Review: A Cottage by the Sea

A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is closer to 3.5 stars. It's a good time-slip romance / historical fiction set in Cornwall, with smugglers' caves and secret passageways in the background and a lot of drama in the foreground. There's a messy, public divorce, family conflicts, dealing with the death of loved ones, child-rearing philosophy, cultural differences between modern Americans and Brits, career upheaval, tea drinking, gardening, and crystal ball hypnosis. A strange mix of 90s psycho-babble and historical romance / tragedy.

It's also very long for this kind of story, and felt like it at times. My favorite time-slips so far are by Susanna Kearsley, and hers feel much less weighted down and less all over the place with romance novel themes. Still, I did like it even though the drama got to be a bit much at times. I do wish there was more time spent in the tunnels and caves, and by the sea, but in spite of the setting, the sea was just a backdrop, and the smuggler aspect was definitely not the focus.



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