The Boardwalk

When Sacha Collins, cafe owner and sundae-maker extraordinaire, meets Italian archaeologist, Alessandro Salvatore in Rome, she's grateful to him for being her tour guide. Now he’s turned up in the seaside village where she lives and is setting up a gelateria in direct competition to her retro Summer Sundaes Café. She's only been running her café for two years since taking over from her father. Until now the only other shops on the boardwalk have been a wool shop, an antique shop and a second-hand book shop.

Bella is happiest running her tiny antique business from the front room of her cottage on the boardwalk. To ensure she has enough income coming in, she also rents out two of her bedrooms and is hiding a secret crush on one of her lodgers.

When Lexi Davies discovers that her father has sold the fishermen’s cottages that she lives in and runs as holiday lets, she is furious and heartbroken. Lexi realises that her whole future at her beloved cottages is now over. New owner, handsome Scottish entrepreneur Oliver Whimsy arrives on the island in a blaze of glory and immediately upsets the locals. When he offers Lexi her old job, she’s unsure whether to accept but needing a roof over her head for the winter, she finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Pride does not pay the bills.

When artist Jools Jones’ new man, Finn Gallichan, leaves the Boardwalk to go travelling for several months she’s not too worried. She has her paintings to keep her busy and helps her grandmother run their second-hand bookshop, Boardwalk Books. She’s happy to wait for Finn’s return, to pick up where they left off, as absence makes the heart grow fonder – right? She’s soon drawn into helping Alan Hidrio trace a copy of a book he wrote years before and meets glass artist Marius Arnesen, who, fascinated by her paintings, offers her a place in an art exhibition.

Portia Fortescue has traded in the hustle and bustle of London to help renovate a magnificent French manor house on the beautiful island of Jersey with her boyfriend Charlie. But what they hoped would be a blissful escape to the chateau turns out to be more of a DIY SOS. As the winter snow sets in, the stress of restoring the derelict building begins to take its toll on their relationship. Portia has known heartbreak before, but thought she’d found her happy-ever-after with Charlie. Then, just as all seems lost, Portia and Charlie discover the warmth of the Boardwalk community.