Tag: #BeachRead

Book Review: Pleasant Bay

Full disclosure: I grew up with this author. We both lived in the same small town and went to middle and high school together. That being said, it bears no influence on my review (simply put, if I didn’t LOVE this book, I just wouldn’t take the time to write a review).

If you are looking for a beach read, stop, I’ve found it. Pleasant Bay is an absolute FANTASTIC summer read and left me with that tough decision…do I fly through the book and finish it or do I savor this and enjoy every second with these characters? Well…I devoured it and am now left with an incredible book hangover.

Pleasant Bay goes back and forth between 2002 and 2019. The unique part to this story is that in 2002 we are reading things from Sarah’s perspective. In 2019 we are reading in present day, from her daughter’s perspective.

Sarah spends a summer with her aunt in Cape Cod. It’s about to be her senior year in college and she’s living up life waitressing to save up money. She’s had an absolutely crap year with a breakup and her father falling ill. Can a summer in Cape Cod save her sanity?

Madelyn, Sarah’s daughter, also spends a summer in Cape Cod with her great aunt to help give her a break from her single mother. It’s the summer between her sophomore and junior year of high school and her boyfriend happens to be a senior about to go away to college. The nerve her mother has to send her away!

Can I add in some family drama? Madelyn has no idea who her father is. Her mother has kept this from her, but why. Well…no spoilers here, but she’s a teen who won’t stop until she figures her life out.

5 stars.  SOLID read, perfect for laying by the pool or at the beach. What I appreciated the most with this, was how the writing changed between characters. Sarah in 2002 is written like a college student. Sarah in 2019 is a total typical teen who thinks they know better. I could say so, so much more, but that would ruin what makes this book so special. Just know that I laughed and I cried. I love a good epilogue and this one delivers just that!



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Title: Pleasant Bat

Author: Emily Wakeman Cyr

Genre(s): Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance

Publisher: Novelist Next Door

Release Date: July 31, 2023

Find it here on Goodreads

Blog Tour: Summertime Guests @wendyfrancis4 #mystery #summertime #readme

Thank you to Lia Ferrone and Harper Collins for my advance copy of Summertime Guests in exchange for my honest review!

This is a PERFECT summertime beach read. I don’t even know where to begin with this one!

We follow the story of four different couples, an engaged couple looking to be married soon, a couple that is dating, a couple that has been married for awhile with a newborn child, and a widow who embarks to possibly be with the man she thinks she should have been with.

Each couple has their back story and each couple makes gains through this novel. What is most interesting is it all takes place in Boston at the Seafarer Hotel. That is what they have in common. Their problems? They’re all different. But (most) all manage to see the light and work through them through a little self discovery.

Actually, the most interesting part of this story is it starts off with a death. But you don’t know who died. So we go through a few days of these couples at the hotel and it all unfolds. I was shocked at the end.

4 stars.  This was part mystery, part domestic fiction, and part could it be romance all rolled into one. It was truly a breath of fresh air and unlike many of the summer beach reads out there now. If you’re looking for something inbetween light and heavy, this is a great read for you!

Title: Summertime Guests

Author: Wendy Francis

Genre(s): Domestic Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Publisher: Graydon House

Release Date: April 6, 2021

Find it here on Goodreads