Sandpiper Island. Donna Kauffman

Sandpiper Island
Donna Kauffman
Publisher: Kensington
Date: 26th August 2014
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 336
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Ford Maddox was running from his past when he came back to Blueberry Cove, Maine, where he'd tasted both heartache and comfort. With feisty Delia O'Reilly there to cheer him on, he couldn't have picked a better place to start over—even if he's determined to do it alone in his island tree house, working to save endangered seabirds . . . and himself.

But when he finds Delia fighting to hold on to her local diner, and all that's best about their little seaside town, Ford has to lend a hand. Suddenly two fiercely independent people are building something sweeter than they ever imagined . . . together. DIY is so much better with two...

Sandpiper Island is #3 in the Bachelors of Blueberry Cove series by Donna Kauffman.  While it is part of a series, this book is easily read as a stand alone.

Ford is a recluse, he lives on Sandpiper Island where he does research on the bird population and generally keeps an eye out for their welfare.  He has pretty much closed himself off from people, he has been a soldier and carries within him the horrors of war, plus his good friend Tommy - also Delia's brother, died in his arms on the battlefield.  

Delia has nurtured her small town restaurant, her Gran then Delia have always cooked there, it is a part of the small town life.  Delia has experienced the loss of her Gran and brother, and her first husband walked out on her because he wanted to do his thing, and she wanted to keep the restaurant.

Now Brooks Winstock wants the site her restaurant is on so that he can build his yacht club.  He has bent the ear of the local mayor and it looks like Delia is about to lose the restaurant.  Up until now she has a lease agreement with the local body, but now that lease agreement is finished.  Is Delia's restaurant finished too?  Does she want to combat the ideas of the few rich people in the area, so that she can carry on doing what she has always done, and allow Blueberry Cove keep its small town, local feel. The problem is Delia feels unsettled, she hankers after something more in her life - what is it?

Ford hears about the trouble and comes into town, with the purpose of helping Delia out, although Delia isn't that easy to help out, at first she is not quite ready to let Ford in.  However she is having pretty sexy dreams about him!

I found it a little difficult to fully engage with the characters of Ford and Delia, I wanted to love them and the story itself, but it left me a little disappointed.  The book is well written, the setting is wonderful, I just wanted the plot to zing a little more.