Daisy Wickens is back home in Ottercombe Bay, but she's already ready to leave again. After traveling for the last several years throughout Europe, Daisy doesn't want to stick around in the small English village that holds all her most unhappy memories of her childhood. But her Great Uncle Reg has other plans.
Reg has passed on, but he left Daisy the old train station. The abandoned, dilapidated station isn't much to look at, but if Daisy is willing to follow the instructions in Reg's will, it's all hers to keep or to sell. And all Reg asks of her is one year. Daisy has to stay in Ottercombe Bay for a full year before she can get her train station as well as a third of his liquid assets, which is more money than Daisy ever made waiting tables around Europe.
And while her Aunt Coral is delighted to have her back in town and wants her to stay, and her old school friends Tamsyn and Jason are excited to have her stick around for awhile, old school friend Max already thinks she's overstayed her welcome and Reg's pug Bugsy Malone agrees wholeheartedly.
Daisy has to decide to stay or to go. There are thousands of reasons to stay--all that money from Reg's will could provide her with traveling money for quite awhile, and South America is calling her name. But there's a really good reason to leave--the thought that her mother's drowning may have been self-inflicted breaks her heart, and Daisy doesn't know how to figure out the truth or face the possibility that her mother left her and her father by her own hand.
Ottercombe Bay: Part One--Where There's a Will begins Daisy's story and leaves us with enough questions to head right to part two. Bella Osborne has created a fun start to a story that has so many possibilities. Daisy is a diamond-in-the-rough, but she is surrounded by people who genuinely care about her, so she has every chance to grow. And with a little encouragement, I think she'll grow some roots in Ottercombe Bay. I know I would if I could.
Galleys for Ottercombe Bay were provided by Avon Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.