I knew the author sounded familiar when I saw this interesting cover and was immediately drawn in to find out what the book was about. I didn't look her up until after completing the book that I have previously read The Red Door Inn and A Dazzle of Diamonds both written by her. Beyond the Tides (Prince Edward Island Shores) by Liz Johnson is the first book in a new series about Prince Edward Island and growing up with the island life. I couldn't wait to get started and find out more about it.
When Meg Whitaker's father decides to sell the family's lobster-fishing
business to her high school nemesis, she sets out to prove she should
inherit it instead. Though she's never had any interest in running the
small fleet--or even getting on a boat due to her persistent
seasickness--she can't stand to see Oliver Ross take over. Not when he
ruined her dreams for a science scholarship and an Ivy League education
ten years ago.
Oliver isn't proud of what he did back then. Angry
and broken by his father walking out on his family, he lashed out at
Meg--an innocent bystander. But owning a respected fishing fleet on
Prince Edward Island is the opportunity of a lifetime, and he's not
about to walk away just because Meg wants him to.
Meg's father
has the perfect solution: Oliver and Meg must work the business
together, and at the end of the season, he'll decide who gets it. Along
the way, they may discover that their stories are more similar than they
thought . . . and their dreams aren't what they expected.
I thought this was great book with wonderful characters that made it really hard to put it down. I started reading it before bed one night just to see what it was about and ended up staying up half the night to see what was going to happen next. From the relationship between father and daughter and the relationship with the boating community, this book made you wonder what was going to happen next for these characters. I was immediately taken with Meg Whitaker and felt everything she felt through the story. She gave up her dreams to move home when her mother got sick and gave up even more when her father decided to walk away from the business. She decided that she couldn't let her father sell the company that she has known all her life that was her family legacy. She quit her job as the high school teacher in the community to go to work on the fishing boat. The biggest hurdle was that she got seasick so just setting foot in the boat was hard to handle but the worst part is that the person she hated the most was the person that she had to work with every day. Not only that, if she gave up the family business then he would be the one that got to buy it. Meg was determined not to let her bitter rival, Oliver Ross, take away her family company. Oliver was equally relatable because he was a nice guy who had a tough time growing up with his father leaving when he was young and his brother leaving more in the past 10 years to pursue his hockey career playing in the NHL. Both had left and never looked back to the small Canadian town of Prince Edward Island. Oliver's whole life has been working on the boat and he wasn't willing to give it up without a fight even if that meant that he would have to work along side the person that was his biggest regret. I don't want to ruin the story but there are amazing twists and turns with the great characters of Meg's mom and dad and Oliver's mom and younger brother as well as all the other people in the small town. I know that you will want to pick up this book and be transported to the small ocean town and learn all about what the lobster business means to both Oliver and Meg and everyone else in the small town.
**I was given a copy of the book for my review but all opinions here are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
