Review: The Secrets of Maiden's Cove, by Erin Palmisano

This review is from our series of reviews by LIANZA members. ‘One from the land, one from the sea. Summer soul sisters forever shall we be’.

Strange lights flicker across Chesapeake Bay, bringing with it a storm full of changes for residents. Are the mermaids ready to be called in to shore? Will the bioluminescent lights show up again? Will Grace ever be free to be herself again?

Maiden’s Cove is a close-knit fishing community where everyone knows everyone, and there may or may not be a mermaid in residence. Grace Cleary has been away for some years now, but the tragic loss of her father and ructions in her marriage bring her home. Home to the Cove, home to her family, and home to her heart.

Her father’s restaurant is now her main priority. How to keep the doors open whilst trying to reconnect with the magic of the Cove? Grace has a team of supporting characters: her daughter and friend have come with her from Phoenix, Arizona, and are there every step of the way to help Grace heal, grow, and get her life back on track.

Do mermaids really exist in Maiden’s Cove? If you asked people who lived there 15 years ago, they would have said ‘why yes, our lovely Isla is clearly one!’. The theme of mermaids adds a very whimsical element to the story, but you can still feel darkness is lurking around the corner.

Grace and Isla meet in the summer of 2002, when they are 12. Grace calls out to the world for a best friend, and the world brings Isla to her dad’s restaurant. Every summer after that Isla and Grace are inseparable, and you will often find them in the water. When Isla leaves at the end of each summer Grace returns to life as usual, but feels incomplete. As they get older, there are changes. Love, heartbreak and running away.

Back in Maiden’s Cove without her husband, Grace finds herself drawn to the water on sleepless nights, calling for Isla.

The two women reconnect and fight for Cleary’s Crab Shack to be the best restaurant in the Chesapeake Bay area, and also to save Grace from the clutches of an angry man who does not like to lose, especially when it comes to his wife and daughter. Richard seems like the perfect husband and father, but behind closed doors he has a vision for how Grace should conduct herself at all times. While he seems to accept his wife leaving, Richard’s revenge has been brewing away.

A cozy read, with romance sparking in the kitchen, you will be swept away with the magical shimmering waters of Maiden’s Cove. If you are looking for your next light read, then look no further than The Secrets of Maiden’s Cove for a feel-good, heart-warming story to keep you warm on cold nights, dreaming of the ocean. Reviewed by Rochelle Ganderton