I have just finished this beautifully written book by Kristin Harper. It was brilliant and had me totally engrossed from the beginning.

Highly recommended and definitely a 5☆ from me. I cannot wait to discover more of Kristin's books.

Many thanks to Kristin, NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review.

A most enjoyable book that I had set aside for a day where I could have hours of undisturbed reading. Glad I did so as I couldn’t put it down from start to finish. A tale of family and friendship with a slow burning romance built in. The characters were strong, love them or hate them in some cases. Secrets were revealed, complete with a red herring. An excellent read.

Charming family story of loves and losses going back decades. The characters are interesting and varied,the story moving along quickly.

I chose to read this book based on the synopsis. I had high hopes for this story, unfortunately it did not deliver as I expected.

This is the second book set on Dune Island by Kristin Harper. Each book is its own story, so they can be read as standalone stories. This story introduces us to Zoey, who has moved to Dune Island to take care of her Aunt Ivy. Aunt Ivy has lived with her sister-in-law, Sylvia, who recently died. She is in her 80s and is having her own health issues. Zoey and her great-nephew Mark are both on the island for the funeral. Zoey overhears Mark telling others about his plans to take over the house and put Aunt Ivy in a home somewhere. According the the trust set up many generations ago, the oldest blood relative gets possession of the house, which is Mark. Zoey will do whatever it takes to help Ivy remain in the home she loves.

First, Aunt Ivy's cottage is not a cottage at all. It is a large, rambling home situated on top of a hill with amazing views. It sounds wonderful, if a bit outdated. I would love to have seen it. The characters were all very well developed and I liked all of them, even Mark by the end. Gabi, Zoey's niece had a lot of issues she was dealing with, but she was still a very likeable kid, even if she did have some adolescent outbursts. Zoey was a loving, caring and loyal person. I enjoyed how her relationship with Nick, the carpenter, handyman and friend to Aunt Ivy progressed. It was slow and steady. Both of them has some baggage and trust issues, so it was a nice way to help them deal with that baggage. Ivey was a dream. I would love to have a great-aunt like her. Kristin Harper has such descriptive writing. I felt like I could see all the things being described and I learned about the older homes built on the cape. Overall, this is a story of family, heritage, history, loyalty and love. Romance is there, but it is not the main storyline. I connected to these relatable characters, and would love to have met them and been friends. They are so likable. I would have given this book 5 stars, but the ending was tied up just a bit to nicely for me, it was a bit too abrupt. I still very much enjoyed this story and will definitely watch for more from Kristin Harper.

A lovely tale that was a bit unbelievable in places. Good characters apart from cousin mark as the pantomime villain!

Aunt Sylvia has died and left everyone at sorts especially Aunt Ivy that has been with Sylvia for decades. Sylvia married Ivy's brother and the two women were like sisters. Zoey has been living with the women since she has lose her job. Her cousin Mark keeps dropping in and out and wants to rent the house out to tourist on Dune Island. Zoey's niece Gabi comes to live there as well.
A story about lose and love in a .family. Plus how family can help each other in times of crisis.

Slow start but a good family story about love and loss. The book isn’t just a regular family/romance story. It’s a family mystery. This book has so many layers and it’s complexity is wonderful. My favorite character/s isn’t even a person. It’s the Island and the house. Such a lovely story.

This was a lovely story about relationships - with complex siblings, with tricky cousins, with mysterious aunts, difficult teenagers, and with hunky handymen. All in the idyllic setting of an old cottage in a small community on an island. It has all the ingredients I like and the romance wasn't syrupy. Very enjoyable.

When Zoey has an acrimonious split with her partner she decides to move to Dune Island to help her aging Great Aunt Ivy who is in poor health and living alone since her Sister in Law Sylvia died. When she arrives she finds her cousin Mark, who is next in line to inherit the house, is trying to get Ivy moved into a home, Zoey is determined to look after Ivy and keep her in her own home where she wants to be but can she fight Mark and what will the secrets in the attic reveal?

A lovely story in a great setting, loads of good characters, apart from Mark, and plenty of secrets to keep your interest and keep you turning the pages

Zoey has returned to her Aunt Ivy's home as she is ill and needs help. It also helps Zoey because she is out of a job, her entire savings have been swindled by her ex lover and she is in a bit of a state.

Aunt Ivy lived with Aunt Sylvia and now that Sylvia has passed away, Ivy does not seem to be able to get to grips with living again. She is depressed, always having a odd spell, severe angina and to top it all her heir apparent Mark is snooping around trying to get his Aunt into assisted living though that is not something she wants. He is using every persuasive trick in the book to get his Aunt to move but this is something that Zoey opposes. She feels her Aunt is happiest in her own home and eventually the property will revert to Mark. So why is he intent on alterations, decorations and major construction whilst her Aunt is still living and happy with the situation she is in.

On top of it all, Zoey has to look after her niece who is playing truant at home after her mother's death and her father's alcoholic lapses. Managing all these is hard and trying to do what is best for everyone is not going to be smooth. Especially in the face of a determined Mark, out to get his own way.

The story is about family, about money and greed and the setting of Dune Island is quaint and a very simple background setting.

A very nice afternoon's read.

A lovely family story with some beautifully described characters. How could you not enjoy a book with such a pretty cover. Highly recommended

Absolutely loved this story. Island living in a family mansion which holds secrets to who really inherits the house.
Zoey needs somewhere to live. One great aunt has passed and the other needs assistance as she is frail.
Family drama and put it together and results in a wonderful storyline. Thankyou

I am a sucker for rambling old houses full of secrets and of things found in the attic so I was super excited to pick up this read! Harper did a fantastic job creating the setting and I felt like I was right there in the house with Zoey in the house. I also loved all of the characters she created, well excpet Mark but that's for obvious reasons. Overall I really enjoyed this book!

I chose this book because I head seen a lot of good comments about it on line. I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s the story of Zoey who comes back to stay with her elderly aunt Ivy after the death of Ivys sister in law Sylvia.
Zoey is trying to look after Ivy in her family home with the threat of her cousin Mark trying to put her into assisted living.
Gabi Zoe’s niece also comes to stay as she’s struggling with her alcoholic dad after losing her mum a few years before.
Along with Nick and his son the local handyman they manage to help Ivy and Gabi to get over their losses.
This was a new Author for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Was a lovely easy read. Will look out for more Kristen Harper books.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the early copy of Aaunt Ivys Cottage.

This book had a lot of things in it that kept you guessing wondering if they will come to light.

I really enjoyed this book telling you a bit about the lives of the people that live in this cottage.

We have two sister in laws who have lived with each other for over 60 years Ivy and Sylvia.

Sylvia is on her death bed and has said a few things just before she died to Zoey who is her Great niece that has her thinking.

Zoey has lost her job and other things happen to her that she sublets her house and moves in with Ivy and Sylvia to help look after them.

We also have Mark who has been trying to persuade Ivy to move into an assisted care facility so he can then rent out the cottage to holiday makers.

The book certainly kept you on your toes wondering what would the outcome be in the end. It was sad in places.

First, let's begin with the things that worked for me: I loved the characters the author introduced, especially those of Ivy and Sylvia. I loved the beachy location that was chosen for this story to unravel. I also enjoyed the fairly short page count with quick chapters.

However, the things that didn't work for me, despite being relatively short in length, I felt like this novel was a bit too slow-burning for my taste. I also felt like the hooking line on the front cover was a bit misleading as readers do not really get knowledge about the secret until the last chapter or two. My two favorite characters also got swift fates that I felt could have been done differently.

Overall, this novel could have been more flushed out storyline and character-wise, but I would still recommend lovers of women's fiction and beach reads to pick this one up!

I enjoyed this fabulous new novel from author Kristin Harper for its heartwarming story, fun to read characters, and a story line and theme that resonated with me. Having to deal with aging parents, grandparents and a few aunts in the family connected me with this novel about spending time with your loved ones, enjoying story time, and reminiscing about the past. Just like in many families, we all have our stories that we keep quiet about, for fear of shame and other repercussion, only to find out that maybe honesty and openness would have also been a likely to change the course of events.

This story is about families, the discoveries of hidden stories, the relationships told in an emotional and also heartwarming story. The mystery element and the plot twist had me turning those pages and kept my interest in this amazing story. I loved the descriptions and the rich detail of Kristin's writing that is truly immersive. I also enjoyed everyone of the characters and Zoey's most especially.

This is definitely one to pick up if you enjoy cozy family stories set in the amazing and beautiful backdrop of cape Cod with a few mystery elements you will have a hard time putting down.

I had a great time reading this book. A new author for me that I definitely will be on my radar.

Beautiful cover for this book...and yes I judge books by their cover. I really liked this book. I started to write my review for it on Goodreads and read the blurb about the book first and discovered that it is different than what actually happened in the story. All I can figure is the author changed the actual details somewhere along the way.
The characters were all interesting and very different from each other. The elderly aunt and the young girl in the story interact quite a bit, which I found enchanting. There was a little romance between Zoey and Nick which added to the family story and the mystery. The cousin Mark also added a little sinister flavor to the story. The one character that seemed inconsistent to me was Mark. He really flipped at the end, which did not seem to go with the character development up to that point.
This story may not have been fast paced, but it was very enjoyable!
I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

What a charming story of life on the quaint town of Hope Haven, on Dune Island. Books like this give a whole new perspective on places that the rest of the country may only visit on vacation.

This book had a delightful setting with lots of its own background stories, and believable and interesting characters who acted out an engaging plot and mystery to unravel.

Zoey has reached a crossroads in her life. The library where she worked has closed, which happened to coincide with her Aunt Sylvia becoming ill. After Aunt Sylvia dies, Zoey stays on to help Aunt Ivy deal with her grief and get used to life without her sister-in-law and constant companion. Soon, Zoey’s teen-aged niece needs a change of scenery to help her make better choices. Sending Gabi to stay with Aunt Zoey on Dune Island is a perfect solution, but suddenly parenting a teenager may complicate Zoey’s life even more.

When it seems like everything is falling into place, the possible wrench in her plans is cousin Mark trying to control it all. Suddenly Zoey is pulled in many different directions at once, trying to manage a life she’s getting used to in Hope Haven, while she’s also supposed to be getting her ‘real’ life as a librarian back on track.

Overall I’d give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was a fun story with a little more depth in its genealogy mystery. I hope there are more stories around Hope Haven and Aunt Ivy’s cottage.