Review copy provided by Gallery Books
Series: The Beach House (Book 5)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books (May 22, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1501193295
ISBN-13: 978-1501193293
Description: 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. (publisher)
My take: Readers return to Isle Of Palms, South Carolina to find Cara moving back to her mother’s beloved cottage for a new chapter in her life. She’s been a widow for three years but there are changes – one big one that has set in motion a few more. Cara’s niece Linnea is a recent college graduate without a job offer so she jumps at the chance to join her aunt on Isle of Palms for the summer. The two women will find a few surprises on the island but will also learn if they have what it takes to stand up when faced with challenges. I really enjoyed the story of the Rutledge women. Mary Alice Monroe wove into her story the environmental thread of the annual trek of the sea turtles. Each chapter began with facts about the turtles and their plight. With the support of mindful people they’ll continue to do what they do – just like the women in Beach House Reunion. This is book 5 in the series but it can stand alone. The author does a good job of catching up readers who haven’t read the previous books.
About the author:
Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one novels and three children’s books. She has received numerous awards, including the RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, the Florida Book Festival Distinguished Author Award, and The SC Academy of Authors inducted Monroe into the Literary Hall of Fame in 2018. Her bestselling novel The Beach House will be a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie set to premiere in April, 2018, starring three-time Golden Globe nominee Andie MacDowell, Minka Kelly, and Chad Michael Murray. Mary Alice is an active conservationist and lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
While in Florida last month I passed this sign on my way to the beach each day. It always brought to mind Mary Alice Monroe’s novels.
Bookfan 