Let's start off with me saying Mary Alice Monroe is my favorite voice in Southern contemporary literature. Her words make magic before your eyes. You find yourself sitting on the porch of the perfect beach house experiencing the story not just reading it.

In Beach House for Rent, Cara has decided to rent Primrose Cottage in order to make ends meet for her and Brett. We join them roughly five years after Swimming Lessons ends. This is where Heather enters, she is the renter. She comes to SC to work on her stamp commission for the USPS and to work on her fear of leaving the house. A horrible tragedy befalls Cara and she finds she must return to the beach house to find herself again.

Be warned, book four in the Beach House series is a heart tugger several times. Tissues were my best friend. You will fall in love with all the characters, new and old, and find you have made new friends.

I only have one complaint and it is personal. I wanted to see Toy more and have updates on how she and Little Louie were doing not just a couple of paragraphs towards the end of the book. You is as much The Beach House as Emma, Flo and Cara.

The question I've been asked the most do you have to read in order with this series. Here is the order I read them in (not the official order they are to be)

1. Beach House
2. Swimming Lessons
3. Beach House for Rent
4. Beach House Memories

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC copy for my own honest opinion.

Another wonderful addition to the Beach House series by Mary Alice Monroe! Monroe's stories are a good mix of character-driven and plot-driven, and this one does not disappoint. Like sinking into a comfy chair, long-time readers will sink into the familiar characters and be fascinated with the introduction of Heather; new readers will be scrambling to find her previous books after discovering this one.

Her lush descriptions of the beach, the house, the wind whispering through the dunes and the beauty of the birds that Heather studies will weave a spell and make you long for some sand between your toes. This story tackles themes of family dynamics, mental health, of loss and grief, and of healing - all of which is handled deftly and gracefully while delivering what is still a wonderful escapist beach read.

Mary Alice Monroe’s books are superb. They show the passion she has for the beauty of the lowland country and its natural preserves. I love how she imbues her books with enough facts to hook the reader while not becoming strident about the need to save our world.

Her newest book is called Beach House for Rent. Mary Alice Monroe brings us back to Lovey’s cottage on the Isle of Palms. (Don’t worry if you have not read any of the prior books - this can stand alone.) It is here we meet Cara Rutledge as she rents out her mother’s cottage for the summer to Heather Fordham. To Cara this is a winning situation! Heather’s story unfolds in pace with Cara’s story about the summer. Each woman is at a different point in her life and needs help connecting to others and themselves.

Beach House for Rent is a wonderful novel about changes, growing, and accepting. Mary Alice Monroe has written another hit that makes us look at what is truly important and how we embrace the changes and pull ourselves into new segments of life.

An enjoyable beach read about a woman with severe anxiety trying to break free from the self imposed restrictions that limit her happiness. Entirely different plot involving the procedure followed in choosing how stamp designs are chosen; something I found interesting and had never thought about before. I will now look at stamps in a different light.

Of course there is drama and a love interest, but it was more sweet than many beach books. I'd actually like to see a follow up of these characters 10 years later in life to see how they make out.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance reading opportunity in exchange for an honest assessment of the book.

A sweet, simple read with enough depth to keep you focused. Great to pack in your beach bag!

I was not overly fond of this storyline. It moved slowly in a lot of places. I learned more about sea turtles and shorebirds than I ever wanted to know. I became bored with so much useless info.

I enjoyed this book. Not to give anything away but this is the story of Heather moving into Lovie's house. Cara has some devastating news in this book. I recommend that you read the other books in the series first, however if you don't it is OK because the author brings you up to speed several times in the book. A good love story of Heather and Bo , touches briefly on the friendships that where so strong in the first books. The author brings in several members of the turtle team. It is a good summer read, I highly recommend it.

It's summertime, which means it's time for my favorite beach reads from Nantucket and the Lowcountry. Two weeks ago, it was Jane Green's latest. This weekend was Dorothea Benton Frank. Now it's Mary Alice Monroe, and next it will be Elin Hilderbrand. (Oh, and I read Nancy Thayer a couple of months back -- am I leaving anyone out?). It's fun to read these books every summer, returning to the familiar settings and in some cases, familiar characters.

