My thoughts…

This is the 5th book in the Beach House Series and it didn’t disappoint! Much like the four books before this one, it was light, airy, coastal and gripping from start to finish. These books make Summer what it is and are fantastic books to read whether you’re on an escape in the Sun or wishing you were. The complicated family dynamics and very true to life dramas and dilemmas are well written and sensitively handled throughout the book. It was absolutely wonderful to meet some new and some familiar characters – Human and otherwise!

About the Book…

Whisking you back to the shores of her bestselling Beach House series, Mary Alice Monroe weaves together a tale of the struggles and triumphs of the historic Rutledge family of Charleston, South Carolina. Beautifully wrought and rich with keen insight, this is an illuminating tale of new beginnings, resilience, and one family’s enduring love.

Cara Rutledge returns to her Southern home on the idyllic Isle of Palms. Everything is comfortingly the same, yet each detail is rife with painful memories. Only through reconnecting with family, friends, and the rhythms of the lowcountry can Cara release the hold of the past and open herself to the possibility of a new love, career, and hope for the future.

Meanwhile, her niece Linnea, a recent college graduate who doesn’t know where her life will take her, leaves her historic home in Charleston, with all its entitlement and expectations, and heads to her aunt’s beach house. On the island, she is part of the freer, natural ocean lifestyle she loves, rejoining the turtle team, learning to surf, and falling in love. Remembering the lessons of her beloved grandmother, Lovie, the original “turtle lady,” Linnea rediscovers a meaningful purpose to her life and finds the courage she needs to break from tradition.

In this heartwarming novel, three generations of the Rutledge family gather together to find the strength, love, and commitment to break destructive family patterns and to forge new bonds that will endure long beyond one summer reunion.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publication: 2018

About the Author…

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of 27 books, including the Beach House series: The Beach HouseSwimming LessonsBeach House MemoriesBeach House for RentBeach House Reunion, On Ocean Boulevard, and her latest The Summer of Lost and Found.

More than 7.5 million copies of her books have been published worldwide, and she’s earned numerous accolades and awards, including: Induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; the Southwest Florida Author of Distinction Award; South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the prestigious Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.

Monroe is the co-creator and co-host of the weekly web show and podcast Friends and Fiction featuring the five bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Kristin Harmel, and Patti Callahan Henry with endless stories, special guests, and a way to connect readers and writers.

Monroe is captivated by the beauty and fragility of the wild habitat around her. In particular, the coastal southern landscape became a strong and important focus of many of her novels.  Monroe immerses herself in both academic research and hands-on/volunteering to learn about a species or conservation issue. Then, she uses the knowledge and experiences working with animals and the wildlife experts to craft captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, shorebirds, and loggerhead sea turtles are among the wild species she has worked with and woven into her novels.

Connect with the Author…

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

Are you looking for a Bookish environment to talk all things books? Then look no further than The Fiction Cafe – don’t forget to answer the membership questions in order to join. We welcome Authors and Readers and there are lots of exciting happenings in the group! Our Book of the Month Read A Longs happen there too.

No responses yet

Leave a Reply