Book Review: Summer at Shell Cottage - L. Diamond

I grabbed this novel from the library mainly as the day was dull and rainy and the title made me think of sun, sand and summer. The first thought was that to be chick lit, it was quite thick.
The first few pages of the novel are lovely, the description of this young newlyweds finding this cozy cottage by chance is charming. Then it goes into the other characters in the book, the couple's grown up kids and their partner and the grandchildren. Each of them has issues or any way is leaving a troubling period in their lives, plus they are all grieving for the death of their father Alec.
And then the bombshell, which I am not going to spoil, but which will turn all the nice thoughts you had for some of the people in the book.
This is what I liked. What I did not like and I think the story could have lived perfectly without, was all the other big themes thrown in, which made the novel thick and me bored through some of the chapters.
In summary a nice enough summary, light read, but a bit too long for what the story is.

Overall rating: 6,5   Plot: 6   Writing style: 6,5    Cover: 6,5

Title:Summer at Shell Cottage
Author: Lucy Diamond
Publisher: Pan MacMillan 
Pages: 480
Publication year: 2015

Plot:
A seaside holiday at Shell Cottage in Devon has always been the perfect escape for the Tarrant family. Beach fun, barbecues and warm summer evenings with a cocktail or two… who could ask for more? But this year, everything has changed. Following her husband’s recent death, Olivia is struggling to pick up the pieces. Then she makes a shocking discovery that turns her world upside down. A busy mum and GP, Freya’s used to having her hands full, but a bad day at work has put her career in jeopardy and now she’s really feeling the pressure. Harriet’s looking forward to a break with her husband Robert and teenage daughter Molly. But unknown to Harriet, Robert is hiding a secret – and so, for that matter, is Molly…

The Author:
From the author page:
First of all, a confession. My name isn’t really Lucy Diamond at all, it’s Sue Mongredien. I’ve used a pen name because ‘Diamond’ is a lot easier to spell and pronounce than ‘Mongredien’ and also because I’ve written lots of children’s books too and wanted to keep the genres separate. (There is actually another Lucy Diamond on Amazon who writes religious children’s books. That isn’t me, though.) I was born in 1970 and grew up in Nottingham. I read English at Leeds University then moved to London and worked for various publishers before I packed it all in to go travelling around the world for a year and a half. When I came back to the UK, I worked in publishing again, then moved to the BBC. I now live in Bath with my husband and three young children and divide my time between writing and looking after them. .