Beach House Reunion

The Rutledge family has quite a history in the town of Charleston SC. This, book 5, picks up the history with Linnea graduating college and starting out on her own, and Cara reopening the beach house as her permanent home. While this is the fifth book In the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. Yes, some secrets are revealed that would otherwise be told in sequence, but Mary Alice Monroe’s writing keeps you engaged in the story regardless. I’ve always been a fan of beach stories. They are for good beach reads. They also are for brightening a winter day. Since this series revolves around the house and those who have inhabited it, the house becomes a central character of the story. I loved that Linnea is a kid of lost soul upon graduating college. How many of us have been in those shoes? While she has a degree in something she loves, she has no idea how to use this degree in the real world. The book clearly can resonate with those of us who have either been in that situation, or have kids going through that. Cara is suddenly a new mom her 50s. A single new mom trying to figure out how to manage a career and a child and a relocation back to the place of her youth and life before being single. Many women today are juggling all those balls trying to keep nay from dropping. Cara also needs to figure out her path, so it is only fitting that this book focuses on the two of them. Cara and Linnea are real people with real issues in a fabulous location. The characters are convincing, not fairytale people. The supporting cast are also well fleshed out. I felt as though I could actually picture these people and their lives. The addition of the sea turtle information was amazing. I enjoyed learning about sea turtles and their current plight. This adds to the realism of the story. I loved that the sea turtles had bound Rutledge women to them and the beach for years. I escape into this kind of fiction because I know that likely everything is going to work out In the end. It is almost what you would call “happy ending fiction.” Trials and tribulations abound for everyone, but the story ends on an upbeat note. I’m not left with a feeling of wanting when the book is over.

Cara was a successful fifty-three-year old businesswoman, who was experiencing motherhood for the first time. She was petrified of failing. Although Cara could handle complex business problems, she found bringing up a child to be much more challenging. She needed support. So Cara headed back to her roots. Cara wanted her daughter, to experience growing up on the Isle of Palms, like she did. She also wanted Hope to have the support of her family and friends. Although Cara had many happy memories from her childhood, she also had a good amount of painful ones. Although she loved spending time with her family, it broke her heart to discover, that her brother was following in their father’s footsteps. A fierce storm was brewing; a crisis that would bring the family down. No one likes pain, but many times it’s the catalyst needed, to force a change and start the healing process. Beach House Reunion is an emotional and well-written novel. It’s a book about, second chances, love, friendship, and forgiveness. Thank you, Gallery Books and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy.

The beach house is alive again! Cara Rutledge has come home to the Isle of Palms and Primrose Cottage to restart her life. At 53, she has adopted Hope, who is only a year old. She needs to build her career and find a way to lessen her grief from the loss of her husband, Brett. Since three years have gone by, she knows she needs to move on with life. Cara is flooded with memories as she settles in, especially of her mother, Lovie. A hint of jasmine is in the air. To help her with Hope, Cara hires Linnea, her brother Palmer’s daughter, to live with her for the summer. As the story unfolds, she finds that her brother Palmer’s family is in need. The tensions between Palmer, his wife Julia, and their young adult children, Linnea (22) and Cooper (18) are like a tropical storm building towards a hurricane. Linnea feels fortunate for being able to get away from all the turmoil. This multigenerational story deals with new beginnings, family struggles, love, and the beauty of the sea and its surroundings. Mary Alice Monroe’s vivid descriptions awakened my senses throughout this book. I saw the light from the moon reflecting on the water. I visualized the colors of the sunrises and sunsets. And the dolphins and loggerheads filled me with the awe that they deserve. Previous characters are brought back, and I especially squealed with delight when Toy, who is working with her beloved loggerheads at the aquarium, is a part of the story. The development of new loves from friendship is wonderful. I was drawn into the story from the first page to the last. I laughed like the dolphins, cried for the female loggerheads, and relished every moment. [I received an early copy for an honest review.]

Cara Rutledge longed for the comfort of her beachside home on Isle of Palms, SC. She needed to move forward with her life, but knew going home meant she would also need to face the painful memories from which she had fled three years earlier. Starting over is never easy, but with the help of friends and family, she found new strength to accept the changes, both good and bad, that inevitably come with life. Embracing Primrose Cottage’s tranquility and timely hints of her mother’s spirit, Cara is able to help her extended family heal from generational secrets and expectations, finally lay to rest her painful memories, and open her heart to new love and new beginnings.