Publication
HQN Books, c2022
Status
Available
Description
When Joanna Whitman's famous ex-husband dies in a car accident, she doesn't know what to feel. Their dysfunctional marriage held more painful secrets than she cares to remember. But when she discovers that the young woman with him in the crash is pregnant, Joanna feels compelled to act, knowing exactly how brutal the media spotlight will be on celebrity chef Cliff Whitman's ex-wife and his mysterious female friend. Ashley Blake can't believe it when Joanna shows up in her hospital room and suggests they hide away at her beach house on a sleepy stretch of California coast. Joanna should be hating her, not helping her. But alone and pregnant, Ashley can't turn down Joanna's offer. Yet she knows that if Joanna ever found out the real reason Ashley was in that car, their tentative bond would shatter instantly. Joanna's only goal for the summer is privacy, but her return causes major waves in the local community, especially for the man she left behind years ago. All Ashley wants is space to plan for her and her baby's future, and to avoid causing any trouble for Joanna. But as secrets spill out under the hot summer sun, this unlikely friendship is about to be put to the test.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member fredreeca
Joanna’s husband has just been killed in a car accident. He had a young girl with him. But this is nothing new. Their marriage has been over for quite a while. Joanna soon pieces together who the young lady was in the car with her husband. Joanna takes this young lady under her wing and takes her
Joanna’s beach house is located off the beaten path in her home town. She has a past here and an old romance she would like to forget. But, this has to be her safe haven right now. Can she manage all the emotions and insecurities?
I needed a good book to take me away. And this one hit the spot! I loved Joanna and Ashley. They compliment each other and even though she doesn’t know it, Joanna needs Ashley more! I really think Ashley is my favorite character in this book. She is quirky, funny and in need of help.
This novel gave me all the feels! I adored all the characters and especially the location. I could just picture this luxurious house. This is a great getaway read!
Need a good read to take to the beach…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
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to her remote beach house to escape the press.Joanna’s beach house is located off the beaten path in her home town. She has a past here and an old romance she would like to forget. But, this has to be her safe haven right now. Can she manage all the emotions and insecurities?
I needed a good book to take me away. And this one hit the spot! I loved Joanna and Ashley. They compliment each other and even though she doesn’t know it, Joanna needs Ashley more! I really think Ashley is my favorite character in this book. She is quirky, funny and in need of help.
This novel gave me all the feels! I adored all the characters and especially the location. I could just picture this luxurious house. This is a great getaway read!
Need a good read to take to the beach…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
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LibraryThing member WhiskeyintheJar
2.7 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Joanna Whitman learned of her ex-husband's death while she was eating breakfast.
Joanna has been divorced for a year when she gets the phone call that her
Most of all she was scared because she had to figure out life by herself.
Ashley has run from the only person in her life that knows her, her childhood bestfriend who after their first time going beyond friendship, she runs from. When Joanna, who Ashley has read all about in the press, shows up at her hospital room asking her if she has any place to go, Ashley desperately wants to take the life line Joanna is throwing her.
How could the memories of her old life possibly be worse than the realities of her current one?
Joanna hasn't been back home in 20yrs, she never went back after the night she jumped into Cliff's car and they drove off but it's the only place she can think to hide out at that will at least take the press some time to find. Beach House Summer was a story of second chances, mistakes, and giving yourself space to find out who you really are. Joanna leads the story but in almost equal time, we get pov chapters from Ashley and a few from Joanna's childhood bestfriend Mel. Joanna's mother died when she was a baby, so it was just Joanna and her father until she was a preteen when he remarried. Her stepmother didn't like kids and obviously was jealous of Joanna's close relationship with her father. When Joanna's father dies when she's ten, Joanna endures emotional abuse from her stepmother, making her think she's too tough to love and difficult. Joanna has some escape with her bestfriend Mel and Mel's twin brother Nate. When they're sixteen, Joanna and Nate start to date and they seem like soulmates. We never get a pov from Nate but we learn their break-up had to do with too intense emotions for that age and it's obvious that he regrets how everything was handled. This is mainly a women's fiction story with the romance and Nate not really coming into the picture until the late second half and two blink and you miss them sex scenes.
Trust could be lost, but it could also be won again.