Mary Alice Monroe's latest, Beach House for Rent, is 4th in the Beach House series -- a series I haven't read. (I'm caught up on the Lowcountry series, I think.) There are enough references back to the earlier books, and it's written in enough of a self-contained fashion, that it's not necessary in my opinion to have read the others. The author is very focused on environmental issues, and I always enjoy learning about the work with sea turtles and shorebirds that she incorporates into her plotlines. This book was a little more sad and dark than some of her other books, but I like that they're not too superficial and unnaturally cheerful. Things work out but are not necessarily Hollywood endings. It got started a little slowly, but finished strong. If you like this genre, then I think you'll really enjoy this book.

I received this book in advance from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beach House for Rent is the latest novel by prolific women's fiction author Mary Alice Monroe and the fourth book centered around a very special beach house on Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Cara Rutledge and her husband Brett Beauchamps have worked to update her late mother's beach house as a source of income to help his struggling ecotour boat company. Her brother has the perfect occupant, the daughter of an acquaintance from Charlotte.

Heather is painfully shy and has issues with anxiety. Since her mother's death in a tragic accident eight years earlier, Heather has become very reclusive, rarely leaving the house. Her father recently remarried and his new wife, many years his junior, has convinced him they need time alone to get settled.

Heather agrees to come to Isle of Palms, although hesitantly. She has been commissioned to create paintings of shore birds that will be made into postage stamps and this is a perfect place for her to do her work. So she packs what she needs, from clothing to art supplies to special foods as well as her three precious canaries, and drives white knuckled with her father to Isle of Palms.

As Heather settles in, she forces herself to take sunrise strolls to watch and sketch the shorebirds. Many are migratory and will only be there for a short time. As she meets her neighbors Flo and Emmi, and becomes enthralled with the young construction worker completing her deck, Bo Stanton, she begins emerging from her shell.

During the same time period, her landlady, Cara, always self assured and outgoing, has suffered a serious setback. As young Heather feels the blush of first love, Cara has become a ghost of herself after losing the love of her life. Needing to consolidate her holdings, Cara asks Heather to break the lease. The evolving Heather refuses, but proposes a solution that might just work for them both.

Written in Mary Alice Monroe's unmistakable flowing prose, this beautiful story is packed with symbolism. The characters are rich, the Lowcountry description so detailed you can almost smell the pluff mud. A story packed with hope and the indomitable human spirit, you will be pulling for this unlikely pair of roommates until the end. I do recommend this book!

I had heard of this author for years but had never read any of her novels. This is a perfectly good beach read if that is what you are looking for.

I love The Beach House series and, while this one was not the best in the series, it was still a great read and an opportunity to revisit Isle of Palms to see how Cara Rutledge and the Turtle Ladies are doing (there is even a small appearance by some characters from the Lowcountry Summer series). A new character for this book is Heather Wyatt, an agoraphobic artist who is living at the beach house for the summer to work on an art commission focusing on shore birds.

Cara is approaching 50 and feeling restless in her life with her husband, Brett. She has rented out her mother's beach house for the summer and is making plans to address her restlessness when tragedy strikes. Grief-stricken, she wants to returns to her mother's beach house to heal.

Familiar with grief herself, Heather invites Cara to move in with her until her lease is up for the summer. With some intervention from Lovie's spirit, Heather helps Cara cope and she learns to face her fears and anxiety as she is embraced by the community on the Isle of Palms. Of course, she also finds love along the way.

I love southern lit, so this series is perfect for me. I also enjoy these because of all the information about the sea turtles and other wildlife on the shores. Really makes me want to visit in person one day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cara and Heather are the main characters in this book each is living a life with guilt and grief each for there own reasons. At first I was not sure what to think of this book. I think like some books this one is one were you really enjoyed some of the book and other parts you didn't like so much. The first few chapters the author explained a lot of details and each characters lives and not a lot of monologue which caused the book to start off kind of slow.. However after that the chapters changed and people really started to be add to the story which seemed to bring the life in the story. The characters were fun and enjoyable and then you find yourself connecting with them and really feeling like you are reading a letter from a friend. I really enjoyed Heather and how in her hardest time she still found hope, and courage in the most unlikely place and people. I did not like how in part of the story the author did not follow up with a huge part in Heather's life, I kept wanting to know what happened. This book does have some adult language/scenes but very minimal and over all it was nice. I would say that this love story is worth the read and so fun.

