The girl stands on the clifftop, feeling the soft breeze lift her shining red hair and dry her tears. She can almost hear Ireland calling her home across the wild sea. But she can never go back. And in that moment, she swears no-one will ever find out why.

Freya is desperate for escape from her messy break-up when she’s offered a job caring for elderly Kathleen in the seaside village of Heaven’s Cove. Kathleen’s once-red hair is now a brilliant white, but there’s always laughter in her Irish lilt – until the day Freya finds her weeping, her gaze fixed on Driftwood House, perched on the cliffs above the village. She refuses to say what’s wrong…

Kathleen’s son Ryan, quiet with striking emerald eyes, resents that a stranger is caring for his mother. But as Freya presses him for answers on a long walk across a windswept beach, Ryan finally admits that Kathleen breaks down in the same way, on the exact same day every year – never telling anyone what is causing her pain.

Finding a photo of Kathleen as a young girl standing outside Driftwood House years before she says she moved to the village, Freya is determined to find the source of Kathleen’s heartache. But as she gets closer to Ryan, and to the sad, forgotten history of the house, Freya is faced with an impossible decision…

Should she share this heartbreaking secret with Ryan and risk their chance of happiness together? And will facing the truth bring Kathleen peace in her final years – or will it tear them all apart?

Book three in the Heaven’s Cove series from author Liz Eeles, The Girl at the Last House Before the Sea is a beautiful, heartfelt tale set in the idyllic harbour town of Heaven’s Cove in South West England.

Although the book is the third in a series it is also easily read as a standalone book too, although I always suggest you read series in order.

In the book, we meet Freya who has come to stay with her half-sister, Belinda after the breakdown of her marriage and the loss of her caring job. Belinda has secured Freya a job working, caring, and living with one of the village’s elderly residents, Kathleen, who we first meet in the prologue hiding a photo.

This book felt more emotional and gut-wrenching than the previous two, which also had a younger, airy feel to them. However, the gorgeous picturesque village is back, a place I wish was real with its whitewashed houses and the sea breeze.

Freya was very easy to like, she also had the residents opening up to her telling her their secrets, which I’m not surprised given how lovely and understanding she came across, plus perfectly realistic too.

This is a series I have enjoyed. It takes you away from everyday life and places you in the lives of the villagers of Heaven’s Cove. There is a lot of love as well as grief, secrets, and turmoil in the village. If you enjoy multiple POV books that take you on a roller-coaster emotional read, then this book is the one for you.

Liz Eeles began her writing career as a journalist and press officer before deciding that she’d rather have the freedom of making things up as a novelist.

Being short-listed in the Corvus ‘Love at First Write’ competition and the Novelicious search for a new women’s fiction star gave Liz the push she needed to keep putting pen to paper …. and ‘Annie’s Holiday by the Sea’ (her first published novel) is the result.

Liz lives on the South Coast with her family and, when she’s not writing, likes to spend time walking by the sea, and trying to meditate. Her ambition is to be serene one day …. she’s still got a long way to go.

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