Summer Beach Reads

I know it's not unusual for Alabama, but it feels like we went from winter directly into summer.  Our 70-degree days have been replaced by 80s and 90s.  We may as well head down to the beach, lie around in swimsuits, and listen to the waves.  Grab a cool glass of your favorite beverage, put on some sunscreen, relax, and enjoy these new summer titles.  Descriptions are from the publisher.

Forever Beach  by Shelley Noble
Sarah Hargreave is anxious to finalize the adoption of her foster daughter, Leila. Once a foster child herself, Sarah longs to become Leila’s “forever” family and give her all the love and stability she was denied in her own childhood. When Leila’s biological mother suddenly reappears and petitions the court for the return of her daughter, Sarah is terrified she’ll lose the little girl she loves to the drug-addicted mother who abandoned her. Mistrustful of each other, the two women form a tenuous alliance to ensure Leila’s future, but when Leila’s very survival is on the line, they’ll have to come to terms with their own feelings of hurt and rejection to save the child they both have come to love.


The Island House  by Nancy Thayer
Courtney Hendricks will never forget the magical summers she spent on Nantucket with her college roommate, Robin Vickerey, and Robin’s charismatic, turbulent, larger-than-life family, in their gorgeous island house. Now a college English professor in Kansas City, Courtney is determined to experience one more summer in this sun-swept paradise. Her reason for going is personal: Courtney needs to know whether Robin’s brother James shares the feelings she’s secretly had for him.  As the summer unfolds, a crisis escalates, surprising truths are revealed, and Courtney will at last find out where her heart and her future lie.


A Lowcountry Wedding  by Mary Alice Monroe
Half-sisters Dora, Harper, and Carson may have had wildly different upbringings and lead vastly different lives, but they've always felt at home together at Sea Breeze, a sprawling plantation on a barrier island off the South Carolina coast. Sea Breeze has hosted its fair share of Muir family parties, and now that Harper and Carson's weddings are only two months away, the sisters are thrilled to be spending more time together there in preparation for their big days. But big events tend to bring out big problems in families, and the stress of guest lists and table decorations is nothing compared to the shock Dora, Harper, and Carson are about to face. (Booklist review)


The Weekenders  by Mary Kay Andrews
Some people stay all summer long on the idyllic island of Belle Isle, North Carolina. Others come only for the weekends-and the mix between the regulars and “the weekenders” can sometimes make the sparks fly. Riley Griggs has a season of good times with friends and family ahead of her on Belle Isle when things take an unexpected turn. While waiting for her husband to arrive on the ferry one Friday afternoon, Riley is confronted by a process server who thrusts papers into her hand. And her husband is nowhere to be found. So she turns to her island friends for help and support, but it turns out that each of them has their own secrets, and the clock is ticking as the mystery deepens...in a murderous way.

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