This had a tempered pace with the reader really getting inside Joanna and Ashley's heads. There was some repetitiveness that slowed the pace down for me, especially in the second half as their thoughts and feelings had already been given to the reader a few times but then we're reading them again as they talk them out with characters in the story. I also thought the chapters at times seemed too long for the type of story this is, more of a beach read, I usually like to come upon stopping points quicker in those. There was plenty to absorb here, Joanna's insecurities because of how she grew-up, how she got emotionally beaten down in her marriage, and her defense mechanism of running and hiding. Ashley being 20yrs younger is more at the beginning of her life and feeling lost because she doesn't know what to do but their connection is felt in how they're both floundering and each gives the other something they're missing, Joanna gives Ashley security and Ashley gives Joanna confidence. Mel comes into the picture when Joanna goes back home and we get her dealing with how to connect to her teenage daughter and her anger and hurt over not understanding why Joanna left and never spoke to her again. There's emotional tangles with Joanna, Ashley, and Cliff and Joanna, Mel, and Nate that needed to be worked through and though this creates that tempered pace I mentioned, I thought it delivered on giving emotional substance for the reader to sink into.
He cleared his throat, plunged his hands into his pockets and glanced at the shelves. “Do you have any books on second chances?”
There were some surprise reveals but this was definitely more of life and it's emotions, ups and downs, and the decisions that we make beach read, rather than suspenseful. I think eighty some pages could have been cut to get rid of that repetitiveness that slowed the pace down but if you don't mind spending a fair amount of time in characters heads, then this probably wouldn't bother you. If you're looking for more of a sedate read to get lost in, with it's shifting through life decisions that hit us in our forties and twenties and getting those second chances, with a pinch of romance, Beach Summer House would be a good pick to get lost in.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Joanna Whitman learned of her ex-husband's death while she was eating breakfast.
Joanna has been divorced for a year when she gets the phone call that her
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famous chef ex-husband has died in a car accident. After years of him loving the spotlight and Joanna trying to run and hide from the press wanting pictures and comments from her about all the affairs Cliff had, Joanna knows they're still going to show up outside her door. When she sees that he wasn't alone in the car accident, a young pregnant woman was with him, she feels for how that woman's privacy is about to be invaded, especially when Joanna recognizes her. Most of all she was scared because she had to figure out life by herself.
Ashley has run from the only person in her life that knows her, her childhood bestfriend who after their first time going beyond friendship, she runs from. When Joanna, who Ashley has read all about in the press, shows up at her hospital room asking her if she has any place to go, Ashley desperately wants to take the life line Joanna is throwing her.
How could the memories of her old life possibly be worse than the realities of her current one?
Joanna hasn't been back home in 20yrs, she never went back after the night she jumped into Cliff's car and they drove off but it's the only place she can think to hide out at that will at least take the press some time to find. Beach House Summer was a story of second chances, mistakes, and giving yourself space to find out who you really are. Joanna leads the story but in almost equal time, we get pov chapters from Ashley and a few from Joanna's childhood bestfriend Mel. Joanna's mother died when she was a baby, so it was just Joanna and her father until she was a preteen when he remarried. Her stepmother didn't like kids and obviously was jealous of Joanna's close relationship with her father. When Joanna's father dies when she's ten, Joanna endures emotional abuse from her stepmother, making her think she's too tough to love and difficult. Joanna has some escape with her bestfriend Mel and Mel's twin brother Nate. When they're sixteen, Joanna and Nate start to date and they seem like soulmates. We never get a pov from Nate but we learn their break-up had to do with too intense emotions for that age and it's obvious that he regrets how everything was handled. This is mainly a women's fiction story with the romance and Nate not really coming into the picture until the late second half and two blink and you miss them sex scenes.
Trust could be lost, but it could also be won again.
This had a tempered pace with the reader really getting inside Joanna and Ashley's heads. There was some repetitiveness that slowed the pace down for me, especially in the second half as their thoughts and feelings had already been given to the reader a few times but then we're reading them again as they talk them out with characters in the story. I also thought the chapters at times seemed too long for the type of story this is, more of a beach read, I usually like to come upon stopping points quicker in those. There was plenty to absorb here, Joanna's insecurities because of how she grew-up, how she got emotionally beaten down in her marriage, and her defense mechanism of running and hiding. Ashley being 20yrs younger is more at the beginning of her life and feeling lost because she doesn't know what to do but their connection is felt in how they're both floundering and each gives the other something they're missing, Joanna gives Ashley security and Ashley gives Joanna confidence. Mel comes into the picture when Joanna goes back home and we get her dealing with how to connect to her teenage daughter and her anger and hurt over not understanding why Joanna left and never spoke to her again. There's emotional tangles with Joanna, Ashley, and Cliff and Joanna, Mel, and Nate that needed to be worked through and though this creates that tempered pace I mentioned, I thought it delivered on giving emotional substance for the reader to sink into.
