A very well written romance Emerald Coast has a good plot and a beautiful setting. I recommend this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked Emerald Coast, but thought it was a little formulaic. Lily Bristol goes to Sardinia along with the jet set to open her latest home furnishings store, and ends up staying in the suite next to her ex-husband Oliver, the NY Times food critic whom she recently divorced. If this was a movie, it would be the perfect "meet cute". Oliver is traveling with another woman, and Lily meets a man in Italy.

The characters were a little predictable, and it didn't make sense to me that Lily had a multi-national business but couldn't keep track of her credit cards. The setting was lovely, and the food sounded amazing.

This book would be a good beach read.

This was a big no for me. The descriptions were beautiful but the characters though...they were so hard to connect with. Lily seemed to me like someone who an author would make about them but with "better" characteristics or something along those lines. I just didn't like it.

This is one for the beach - a great holiday read but you want to be in the sun when you read it so you're not wishing you were in the book setting.
Engaging and lovely -would read more from this author.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (Review to Amazon pending publication date).

Overall, I enjoyed the story line of this book. It was somewhat realistic, focusing on a recent divorcee who is a business owner who has traveled to the Emerald Coast to open up the newest location of her home goods store. Unbeknownst to her, her ex-husband has also come to the same place - as both thought to take advantage of the previously made plans and neither thought to cancel or check to see who would be utilizing the reservations. This part seemed a little far-fetched to me. As Lily had a pre-scheduled store opening, one would think that she would attend. To say that her ex didn't know she would be there seemed a bit odd. As they were both booked under the same trip, they were given the same hotel room and once each others' presence discovered, they ended up in rooms next to each other. As Lily's ex was there with another woman, Lily spent the days before her store opening trying to move on and find love again all while working towards a successful store opening.

The author does a great job transporting the reader to Porto Cervo, and describing the scene and feel of the area. And while I enjoyed the general story line, I was disappointed in the writing and the lack of clear transition between the present and past memories. I often found myself having to go back and re-read passages in order to determine whether I was still in Lily or Oliver's present, or their past. This could have easily been remedied with memories being written in italics, or some other method. I was also sad that there wasn't really a clear ending. The reason I read through the book was to find out what happened to Lily and Oliver. While many books allude to a certain type of ending, this one didn't and I think that put me off as well.

I hadn't heard of this author previously, and I while I wouldn't necessarily decline reading her work in the future, it wouldn't necessarily be at the top of my list mostly because of her writing style. While I enjoyed the overall theme of this book, the writing style and the ending made it difficult for me to give this book more than 3 stars.

MY REVIEW OF "EMERALD COAST" By Anita Hughes

I really enjoyed reading "Emerald Coast" by Anita Hughes. I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I appreciate the way Anita Hughes describes the beautiful landscape and location. I wish I could go on vacation with turquoise waters, quaint shops,sensational views, and tantalizing food. I certainly would love a private butler and such luxury accommodations.
The genres of this story are Women's Fiction and Romance with a touch of humor.
The timeline of this story is told in the present and goes to the past when our characters first meet. The theme throughout the novel is the ups and downs of marriage. What are the ingredients of a lasting relationship? "The author brings up the question of what makes a marriage work?"
The characters are described as complex, complicated and insecure. The two main characters Lily and Oliver had been married for ten years, and have been divorced for one week. Lily is extremely successful as a business woman owning several stores. Oliver has always supported and encouraged her career. Oliver visits the best restaurants and writes about the food and establishments for the New York Times. Lily and Oliver share custody of their young daughter. Both Lily and Oliver are insecure and jealous, and felt the constant fighting and lack of trust could never be worked on in their marriage, and divorce. Both know they should move on.
Lily needs a vacation and goes to the Emerald Coast, where the couple had previously made reservations. She has her own butler, and everything is beautiful. The only thing she notices in her room, there are men's shoes and in the bathroom is a man's shaving kit. Her confusion gets worse, when she sees that it is Oliver with a new girlfriend. Both forgot to tell the other about the vacation.
Uh-oh!!!What else can go wrong? Can this lead to something good?
I like the way the author describes friendship,relationships and marriage. I find the author shows betrayal, loyalty , trust,growth, love and hope. I would highly recommend this story. I want to read more from this author.

Emerald Coast by Anita Hughes is the sort of book that isn’t in my typical wheelhouse, but that I like. Still, I don’t often pursue women’s contemporary fiction. I guess that’s because I have so much other things on my shelf to read. Friends, I regret this. Emerald Coast by Anita Hughes was SUCH a page turner. I genuinely enjoyed reading this book and actually think I am going to try and read more books aimed at adults.

Anita Hughes’s latest book follows two main characters, Lily Bristol and Oliver, who are divorced from each other. The book opens with Lily checking into a Sardinia resort on the Emerald Coast. She goes to her room and sees a man’s things. She then discovers that Oliver is in the room that she booked, with another woman. So, Lily gets everything sorted out and ends up in a room next door to Oliver and his new woman. The two try to avoid each other – Lily is busy with the opening of her home furnishings store. However, it is inevitable that they interact. Lucky for Lily, she’s spending time with a romantic possibility too.

Lily is totally an adult character that I can sort of relate to. She’s absent minded in that she’s always losing her wallet. Also, she’s hard working and ambitious. Her different stores are her dream and it is so cool to see her killing it. I loved that as far as her marriage went, she was the breadwinner. She also handles the divorce so well. But, we see that she is kind of guarded and well, she was hurt but what she perceived Oliver doing. I found Lily to be a character that I really sympathized for, so I just flew through Emerald Coast.