Once again, Mary Alice Monroe has written a great story filled with emotion and all of the charm of the lowcountry. Her passion for nature is always expertly woven into her books and she brings awareness to many noble causes. Readers are taken on a journey to the lowcountry setting and allowed to experience the wonders of the area and the caring nature of it's people. Her characters become your friends and family and it's always a little sad when you reach the end and have to say goodbye to them. I highly recommend Beach House for Rent, along with the Beach House series and all of Mary Alice Monroe's wonderfully written books.

5 stars. right on par with all of her books. i could not put it down. such a beautiful, lovely, authentic book. so amazing to watch these characters grow & come together. everything about this book is beautiful. the descriptive scenery, how she gets into so much detail about the turtles and the birds. and moving to south carolina has never been more tempting !!1

Fans of Sarah Addison Allen or Karen White, will delight in Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe. A finely crafted story of love, fear, friendship and the courage to begin again. A great summer read!

This novel about friendship shows the reader that there are many types of friendships and how those friendship change self and others along life's journey. Highly recommend for communication courses on interpersonal communication, gender communication and communication in conflict.

I really enjoyed this beautifully told story. I’ve always been a massive fan of Mary Alice Monroe and her wonderful storytelling. She has a terrific talent for this genre and ‘Beach House for Rent’ is another truly magical story.
We have been to the beach house before and so know many of the character from other novels. This story is set therefore on one of Mary Alice’s favourite low country locations; the remote and stunningly beautiful Isle of Palms, Cara’s sanctuary, where she fondly remembers her beloved late mother Lovie and her untiring and passionate work on turtle protection and conservation. Now the owner of the beach house, she rents it out for the summer to Heather Wyatt who is a young artist. Heather has a commission to provide four designs for stamps on the theme of migrating shore birds, so the location is ideal for her to study and paint her choice of shore birds ready for submission. During that long hot summer Cara and Heather become friends despite their different ages, backgrounds and experiences. What they don’t know is that their lives are soon going to change forever in ways they never could have foretold. Before the end of summer they will both have major decisions to make and will have to summon up all of their courage and confidence in order to make the right decisions for their future.
These two female leading characters tell their own stories and sometimes their story develops what we know about the other characters. Issues of anxiety disorder, grief, conservation and submissiveness are at the heart of this novel along with a tender romance that is sure to melt your heart. Each new character is carefully crafted and expertly developed so that you really admire and support them, wanting the best possible outcome for them. When I read the prepublication ‘blurb’ about ‘Beach House for Rent’ I knew I had to read it and I’m so glad I did. It was a perfect fit for what I expected from a novel by Mary Alice Monroe and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Gallery Books for my copy of this novel, sent to me in return for an honest review. I can highly recommend this as a terrific, uncomplicated and really enjoyable read, just perfect escapism. This could easily be read as a standalone novel as the story of Lovie, her daughter Cara and their beach house neighbours is explained within the story of Cara and Heather. It’s a 4.5 review from me.

So happy to have another "beach house" book by Mary Alice Monroe to read. Even though this book is part of a series, it definitely stands on its own, although it was nice to revisit characters from previous books.I've never been to the South Carolina low country, but after reading this book, I felt like I was there- I could almost smell the ocean. Primrose Cottage- the beach house for rent- belongs to Cara. She rents it to Heather, a woman who suffers from anxiety and doesn't like to leave home. Their lives are drawn together after tragedy strikes and their lives are forever changed. A perfect beach read.

Thought it was going to be a regular "summer read"...had lots more "guts"! Will look to read more by this author!

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to return to the Beach House. I enjoyed reading about a female with PTSD since I suffer from it myself. I was glad to see Heather blossom in the Lowcountry and fall in love. I hated that Cara lost her husband but I was glad to see her befriend Heather and get back into the turtle team. I loved that she moved to Tennessee at the end to work for their Aquarium. Hoping for a sequel about that and Heather's life, too. I also enjoyed learning more about shorebirds.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I still preordered a copy so I will have a copy for my collection.