Blue Heron Cottages Series by Kay Correll: Books 5, 6, and 7

 I decided to do an update on this series. I've been reading it for a few months and mostly enjoying it. The first book was definitely the best one, but I've enjoyed revisiting these characters in each book. It's a cozy romantic women's fiction series that kind of reminds me of the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber, only I like this one better. It's not complex and it's not amazing, but it hits the spot for me when I'm between those kinds of reads, and looking for something light and easy to read. One thing I've noticed is that all this authors series seem to be tied together by characters that cross over from one of the towns in her other series. That has me mildly interested in trying a couple of the others.

 

Lilacs by the Sea (Blue Heron Cottages #5) by Kay Correll

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Women's Fiction
Content: Clean

 

Francine Winters—Frankie to her family and friends—doesn’t know how she got to this point in her life. Her marriage is falling apart. Will moved into the guest bedroom and their marriage is crumbling.

They’re considering a trial separation but haven’t told their grown daughters yet.

Which is too bad because…

The last thing she needs is the surprise family vacation the girls plan.

And to make things worse? They planned it at the very place she and Will had honeymooned. A celebration for their fortieth anniversary.

Frankie is sure she can make it through this. It’s only one week, right? Then they’ll tell their daughters the truth.

But a lot can happen when you come to stay at Blue Heron Cottages…

 

This was probably my least favorite book of the series, but that doesn't mean it was bad. I was still pretty glued to this one, even though the character Frankie really annoyed me at times. She jumped to some big conclusions and instead of confronting her husband about what she thought she saw, she assumed it was true and wouldn't talk to him. I think what really annoyed me about her is that after she made up her mind it was true, she then went and told her daughter about it and upset her with it. Ugh! Not good! But as I said I was still pretty glued to this book and there were enough good things about it to sort of make up for that part.

 

The Flower Shop on Magnolia (Blue Heron Cottages #6) by Kay Correll

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Women's Fiction
Content: Clean

 Fate brought them together. But will Daisy's promises keep them apart?

Daisy’s new flower shop in Moonbeam has a nice steady flow of customers. But it’s so different from back home in Colorado.

No, Colorado was not home. Not anymore. She can never return. Not after what happened.

Jack moves to Moonbeam to help take care of his mother, though his mom insists she doesn’t need help. Okay, so maybe he just wants a change and uses his mom as an excuse. But what he really needs is to find a place to live.

Luckily, Daisy’s neighbor needs a renter and Jack ends up living next door to Daisy. What starts as a friendship quickly blossoms into something more.

But Daisy made two promises to herself. Promise swearing off having a relationship. But her heart tells her it might be okay to take a chance with Jack. Maybe.

Then disaster strikes. Even if she would consider breaking the first promise, she will not break the second one. She can’t. And a relationship with Jack would shatter that promise into tiny grains of sand.

But Moonbeam has a way of weaving its charm through the lives of the people in town. One never knows what may happen...

This was another cute feel good story. I really liked Daisy and Jack and the way she learned to trust him. One thing I do wish though, would be that we would revisit the characters from previous books more than we do. We did get the continued progression of one other couple's relationship in this one, and there are certain characters that are always in the books. Mainly Rose and Violet, and I love them, but we don't get to see some of the others as much.

 

Christmas by the Bay (Blue Heron Cottages #7) by Kay Correll

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Women's Fiction
Content: Clean

 

Violet is all about the holiday season this year — her first one as owner of Blue Heron Cottages. But what she isn’t expecting for Christmas is meeting Danny Parker - no relation to the Moonbeam Parkers. Danny and his daughter come to stay at the cottages for the holidays and his daughter is not pleased. At all.
 

Rose returns to the cottages to be surrounded by friends, but her heart aches as she prepares to spend her first Christmas without her beloved Emmett.
 

Aspen is sure Walker is hiding something. Or maybe he’s losing interest in her… Then, to make things worse, her sister cancels plans to come to the cottages for Christmas.
 

Can Moonbeam and the Blue Heron Cottages weave their magic and provide the perfect Christmas for everyone?
 

Continue on with the Blue Heron Cottages series, a touching saga of love, resilience, and the profound connections we stumble upon in the unlikeliest of places. It's a journey through love, loss, and ultimately, the transformative power of friendship.

 

I enjoyed this addition to the series more than some of the others. Violet finally gets to find love and I enjoyed how things developed between her and Danny. I also enjoyed how the book showed, in the case of Danny's teenage daughter, that the type of friends we have can make a big difference in our lives and influence us for good or bad. I do think things were solved way too easily but this is feel good fiction, so it didn't bother me all that much. I liked that we got a bigger peek into Rose's life in this book, and a friend for her. Only one more book to go before I finish the series.