A Fabulous Series Finale

Happy Ever After In Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen is another wonderful offering that will wrap around you as you read. It is the ninth and final book in the Bellbird Bay series which has been a total delight. Each visit has felt like a hug in a book and I am sorry that the series has ended.

Bellbird Bay is a place we all want to visit – if only for a few hours as we sink into the books. Bellbird Bay is a place of community, care and compassion. It is where people look out for each other as lives are entwined.

It is a pure delight to meet up with familiar faces as we focus in on a different main character in each book. All are absolutely charming, likable and realistic. I love the fact that many of the characters are over fifty and show that life is for living and having fun whatever your age.

We see the new set of problems that elderly parents bring – dementia that robs us of our loved one’s piece by piece while they are still alive. Also, there is the problem of diminishing independence after an accident, meaning that assisted lived is needed. This is met with stubbornness and fear – fear of selling the family home and losing memories. “I remember Mum there … but you’d take your memories with you.” Memories are always portable.

At the opposite end of the scale, we meet a teen from Britain whose father wants him to study law but this is stifling. “What a relief it is to get out from under Dad’s expectations for me.” People should be free to live their own dreams.

There are accidental misunderstandings as well as deliberate misdirection. Both threaten to derail lives. And there is match-making as happy fulfilled couples believe their loved ones need a push in order to find a partner.

I have adored my trips to Bellbird Bay. It feels like the end of an era but I am looking forward to greeting familiar faces as they pop up in Maggie Christensen’s new series set in the nearby fictional town of Pelican Crossing.

I received a free copy from the author. A favorable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON