4 stars for At Wave's End, a feel good, beachy novel by Patricia Perry Donovan. This book showcases and highlights that survivor's spirit that comes through so strongly after the East Coast area is hit with yet another hurricane. Although the hurricane in this book was Nadine, the devastation and destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy is what the book was referencing.

Connie, having won a B&B that she thinks is going to be beautiful and wonderful, based on photos, is thrilled and ready for adventure. Her daughter, Faith, an up-and-coming NYC chef, is disgusted because she figures this is another pie-in-the-sky fantasy of her moms and she has to run off to save her mom from more poor decisions.

I really enjoyed Connie and the owner of the B&B, although she WAS very deceptive, but I did not care for Faith much. Yes, her life had supposedly been filled with a flighty mom making poor decisions, but until the very end, Faith never gave her mom credit for having a brain.

Long hidden family secrets, hard work and the fighting spirit that enables people to move mountains are found in abundance in At Wave's End. The book did leave me feeling upbeat and happy I'd read it.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the ARC.

I rate this book a 3.5 stars out of 5.

I liked it the book as a whole. However, I did not like Faith, she appeared to be a spoiled, self-centered brat, who liked controlling her mom, talking down to her, and overall just being a rude child. I think she confused herself as the parent. I really just could not connect with her character.

Connie and Maeve I did like. I think they were the characters this book needed. I think Connie had a heart of gold, and she put others needs in front of her own, so being the owner of a B&B after a terrible hurricane was perfect for her.

The writing was good, and the description of the aftermath of storm Nadine was written in such great detail, that I can envision the sand lined streets, the destroyed homes, and businesses. It took me back the days I was glued to the t.v. after hurricane Sandy. So well done to Patricia for that.

Overall, this was a good book, and I enjoyed it.

This is good old fashioned story telling. Donovan has effectively used Superstorm Sandy (here called Hurricane Nadine) as the catalyst for Faith to find not only the good in others but also herself. Her relationship with her mother Connie has had its ups and downs but in the aftermath of the storm, the two women are bound in ways neither expected. I liked the little details of the inn as well as of other people in the town. Thanks to Netgalley for a positive read that's encouraging about how we treat one another.

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At Wave’s End by Patricia Perry Donovan
August 17, 2017 EmmaLeave a comment
When her estranged mother wins a Jersey Shore bed and breakfast in a lottery and heads east to survey the prize, Faith Sterling fears her mother has fallen victim to yet another scam. Their visit to the B & B confirms her suspicions. Wave’s End is not as advertised—it’s nowhere near the beach, it’s sorely in need of an overhaul, and its finances are shaky. But despite Faith’s attempts to dissuade her mother, Connie Sterling is determined to try her hand at running the inn.
A frustrated Faith heads back to Brooklyn, dreading the havoc her mother’s proximity will wreak on her well-ordered and successful life. She doesn’t have to wait long. When a supersized hurricane pummels the East Coast, Faith reluctantly agrees to return and help her mother run Wave’s End…temporarily.
But just as inn life settles into a comfortable rhythm, a grievous secret about Wave’s End surfaces, threatening the inn’s future and fraying the already fragile mother-daughter bonds.
After reading and enjoying Donovan’s first novel, Deliver Her, I was excited to pick up At Wave’s End, which was released earlier this week.  On the surface, it sounds like a very different book and I was a little worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it as a result.  Thankfully, I was wrong because all the ingredients that made me like Deliver Her are here too (slight pun intended there as this is a book with a chef as a central character…sorry, couldn’t help myself!).
First up you have a great set of characters.  The inn Connie wins in a competition (The Mermaid’s Purse) is full of them thanks to a hurricane that leaves them homeless.  It must be an author’s dream to be able to portray so many types of people, all under one roof, and all having to figure out how to live together when otherwise their paths may never have crossed.
I especially liked Connie, Faith’s mom, and her free spirit and good heart.  She’s the type of person I would like to have help me if my life had been turned upside down.  Faith is a little harder to like, but she did grow on me as the story progressed and I began to understand why she was the way she was and also to see her grow into a kinder, warmer, person.
The why is one of the other reasons I liked the book – because before you can understand the why, secrets have to be revealed and I just love a book with secrets.  Here, they go back to Faith’s childhood and to the inn itself, bringing depth to the story but all linking back to what, for me, were the main themes of family, love, and understanding (very much like in Deliver Her).  There is the other type of love in here too, which isn’t my cup of tea, but it’s not front and centre for the most part so I managed to cope!
The secrets add a tension to the book I think it needed, allowing for twists and turns in the plot and keeping me turning pages.  Otherwise, for me, this would have been too “gentle” a book as it’s definitely outside of my normal reading (no one gets murdered for a start!).   It meant I went from liking it to liking it a lot as it progressed.
Other than that, there isn’t much to add other than a warning for those who do pick up a copy – do not read whilst you’re hungry.  There is way too much talk of delicious food in here and I was left with a big old desire to go out and eat, eat, eat!

At Wave's End is a beautifully written story of the relationship of a mother and daughter, a natural disaster and rebuilding. Loved the writing and the well developed characters.

3.5 stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with an advance copy.

At Wave's End is to honor and is reminiscent of Hurricane Sandy. I don't think I've ever read a book about a natural disaster before, so this was a nice first for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this quick, happy read about family and perseverance. It kept me turning pages. There was such a variety of great characters; it has a little something for everyone. There was also just the right amount of tragedy. I loved that everything was wrapped up and resolved by the end; there were no loose ends. I look forward reading more of Donovan's work.

A story of family, friends and rebuilding perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber and Susan Mallery.

Written to honor the survivor's of 2012's Hurricane Sandy, AT WAVE'S END is a feel-good story that will satisfy readers of contemporary women's fiction. Faith's journey from NYC chef to a reluctant assistant at her mother's run-down bed and breakfast in a coastal New Jersey town is set against the backdrop of fictional Hurricane Nadine, but closely mirrors the events of Sandy and showcases the true devastation in the areas hardest hit by the storm. The story is a light one, however, and covers a great deal of ground with a large cast of characters. If you like your stories a little on the frothy side and tied up with a bow, this one is for you.

I loved Deliver Her when I read it last spring, so when Patricia Perry Donovan emailed me, asking if I wanted to review her newest title, At Wave’s End, this summer, I was happy to do so. Then I found out it was being released two days before my birthday.

Well, Happy Birthday to me, and happy reading to everyone else, because this novel is the perfect way to beat the heat of the dog days of summer. Faith, a professional chef, and Connie, her mother who is always searching for the next, great, money-making opportunity, have the kind of relationship a lot of us do, I think. They love each other fiercely, but Connie thinks her daughter is selling herself short, and Faith worries her mother will be the victim of a scam.

Then Connie arrives with the news that she’s won a bed & breakfast on the Jersey Shore.

As a Jersey girl myself, I’m always excited when people set novels there, because it’s like visiting home again. In this novel, that sense of homecoming is tempered somewhat by Hurricane Nadine – inspired by Hurricane Sandy – which trashes the coastline. Reading it took me back to October, 2012 where I was watching an NJ news station over the internet from my home in Texas, and texting my mother, “I feel like I’m watching my entire childhood being washed away.”

Having been back east fairly recently, and noticed how so many of the shore towns are still rebuilding, five years later, was a visceral experience. So, too, where many of the chapters in this novel.

But Donovan is an excellent storyteller who creates vivid, realistic characters, and even at the most devastating points in the novel there is warmth and humor and the bonds of family and friends.

Don’t think, though, that this novel is all about the wreckage of a major storm. It’s not. That’s just backdrop. It’s really about family and friends, chasing dreams, figuring out what you need vs. what you think you want, and how all those things tied together.

Like Connie, I have been tempted by those “win an inn” contests, but I’ve always managed to resist the urge. Like Faith, I’m sometimes too generous with my friends, to my own detriment. I found both of these women at the center of the story to be completely believable as women, as people.

At 364 pages, At Wave’s End is long enough to tackle everything from the first look at the B&B to the aftermath of the storm, and yet it’s also a fast read, suitable for the last weeks of summer. Dip your toes in the water of this story, let the sun and sand keep you reading. You won’t be sorry.

Goes well with, a classic NJ pork roll sandwich and a glass of iced tea, eaten at a picnic table on the porch.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2093430956https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2093430956. I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the author for an honest review. Faith is a NYC chef in a new up and coming restaurant. Her mother, Connie, is a bit irresponsible and flighty so for years Faith has tried to keep her focused toward having a permanent job and preparing her finances for retirement. To Faith's surprise and shock her mother enters a contest and wins an Inn on the Jersey Shore. Once they arrive there Faith's instincts are confirmed when they see how run down the Inn is. Faith is back in NYC as a major storm is forecast. Very reminiscent of Hurricane Sandy. Faith returns to check on her mom and ends up staying temporarily to help out. They take in displaced people who all become like family. It was so heartwarming to meet these people and hear about their lives. Faith and Connie also begin to understand each other better and their relationship improves. This is a feel good book about people caring for and helping each other.

A perfect mother daughter story that isn't too cheesy, but is completely heartfelt. Faith Sterling has lived in New York City for awhile and is loving being a chef in a kitchen where she can create what comes to mind. Her mother Connie enters all sorts of contests and is searching for the next thing always. Connie enters THE contest and wins a B&B on the coast of New Jersey and Faith has to come to the rescue.

I love a good mother daughter story and this one was just right. I loved all the ups and downs that this mother daughter duo had and learning some details and such about their past throughout the book was so good. The nuggets were perfectly placed and when the pieces of the puzzle were put together you could see how they had ended up where they were.

I love that this book was "inspired" by the super storm Sandy that hit New York and New Jersey. Not having lived in those areas and watching the storm hit all via the news, I liked reading a fictionalized tale that was "inspired" by it and read about survivors and what it took to live through that storm.

I have read both books that Patricia Perry Donovan has written and have loved both. I can't wait to hear where and when her next book takes place and what inspired it!

I'd actually give this a 4.5. I don't live on the east coast, so this story, based on a massive hurricane, similar to Sandy, was so interesting to me. I loved how the many characters and townspeople were intertwined, with many stories coming together, but not in a confusing manner at all. This book showed good, but flawed, people (like most of us) trying to decipher life and the past. With chefs as some of the characters, I found my mouth watering over some of the food descriptions. I loved this book, and I can't wait for more from this author.

I loved this book. A wonderful story of how a disaster can bring people together in ways they never thought possible. And change their lives forever. Makes you want to take a trip to the Jersey shore and visit the Mermaids Purse. I am sure Connie would be there to welcome your home.

This is a novel about personal discovery and of the enduring human spirit in times of need. It takes place on the Jersey shore in the aftermath of a powerful hurricane. The hurricane almost completely decimates the small beach town of Wave's End. The center of the story is an aging bed and breakfast, The Mermaid's Purse and the struggling inhabitants.
Behind each person is its own story. Faith, a professional chef is desperate to keep her mother Connie from falling into yet another scam. Connis believes that winning The Mermaid's Purse in a contest is the answer to all she has ever needed in life. Maev is the aging owner of the Mermaid's Purse fulfilling the history of finding the next, perfect owner.
After the hurricane, the bed and breakfast open its doors to displaced residents of Waves End. Roxanne and her son Gage are fleeing a ugly separation from her husband. Fred and Mona have been left homeless. Mona suffers from Alzheimer's and Fred is lost in his devotion to her even with her increasingly challenging symptoms. David is a restaurant owner who has lost his business. Ellie, Faith's pregnant best friend, comes to the bead and breakfast torn by her perceived wandering fiance.
These lives cross and parallel building sturdy relationships that display the deeply seated desire to reach beyond ones' self and one's own troubles in order to offer assistance, care and, ultimately, love to each other.

You guys know I'm a huge sucker for a pretty cover and this one is swoon worthy! Anything beach themed grabs my eye, and while this is set near the ocean, there's a twist. This isn't about some amazing vacation where the characters sit with a fruity cocktail in their hand, it's a story about what happens after tragedy strikes in the form of a devastating hurricane and how several people are effected and changed by it. It's a beach read with depth and heart, it explores family bonds as well as the bonds that can be formed quickly between strangers when a natural disaster strikes. There is a little something for everyone, a hint of a mystery, some love and romance, and some wonderful themes and lessons.

The characters in At Wave's End are great, they're very realistic and wholly relatable. Faith is a chef based in NYC who heads to Wave's End to help her mom, Connie after Hurricane Nadine hits. Both women are flawed and have made plenty of mistakes in their lives, they haven't had the easiest relationship, but aren't mother/daughter relationships always tricky?! When they team up to help the residents of Wave's End they become a force to be reckoned with and I loved watching them grow and change throughout the story. There is a great cast of secondary characters that also undergo tremendous growth and seeing them all band together restored my faith in humanity a bit.

The Mermaid's Purse is the inn that Connie wins in a lottery and despite it being rundown, there is something magical about it. The entire setting has a bit of magic to it as seeing the community come together was such an inspiration. The kindness of strangers was heartwarming and the resiliency of the people effected by the hurricane was amazing. This was a really lovely read full of heart, strength and meaningful relationships developed during a tragic event, I truly enjoyed this one.

You won a bed and breakfast in yet another contest, Mom? Please say I am not hearing you correctly?

Poor Faith. Her mother, Connie, has always entered contests ever since she was a child and has never won, but then she wins this one which seems unbelievable because of the prize. Connie has won this prize after writing an essay about why she should win the bed and breakfast, and Connie is determined to come all the way from New Mexico to claim and see her prize.

