A New Beginning (Hearts of Hope Bay #1)

Healing hearts, mending trust, and finding home by the sea…

After one disastrous night in London almost ends her career, junior doctor Lily Carter flees to the sleepy coastal town of Hope Bay. Her rules are keep her head down, do the job well, and never again be the doctor people whisper about in corridors.

A new town, a small community hospital, and a scruffy little flat above the harbour café feel like exactly the fresh start she needs. No drama. No gossip. And absolutely no getting involved with colleagues.

Dr Alex Maguire is Hope Bay born and bred. As the local GP and single dad to a bright, sensitive six-year-old, he doesn’t have time for complications. His days are a blur of ten-minute appointments, endless paperwork and trying to convince his son that he’s not going to leave like his mum did.

The last thing he needs is a keen junior doctor from London with big ideas, big feelings and questions about the way things have always been done. Especially one his son immediately adores.

When Lily’s first clinic with Alex ends in a clash over time, compassion and how much you can really do with limited time, it’s clear they see the job (and each other) very differently. He thinks she’s naive about how stretched the system is. She thinks he’s forgotten that patients are people, not problems to be solved and moved on.

And yet, between shared cases, a children’s flu clinic, and too many accidental coffees at Mae’s harbour café, the edges between them start to soften. Lily sees the exhaustion behind Alex’s brusque manner, and the fierce tenderness he has for his son. Alex sees the care and courage behind Lily’s determination to make people feel heard.

Hope Bay is a town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and rumours travel faster than the tide. If Lily and Alex are going to lower their guards, they’ll have to risk being seen; not just as doctors, but as two people still learning how to live with old wounds and new hopes.

A New Beginning is Book One in the Hearts of Hope Bay series, a heartfelt, slow-burn, closed-door contemporary romance set on the British coast.

• a grumpy-and-guarded single dad GP
• a burnt-out junior doctor from the city
• a small boy in dinosaur hoodies asking very big questions
• a meddling café owner who feeds everyone
• found family, second chances and a hopeful “for now” on the way to happily-ever-after

Alex & Lily’s story continues in future Hearts of Hope Bay books, each ending with a warm, satisfying HFN as they move towards their full HEA.