Healing the Heartbreak: Moving on in Devon

by Rebecca Paulinyi

Isla Moss thought she knew what love was.

But when her five year relationship ends in heartbreak, no home, and no job, she decides to take up her cousin's offer of a break in beautiful coastal Devon.

She expects sea, sand and perhaps some comfort for her shattered soul - but when she starts taking shifts at a local bookshop, could love be on the cards?

With the guidance of her cousin Caspian and the rest of his family, as well as the handsome Luca, can Isla heal her broken heart?

'Healing the Heartbreak' is Book Seven in 'The South West Series', but can be read as a standalone novel.

Genres: Romance

203 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2022

About the author

Rebecca Paulinyi was born in the South West of England in February 1992. She has been writing since she was a child, starting with short stories and poems that rarely got finished. Her weekly school assignment of writing a diary about the weekend provided a perfect platform to be inventive, with Rebecca's stories revolving around the aliens living on Planet Odd.

Writing has been her passion for years, and the unfinished stories became full length novels as she became a teenager. At eighteen she left home to go to York University, studying English Language and Linguistics, and following her graduation qualified as a teacher. Alongside writing two stand alone novels and a series, Rebecca teaches in a primary school in Bristol, where she lives with her husband and dog.

More information and updates on her writing progress can be found at rebeccapaulinyi.com

Reviews

[Susan in Perthshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasant story but I’m getting a bit fed up of the same theme cropping up. Heroine is betrayed/rejected by the guy she’s been with for aeons and she flees to another part of the country and then decides to stay and make a new life - and she meets the new hero. In between she takes on new income creating jobs and rebuilds her confidence. So I knocked a star off.

I found Isla a little unsympathetic to start with and could not understand how she’d got to 28 and not managed to build up anything of her own and allow herself to be so utterly dependant in every way, on Toby.

I really prefer dual POV and I didn’t like that we never got inside Luca’s head until he actually told Isla what he was thinking and feeling. So I knocked another star off.

Unfortunately Isla’s reluctance to move in with Luca at the end just bumped me out of the romance. The whole point of a romantic ending is to show the two protagonists trust each other and trust their relationship. Isla thee a bucket of cold water over their whole love story. So I knocked another star off.

[Julie Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Isla after 5 years with Toby he tells her he no longer loves her and she is devastated. She takes up her cousins offer to stay in Devon with family. She gets a part time job in a bookshop and realises that the owner Luca lost his wife 4 years ago but there is definitely a chemistry between them but they both have been broken.

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isla is someone I could relate to so easily. Starting her life over and fresh in a new place is a start. She has some things to work through but the people around her and Luca helped her get to a new place. It was a great story.

[Gerrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars