Publication date: April 6, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction
Format: eARC
Source: HarperCollins/Harlequin
4 Stars
How do you start a new chapter when you haven’t closed the book on the last one?
Eighteen months ago, Autumn Divac’s husband went missing. Her desperate search has yielded no answers—she still has no idea where he went or why. After being happily married for twenty years, she can’t imagine moving forward without him, but for the sake of their two teenage children, she has to try.
Autumn takes her kids home for the summer to the charming beachside town where she was raised. She seeks comfort by working alongside her mother and aunt at their quaint bookshop, only to learn that her daughter is facing a life change neither of them saw coming and her mother has been hiding a terrible secret for years. And when she runs into Quinn Vanderbilt—the boy who stole her heart in high school—old feelings start to bubble up again. Is she free to love him, or should she hold out hope for her husband’s return? She can only trust her heart…and hope it won’t lead her astray.
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The Bookstore on the Beach focuses on three generations of women, each one dealing with life-altering issues and decisions.
Autumn’s husband disappeared eighteen months ago, and she has exhausted every resource to find him. Faced with the need to move forward for the sake of her teenage children (and herself), Autumn returns to Sable Point, the small beachside town where she was raised by her single mother. Once there she reconnects with her first love, Quinn, and is torn between holding onto the past or a promising future.
Mary, Autumn’s mother, made a life for herself in Sable Point years ago and owns a small bookstore. But her past is never far from her mind and she’s still haunted by the events that forever changed her life. She has evaded Autumn’s questions about her father for years and fears that the past is finally catching up with her.
Taylor, Autumn’s teenage daughter, is thankful for the summer escape to Sable Point. Life at home since her father’s disappearance has been stressful and led her to some reckless behavior. A new friend provides a much-needed connection, especially when Taylor is forced to face the consequences of her actions.
It was easy to empathize with each of these women and
that helped pull me into the story quickly. I will say that between the three
women there is a lot going on. The
drama included a missing person, the death of a parent, abduction, pregnancy, sexual
identity, a second chance romance… and at times it did teeter on the side of
melodrama. But for the most part, Novak kept it reined in and it never felt too
over the top. There were a few surprises and although the ending wrapped up
pretty quickly it was also completely satisfying. This cross between women’s
fiction and romance was a solid read and I wouldn’t hesitate to read more from
Novak.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance copy of this book for review. This does not impact my opinion of the book or the content of this review. I received no compensation and my review is voluntary.
Brenda Novak, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, has penned over sixty novels. She is a five-time nominee for the RITA Award and has won the National Reader's Choice, the Bookseller's Best, the Bookbuyer's Best, and many other awards. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.
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