Temptation under the summer sun…
After her home and livelihood are demolished by developers, Fae agrees to house and dog-sit for her wealthy stepsister in Bondi Beach.
She’s a fish out of water in this glamorous setting, and her guard is up when she encounters gorgeous neighbour Rick and his adorable Great Dane. But the philanthropic billionaire quickly challenges her perceptions, and their intense chemistry explodes into a passionate—but strictly temporary—flirtation.
Because it’s clear Rick doesn’t trust easily…and Fae can never truly belong in his affluent world—can she? Yet it’s increasingly hard to imagine their trysts ever ending!
| Title: | What Happens at the Beach |
| Author: | Rachael Stewart |
| Series: | / |
| Pages: | 204 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Harlequin / Mills & Boon True Love |
| Trope(s): | Forced / Close Proximity Neighbours to Lovers Opposites Attract |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Bondi Beach, Australia |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 27th February, 2025 |
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Sunshine and love
I’m always so happy when a new story from Rachael Stewart drops onto my kindle. She has a way with words that always draws me in and whatever she’s writing – I’m excited to get stuck in. This time it’s a Mills & Boon True Love story that’s getting us into the summer groove as Rick and Fae find that opposites attract as new neighbours in sun-soaked Bondi Beach.
First thing – the cover. It perfectly depicts both Rich and Fae and I love that. From the first, you get a picture of what our pair look like and that’s exactly how I imagined them in my head.
Fae (without the y) has lost her home and her livelihood – as well as her mother to a new marriage. Feeling completely lost, she agrees to house-sit at her step-sister’s beach mansion – as well as her pampered pooch poodle, Precious. From the first, Fae is grumpy, snarky and has a massive chip on her shoulder. I loved her. She was so real and it was delightful to see a heroine that’s properly grumpy. I don’t know what it says about me that I really saw myself in her.
If Fae is grumpy then Rich is definitely the sunshine. But I liked him just as much as I did Fae herself. Also like Fae, he had his baggage but Bondi – and Fae – really made him come out of his aristocratic shell and live a little. Oh yes, Rick is actually Lord Cedric Alexander Pennington. I didn’t have any problem with his plummy Englishness – but I did like how Fae took an instant dislike to him. Even if he really was a sweetheart.
“I mean, it was a given that this story was going to be spectacular – but it absolutely was.”
Rick and Fae have a lot of similarities but also a lot of differences. They were both a little bit broken and bruised by life but together they really brought out the best in each other. It was a little slow to action, but definitely not slow in attraction or sizzle. You know there’s good chemistry when you’re all but shouting “Kiss! Kiss!” at your Kindle! The majority of the action happens behind closed doors but it just works with the feel of the story.
I really liked the push and pull of our pair’s relationship. Both said and did things that caused tension but each also took accountability, grew and made their burgeoning relationship their priority. Like our couple themselves, it felt real – and I’m always pleased when I honestly believe our couple will make it for their happily ever after. And the fact that Fae and Sasha go their sisterly happily ever after made me smile, too.
I also have to give an honorary mention to the secondary romance pair in the story – Precious and Rick’s Great Dane, Ralph. I love a good doggy love story and this one was super cute.
This is a stand-alone story but there is a free companion tale, It Started at the Beach, available on the Mills & Boon website. This tells the story of how Fae’s stepsister, Sasha, finds her happily ever after with her best friend. I really liked getting to know Sasha and Gigi and it enhanced my joy of the main story as I was already invested.
I mean, it was a given that this story was going to be spectacular – but it absolutely was. The writing was superb and I was on that gorgeous Australian beach with our wonderful couple and living every moment along with them. A highly recommended book to bring some sunshine and love into your life. 5 stars.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review.*
Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.
She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.
A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.
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