Oliver, Lily’s ex husband also gets his own point of view chapters. At first, I thought I was going to flat out hate Oliver. However, I ended up understanding his perspective too. He is a food critic. His job puts him in contact with all kinds of people and sometimes women seem interested in him. So, at one point Lily gets jealous of one woman and signs lead to Oliver’s infidelity. Getting to Oliver’s perspective though, we see it is a misunderstanding until both are driven to do things they cannot come back from.

Emerald Coast is such a compelling read! The setting is excellent and really is a major part of the book. FYI, this book is perfect for your beach bag. I loved how we saw the whole of Lily and Oliver’s relationship as there are flashbacks throughout the whole book that go over how the two met. Then it goes into just how their relationship develops and then why it ended. Ultimately though, the book ends on an optimistic, romantic note and I just loved it. I really want to read more by Hughes after reading this book.

This book is an okay read, but there is certainly nothing memorable about it. While the plot is actually a great love story, the book seemed to really drag in places. And, none of the characters were very deep or likable. This is a great read if you are looking for something that you won't get too invested in. However, if you want a page turner-keep looking!

Schedule to post on Blue Cat Review on May 15, 2017

Disclaimer: Because I had reviewed Ms. Hughes' book, White Sand, Blue Sea, I was offered the chance to review, this book, Emerald Coast. I was provided an eARC by St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review for which I am not being compensated in any way. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

My Review:
Oliver and Lily Bristol are now divorced after many years of marriage. Freshly divorced and attempting to be single. But can they stand to see each other that way? And do they know how to function as single people again? Do they really want to? I'm not sure either one of them knows what they really want right now. And being written in the third person, we got to hear how everyone was feeling.

Ms. Hughes does a great job of portraying the insecurities such a couple would feel running into each other in a romantic vacation spot such as this and trying not to look alone or lonely. What does it take to be a couple? Is it happiness? Is it love? It's up to these two to decide before they make too many more mistakes.

The author also paints a beautiful picture of the surroundings so that you feel you are there with Lily and Oliver at their lush locations and backdrops. There were some slow spots where things seemed to drag down a bit, but for the most part, the plot moved along well. I thoroughly enjoyed Oliver and Lily like I would a pair of good friends who were having relationship problems and were sharing their problems with me. Sometimes I wanted to hug them and sometimes I wanted to shake them. At the end, I sort of just wanted to put them over my knee and spank them!

If you read and enjoyed the first book I reviewed, White Sand, Blue Sea back in November, then I'm sure you'll also enjoy this book. This one has a bit more action but is just as good. Readers of women's lit and controversial romances will really enjoy this. I strongly recommend it to you.

I appreciate the advanced copy of this title but I did not enjoy the book. I was so confused after the first three chapters. The storyline jumped all over the place and I could hardly keep up. Very confusing.

It was supposed to be a business trip, a stop in Sardinia to celebrate the opening of her newest interior design store, but when Lily Bristol arrives at the resort she’s booked at, she discovers her ex-husband in staying in the same suite. Originally, Oliver was supposed to go along with Lily to try to resuscitate their dying marriage. Now, he’s showed up at the resort with a pretty young thing on his arm. Determined to show her ex she doesn’t care, she sets out to find a boy toy to distract her and enlists her private butler, Enzo, to help find a suitable guy. Of course, readers can probably figure out who Lily winds up cavorting with and the idea of asking someone else to find you a lover is bizarre, to say the least. but somehow this story managed to charm me anyway. Maybe it was the setting, or the snappy dialogue, but I really liked this beach worthy read

Emerald Coast
Anita Hughes
Available: August 1, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
While I snicker through most of Anita Hughes’ books – I do really enjoy them. When I want to read about the perfect woman on a fantastic vacation to an amazing place I will probably never go and watch her fall in love, I read her books. If I’m looking for a dose of reality – I stay away. Unfortunately, sometimes when I read her books, I have a hard time escaping my own reality (you know the one where logic, money, and real life gets in the way) so I tend to read them with a very critical eye. They are pure vacation fluff and that’s what made this enjoyable.
What I loved: The descriptions of the locations, food, surroundings and people are to die for with the detail that is given to each and every thing. If you close your eyes while reading you can imagine a sumptuous beach, an amazing yacht and even the smells of the area come to life.
What I didn’t love: Let’s just go with a punch list for this one – its easier:
1) Two of the most immature people who feel the need to express every single thought they have ever had into a conversation definitely deserve each other.
2) Aren’t food reviewers supposed to be anonymous?
3) Who cooks dinner every night for a food critic?
4) When dining with a restaurant under review, its customary to order as many different dishes as possible so that the reviewer can taste as many things as possible, right?
5) What history did Oliver study when he was in school? San Francisco had a major earthquake in the fall of 1989 during the World Series. A bridge collapsed. Peopl e died. That’s catastrophic.
6) Seriously – you have to hire a new bookkeeper just because yours is pregnant? How about a line that says she’s not coming back to work? Otherwise, you seem to be violating about 167 rules of the Family Care Act. It’s a few months – hire a temp.
7) Who gives an employee a day off on the GRAND OPENING??? Someone who would lose her head if it wasn’t attached to her body and doesn’t call her daughter for the entire trip. That’s who.
8) Ooh – I work 50 hour work weeks. Feel sorry for me. You’re the owner/President/CEO/Founder. That’s what you do.
9) Who isn’t feeling well (nausea, head, etc ) and thinks..”Yes, I need a cocktail.”
10) How the heck can a NY Times Food Critic justify using his expense account on a restaurant in Italy? Last I heard, newspapers were not made of money anymore.


What I learned: A dose of reality in a fantasy book may be a good thing.
Overall Grade: B-

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