He cleared his throat, plunged his hands into his pockets and glanced at the shelves. “Do you have any books on second chances?”
There were some surprise reveals but this was definitely more of life and it's emotions, ups and downs, and the decisions that we make beach read, rather than suspenseful. I think eighty some pages could have been cut to get rid of that repetitiveness that slowed the pace down but if you don't mind spending a fair amount of time in characters heads, then this probably wouldn't bother you. If you're looking for more of a sedate read to get lost in, with it's shifting through life decisions that hit us in our forties and twenties and getting those second chances, with a pinch of romance, Beach Summer House would be a good pick to get lost in.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gpangel
Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan is a 2022 HQN publication.
When Joanna’s celebrity chef ex-husband, Cliff, dies in a car accident, leaving his passenger, a much younger woman, injured and hospitalized, she’s immediately bombarded by the press.
Struggling with her complicated feelings for
Ashley is shocked when Cliff’s ex-wife reached out to her while she was recovering from her injuries. They are both being pursued by the media, so Joanna packs Ashley up and takes her to her beach house- a place she hasn't visited in ages, because it harbors a plethora of painful memories…
Hiding out turns out to be harder than expected when Joanna’s best friend, Mel, discovers she’s back, and decides to confront her about breaking her brother Nate's heart, and leaving without even saying goodbye.
The story is mainly centered around Joanna and Ashley and the friendship they form, under the most unlikely circumstances. Each offers sound advice and support to one another, as they reflect on the past, the present, and future possibilities.
I loved this thread in the story! The age difference works in their favor- Joanna can offer wisdom through experience, while Ashley is able to look at things through a more youthful, optimistic lens that gives Joanna a fresh perspective on things.
The other major thread deals with Joanna’s friendship with Mel, and her relationship with Nate, over twenty years ago. Mel’s assumption about Nate and Joanna’s breakup, which effectively ended their friendship as well, caused her a lot of pain, and she is still harboring a great deal of resentment. But maybe Mel doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does...
Meanwhile, Nate and Joanna meet once again…
Can they renew their friendship? Could they get a second chance at love?
I love Sarah Morgan, and because I’m in a ‘beach’ read frame of mind, adding this book to my summer reading list was a no-brainer. I had no doubt I’d love this book, and I was right!
This is a lovely, well-rounded story of friendship, love, forgiveness, and new beginnings.
Overall, Sarah Morgan comes through again! A warm and wonderful story- obviously a great summer read- but one that I’d recommend reading no matter what the season!
4 stars
When Joanna’s celebrity chef ex-husband, Cliff, dies in a car accident, leaving his passenger, a much younger woman, injured and hospitalized, she’s immediately bombarded by the press.
Struggling with her complicated feelings for
Show More
Cliff, she’s thrown for a loop when she discovers the identity of the young women who was in the car with him when he crashed. Ashley is shocked when Cliff’s ex-wife reached out to her while she was recovering from her injuries. They are both being pursued by the media, so Joanna packs Ashley up and takes her to her beach house- a place she hasn't visited in ages, because it harbors a plethora of painful memories…
Hiding out turns out to be harder than expected when Joanna’s best friend, Mel, discovers she’s back, and decides to confront her about breaking her brother Nate's heart, and leaving without even saying goodbye.
The story is mainly centered around Joanna and Ashley and the friendship they form, under the most unlikely circumstances. Each offers sound advice and support to one another, as they reflect on the past, the present, and future possibilities.
I loved this thread in the story! The age difference works in their favor- Joanna can offer wisdom through experience, while Ashley is able to look at things through a more youthful, optimistic lens that gives Joanna a fresh perspective on things.
The other major thread deals with Joanna’s friendship with Mel, and her relationship with Nate, over twenty years ago. Mel’s assumption about Nate and Joanna’s breakup, which effectively ended their friendship as well, caused her a lot of pain, and she is still harboring a great deal of resentment. But maybe Mel doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does...
Meanwhile, Nate and Joanna meet once again…
Can they renew their friendship? Could they get a second chance at love?
I love Sarah Morgan, and because I’m in a ‘beach’ read frame of mind, adding this book to my summer reading list was a no-brainer. I had no doubt I’d love this book, and I was right!
This is a lovely, well-rounded story of friendship, love, forgiveness, and new beginnings.
Overall, Sarah Morgan comes through again! A warm and wonderful story- obviously a great summer read- but one that I’d recommend reading no matter what the season!
4 stars
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Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780369706782