I saw recently that following the end of the lockdown process only 9% of people want to return to life as it was before lockdown. That's 91% of us who want our normal to change in someway. Our normal looks very different now. I spend all day with my lovely husband as he now works from home. I appreciate that this makes us one of the lucky ones and my thoughts and prayers are very much with you if you have lost someone to this dreadful illness or are struggling in any way.

Our pace of life is much slower. We speak with our families and friends more than ever, Zoom has become a staple of our home life. I bake more and we spend and appreciate much more time in nature. We were delighted to see 10 newborn ducklings on one of our walks recently and have become expert butterfly spotters! We do shopping runs for our neighbours and socially distanced book swaps. We give thanks in our communities to all those who work to ensure the country carries on as well as the brave NHS workers potentially putting their lives at risk by going to work.

This preamble above is a bit of a metaphor for First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan. I do like to go on somewhat! A young woman, Emily arrives on Puffin Island in Maine with her young niece Lizzy. Lizzy is in shock following the loss of her Hollywood starlet Mother, and Emily's estranged Sister, killed in a tragic car crash. Emily is battling her own demons following a childhood tragedy coping with a fear of the water and trying to keep a niece safe who she barely knows. Her old life as a high powered business advisor and girlfriend to a man she feels little connection with now seems a million miles away.

The islanders take Emily and Lizzy into their hearts and community and with the help of handsome Ryan Cooper, Emily's heart starts to heal. Emily leaves behind her normal hectic lifestyle in New York and finds a much slower pace at which to live. (hmmm that sounds a bit familiar).

This book forms the first part of the Puffin Island Trilogy which centre around 3 friends; Emily, Brittany and Skylar and the bonds they have with each other.

The last Sarah Morgan book I read was 'A Wedding in December' which I loved and true to form this is a great opener for the trilogy. I'm already looking forward to reading the other two. Morgan writes beautifully about Puffin Island and its community and it was this that held my attention the most. I wanted to be there, and have lobster in butter at Ryan's restaurant. The romance part is slightly predicable but this is not a bad thing. In these very strange times it is actually what we need, we want to be lifted up not depressed and everyone loves a good romance! A joyful, happy read that smells of summer days.

So I would take this on holiday and enjoy reading this lazing on a beach with a pina colada or, if we are still unable to travel, sat outside with a no bake banana split....and a pina colada. Enjoy my loves!