Faith lives in New York City and accompanies her mother to the bed and breakfast at Wave's End at the Jersey Shore. As predicted, the place is in bad shape and nothing like the pictures in the contest.

As Faith argues with her mother about the "prize," a hurricane is making its way up the coast. Faith goes back to New York and then returns as the hurricane is gaining in intensity to make sure her mother is safe.

Faith finds more than she wants to find when she returns with her mother's impulsiveness being a very big problem this time.

AT WAVE'S END is an enjoyable read with characters that were very believable and lovable. A mother/daughter team is always a treat because it can go two ways: the best it can be or the worst it can be. :)

You will be comparing your relationship with your mother and might see some similarities as well as differences.

Secrets kept for a long time and finally revealed are part of AT WAVE'S END, but do they bring mother and daughter closer or father apart?

Food was another major component with three of the characters being chefs, and who doesn't like to talk about food and gorgeous kitchens?


If you need a fun, light, heartwarming read that shows the resiliency of and the generosity of mankind, then you will not want to miss AT WAVE'S END.

It has something for everyone and the reason I enjoy women's fiction....family, love, tenderness, surprises, a few tears, and warmth.

ENJOY!! I certainly did. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the author in return for an honest review.

Was drawn to the book by the cover and description. I am pleased to say i was not the least bit disappointed. Its a very powerful story. I couldn't put it down. Love when a book draws you in, in such a way. Couldn't find any faults in it. Very easy to read and highly recommend this read

The book has multiple layers and features a lot of different relationships playing at tandem throughout the story. Adversity usually brings out a side of the people involved that may be totally unexpected and uncharacteristic, this particular feature forms the backbone of this book.

I was not too convinced when the story began of the depth with which the story was unfolding, but once disaster struck and everyone took up their end of the responsibilities the tale took off.  The lead protagonist, a Chef named Faith is struggling with multiple changes in her life as well as financial considerations. Her flighty mother wins a bed and breakfast in a small town and wants to run it. Then the weather turns violent and everyone has to face the repercussions of nature's fury.

The people are lovable and flawed in their own ways, the only fault could be having too many dynamic people crowding the 'Mermaid's Purse' but then again, that is how the world usually works!

This was a great book. I'd recommend this to anyone going to the beach or needing a book to read in the pool. It had a great ending too!

"At Wave's End" by Patricia Perry Donovan

What a truly authentic and genuine novel. If you survived Hurricane Sandy, you will more than relate to this novel. If it didn't affect you, personally, you will have a better understanding of it's impact through this novel. While the author does not write about or refer specifically to Hurricane Sandy, the realism with which she writes will have any and all readers absorbed, engaged, and having a better understanding of the destruction, power, and resiliency hurricanes, and other natural disasters, leave behind. They do not just affect the landscape, homes and other dwellings, but that of people and the human spirit. It affects individuals, families, and communities in numerous ways. By the end of the novel, the reader is so invested in the welfare of the states, towns and people affected in one way or another, they will be volunteering to help at the next natural disaster in any way they can.

I started reading "At Wave's End" shortly after dinner. I was so enthralled that I lost track of time. When my dog started bugging me I looked at the clock and knew we had missed our usual walk time by a few hours. That was ok. We are going through a nightmarish heat wave, so even at that hour of the night it was still 102 degrees. I was so absorbed in the realism of the novel, and my recollections of Hurricane Sandy, though in this novel it is Hurricane Nadine, that when walking outside it eerily felt like the calm before the storm. Not many authors can affect you that way in just the first quarter of the book. Patricia Perry Donovan, did so.

Her characters are strong, yet flawed. Kind and loving and sometimes too overprotective of others or their own personal space. They have their own individual thoughts and plans in regard to themselves and others, some accurate and some not so accurate. But at the heart of each of them is love, growing respect, and constant growth. The reader: a part of this novel from the very beginning. One is not simply taken in and absorbing what is being written, they are there, and experiencing what each character is experiencing in all the different situations and relationships they have. They feel the emotions and experiences and changes within the characters individually, as a couple, as friends, as family, and as a community.

"At Wave's End" is not just about Hurricane Nadine and the response of the characters and community. It is not just about the town of Wave's End. It is also a novel about the individuals and community members and what they find, add to, and take away from the experience when they have hit wave's end and to make adjustments: the initial destruction and slow reconstruction of people, towns, and communities. It is a genuine novel of change, at its worst and at its best. It is a novel to be enjoyed by any reader, but one not to be missed.

Rating:
4.8
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/2t0vtc0

** I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this novel. All thoughts are my own.

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