COTTAGE BY THE SEA by Robin Jones Gunn is a clean, wonderful story of family, faith, love, healing, and forgiveness.  COTTAGE BY THE SEA is the story of Erin Bryce.  She has just started a wedding planning business with her best friend, Sharlene, which is called The Happiest Day.  The very first day that their business is opened Erin gets the dreaded phone call that her father has had a stroke.  He lives in a small town on the coast of Oregon and Erin leaves Southern California to go to her father.  Her father has remarried and Erin doesn't like his wife, Delores very much.  As soon as she gets there, her tension level is stretched to its limits when she has to deal with Delores.

Fast forward to almost a year and a half later and Erin has learned that her father is not doing so well. It seems he has had quite a few strokes since she has seen him last.  She is furious at Delores for not telling her but, Delores tells her she was just following her fathers wishes.  Erin isn't buying any of it and drives back up to see her Dad.  While she is there, Delores tells her this isn't what she signed up for and has no intention of staying and taking care of her dad while he slowly dies.  Erin is besides herself and decides to stay for the long haul and take care of her father.  She gives up everything in her life to be there for her dad. She will not walk away from him when he needs her the most.  Along the way, she learns so much from her father and they do a lot of reminiscing about her mother. She starts to understand why her father is the way he is.

I finished COTTAGE BY THE SEA with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. This was my first book by Robin and it won't be my last. She has written over eighty books and now I want to read them all. She has a way of pulling you in right from the very first page and doesn't let you go until she is finished with her story.  This story will pull at your heart strings as your heart breaks for Erin and her father. It will also make you smile and warm your heart as they reconnect and bond as the illness takes father away from her.  Robin is an outstanding writer and I'm so excited to read more of her books. After you read COTTAGE BY THE SEA I'm sure you will be hooked as well. Keep the tissues handy!

Book Summary

From bestselling and award-winning author Robin Jones Gunn—a poignant novel about a woman who must care for her ill and elderly father, hoping to mend both his health and their relationship.

Erin’s new business as a wedding planner is running at full speed and her empty nest years are full of promise when she receives a call that puts everything on hold: her estranged father has had a stroke. The twinkle is fading from Jack O’Riley’s Irish eyes and his calloused second wife leaves, making it clear this is not what she signed up for.

Suddenly Erin’s visit to her father’s cottage by the sea is extended indefinitely. At first the task before her is as daunting as the wild Oregon coast that has become her unwanted second home. Yet in the many hours she spends beside her ailing father, Erin finds a treasure hidden in the darkness. She reaches out and, at long last, receives the gift of healing