills her with fond childhood memories. The same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into – the handsome but brooding Brodie. Her tone confirmed that she, as well as Dad, had worked out that there was more behind my premature return than I had let on.What a fantastic story this was - Tess is burning out in her high pressured job role and makes a snap decision to take a leave of absence and go to the seaside resort of Wynnouth, the place of so many happy childhood memories for her, to recharge herself. What a breathtakingly beautiful place it sounds, Heidi writes descriptions so well I felt envious of anyone who lives in such a resort!

I love this authors writing style, her way with words, and storytelling ability. As the book progressed I was drawn into it more and more and was incredibly curious as to how some of the plots would turn out. Seeing how Tess changes over the course of the book and the way her new friendships developed was really great to see. Swain truly takes her readers away with her latest novel, and it was a gloriously charming and most-welcome break from real life. From the moment Tess arrives in Wynmouth and settles down to enjoy her new, if only temporary, life in Crow's Nest Cottage at a slower, more easy-going pace, I was more than ready to settle down beside her and figure out how we were going to spend our time while in the seaside town. I love the musical theme that is woven into this book. It really adds to the depth and feel of the story.

So we have our main girl Tess, who is very much the over achieving worker, trying her best to please a distant father. You soon get the sense that the relationship she has with him is fractured, and this is one of the issues that Tess needs to work through as the story goes on. At the beginning of the book she's working long hours, not taken a holiday in far too long, and is generally just at the end of her tether. She's deciding whether to take a holiday when she finds a bunch of letters from her deceased mum which convinces her that yes, she needs to get out of town for a while. And so she does! It was so lovely to see Beth rediscover her love for music and truly realise how much it meant to her. Music means so much to so many of us, it’s a universal language, and it was really nice to read a book that really showcased the importance of music. I’d momentarily forgotten about the more recent festive changes, but the Wynthorpe Hall Winter Wonderland really was a big deal and, according to the plethora of photos I’d seen posted online, a huge seasonal spectacle. It doubtless took endless organising and, with fewer people to help set it up, would soon become more of a pain than a pleasure.