Title: The Beach House
Author: Jenny Hale
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: June 9, 2021
Page Count: 322
My rating: 5 stars
About the book:
An absolutely gorgeous and heartwarming read about finding love where you least expect it, new beginnings, and how family is always with you, no matter where you are. Fans of Susan Mallery, Pamela Kelley, and Mary Alice Monroe will adore this romantic page-turner.
When her gram passes away, Melanie Simpson feels utterly lost. But her grandmother’s will gives her a purpose: an inheritance to buy a crumbling house in Rosemary Bay. They used to visit the village every summer, sit by the sparkling water on a beach the color of pearl, and daydream about turning the place on the corner into a bed and breakfast.
On her first night in her new hometown, Melanie meets local contractor and landowner Josh Claiborne, whose eyes match the dazzling sea. Melanie plans to restore the beach house to its original glory, and Josh is the perfect person to help renovate the wrap-around porch weathered by the coastal breeze and the peeling white paint faded by the sun.
But hiding in a closet is a yellowing stack of letters that could change everything. The looping handwriting reveals the mystery of the rickety house—a buried history that touches everyone in Rosemary Bay. Will its secrets bring Melanie and Josh together or tear them apart?
The Beach House by Jenny Hale is a wonderful new contemporary romance read. While this one is mainly focusing on a building romance in the current time there was also a bit of mystery brought into the story through the history of the house and finding letters belonging to the previous owner.
Melanie Simpson has just lost her grandmother after spending the last few years focusing on nothing but caring for her having moved into her grandmother’s home and given up her job. Trying to come to terms with the loss and not knowing what path she wanted to follow Melanie decides to use her inheritance to purchase an old beach house that her grandmother admired and remodeled it to open a bed and breakfast.
As Melanie arrives in her newly purchased home she finds that there is way more work to be done that she imagined and while out in the new town residents points her towards a local contractor. Josh Claiborne however has his own plans and doesn’t want to even consider taking on Melanie’s home so Melanie and her friend come up with a plan to at least get him to give her and idea of what needs to be done.
As if it isn’t obvious with my five star rating of this one I have to say I absolutely loved what the author created in this story. The book felt if it had so many layers to uncover as I read along with the letters from the past and all that was going on in the couple’s lives in the present and with those surrounding them. The relationship moved at a steady pace as the stories unfolded all around and i was totally engaged to see how everything could possibly be worked out and what the end would bring.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
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Oh, nice review! This sure looks like a good one, and a book I would want to read.
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Thanks Wendy! It definitely was a nice story.😊
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Lovely review Carrie. I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance, but you’re tempting me with this one.
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Thanks Kim! I have to throw these in my reading rotation to give my mind a bit of a rest from all the mysteries or fantasies but I tell you there’s a lot of authors in this genre that add a bit of a mystery to the storyline so that’s always fun too.😊
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Great review, as usual, Carrie. I’m reading this book at the moment and loving it, too.
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Oops, I just found this comment in my spam folder, sorry Elaine! Thank you though, it was a great story!
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