The story takes place in Charleston, South Carolina and the southern family beach-house on the Isle of Palms. One of my 2 favorite places to visit.

This book is well written, with good character development, my first book reading from this author and enjoyed like if I still lived in South Carolina. Mary Alice Monroe describes the importance of family, emotional support, friends, neighbors, love, faith and hope.

This is a good pick me up, while reading at the beach.. Definitely will enjoy.

I received a free copy for an honest review from NetGalley. .

Once again, readers get to learn about the Rutledge family and their home on Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Cara is getting a chance at life and love once again after losing her husband. Bret, and finally getting a chance to be a mother by adopting, Hope. While she struggles to balance motherhood and work, her niece, Linnea, comes to the house on the Isle of Palms to help out with Hope. Both women discover their strength as the family undergoes addiction issues as well as their career paths and love.

I feel so fortunate to not only have received a copy of this book, but to have been able to read it while visiting the beach. Hearing the waves and feeling the ocean breeze helped bring the Rutledges to life and make it an incredibly memorable read. I truly fell in love with Cara and Linnea’s charming stories of personal growth and new beginnings.
This was the first of the Beach House series that I’ve read and although I may have missed out on some of the sentimentality of the family history, it did not hinder the Beach House Reunion whatsoever. The author did a great job explaining pertinent backstory so I didn’t feel like I was missing a beat. Now I want to go back and start the series from the beginning!
This was a great beach read and I would highly recommend picking up a copy this summer!

This is another book in the Beach House series by Mary Alice Monroe. Cara Rutledge, 53, has returned to her house in Isle of Palms, outside of Charleston, SC, with her newly adopted baby, Hope. Cara left her job to return to the beach house because she wanted to be a full-time mother to baby Hope, rather than a mother who leaves her child at day care all day. Cara has been out of sorts since her husband, Brett, died three years ago and is hoping for a new beginning. In need of childcare while she starts up her PR consulting operation, Cara hires her niece, Linnea, a recent college grad, to help with the child care, as Linnea figures out what she also will do in life. Both women work together to forge a new beginning for their lives, to include jobs, men and, in Cara’s case, motherhood, while spending a summer filled with twists and turns at the beach house.

Like the others in the series, this book is well written, with good character development. I enjoyed watching these two women, both having reached a turning point in their lives, work out their futures, learn to accept and live with the “baggage” they carry, and find the rewards that come with family, love, romance and growth. In particular, I enjoyed reading the parts about the sea turtle volunteer work they both were involved in, especially the little tidbits about turtles at the start of each chapter, mostly because I live in Florida where sea turtles are a big thing—and it as great to learn some extra things about these fascinating sea reptiles. This is a good addition to the series and will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys the Low Country, the author or her other books as well as those in the series. I received this to read and review from NetGalley.

I enjoyed the continuing story of Cara and her chance of new love and unhappiness. It does help to read the series in sequence, but it is not essential. Love the weaving if the turtles into the story.

This was the first book I read in the Beach House series. I read it after watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Beach House." I really enjoyed this book, it was my first by Mary Alice Monroe as well. I generally always prefer a book to a movie but I found this book followed the characters in the movie and previous books. While sometimes I end up reading in the middle of a series, it just makes me want to go back and read the other books. I thought this book was excellent and now I want to read the first ones in the serious.

I read an ARC of Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe curtesy of Netgalley. This charming beach read follows three generations of a Charleston family. Middle aged Cara has returned home to her Low Country Island home to raise her adopted daughter on her own, but with the emotional support of her family. I enjoyed reading about Cara settling in to the rhythm of motherhood. The fact that this book also addressed the issues of climate change and conservation is something that made the story so much more meaningful to me. I have to admit I had flashbacks to Hurricane Sandy as Cara and company fled a hurricane. These seemed like people I know, resilient folks who can overcome life’s challenges.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy. Another great read from Mary Alice Monroe. This book brought back all of the characters from the previous ones in this series. The characters deal with heart break and happiness! They con't to rely on each other to get through the daily grind. I loved this book! I only wish this were not the last in the series, as I feel like the characters are close family and friends. I would definitely recommend this book and author to anyone looking for a great book!

Mary Alice Monroe is another favorite author of mine. I love most books taking place in the South and on the beach, so this is my kind of book. I have also come to love "Turtle Time." We have stayed at several resorts where turtles are welcomed and the beaches protected so that the eggs will hatch without human intervention.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the turtle information the author includes and the story brought back some of my favorite characters and added a few more! It makes me want to spend time on the beach watching the waves roll in!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I received this book from Net Galley, little did I know that it is book 5 in a series. Then, as luck would have it, I discovered that book 1 (The Beach House) was a made for TV movie being featured on the Hallmark channel this weekend, so I decided to check out the movie, to get a little background, before I began Book 5. It turned out to be a good decision since it gave me an idea of the dynamics between the members of the Rutledge family, their friends and neighbors.

Set on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, SC BEACH HOUSE REUNION continues the family’s saga. Most of the children and young adults introduced in book one are now adults, and a few who had departed the family digs have “returned to the roost” and are struggling with questions of identity, purpose and how to make a difference in the world. A strong sense of place invites additional questions about land ownership and wilderness conservation. Woven in among these thoughtful ideas is an engaging and entertaining story about growing up, growing older, passion and possibilities.

Mary Alice Monroe knows just how to interweave lives and relationships as each character finds their place. Readers will drink up this pleasurable tale about the bonds of family and community as she whisks you off to the BEACH HOUSE REUNION.

A very good read. If you love beach reads with family drama and history mixed into it you will love this book. Characters each had their own story so it keeps your attention. I'm a big fan of Mary Alice Monroe and her books. You won't be disappointed in this one !

I had previously read and enjoyed Beach House and Beach House for Rent and enjoyed both. This book continues the story of Caretta, or Cara, Rutledge who has been widowed for three years. When a friend dies unexpectedly, she asks Cara to adopt her infant daughter. Cara then decides to move back to her beach house on Isle of Palms in South Carolina’s LowCountry to be closer to friends and family. Here she also continues the work of her mother Lovie on the Turtle Team, a group her mother formed to protect the nesting spots of the loggerhead turtle. Loved reading the facts about the turtles at the beginning of each chapter. Thank you for another good read Mary Alice Monroe.

"Beach House Reunion" by Mary Alice Monroe
I was gifted an ARC edition by the publisher via NetGalley for the promise of an honest review. And, I truly loved this book. It has it all - The glee when things go well, The tears when hearts hurt, The angst when choices must be made. And our continued education re the world of 'sea turtles'. You really do want to put this book in your Read Soon queue.

"Her Mama used to say that barrier islands protected the mainland from the storms. But in truth, the marshes protected the islands from the stress of the mainland."

Cara agreed with her Mama, life was different on the islands, and that's why she was coming back to stay. After three years away, the death of her husband, Cara, now 53, has quit her job and is returning to the beloved Beach House on the Isle of Palms, off the coast of South Carolina, that her mother left her after her death the previous year. There is one difference, she's bringing her one year-old, adopted daughter, Hope with her.
Cara feels being near friends and family is what she and Hope need most now, as she begins her own consulting business. She hires her niece, Linnea, recently graduated from college, to help with childcare while she's in the job search process. A win-win solution.
Linnea's brother Cooper, has just graduated HS and is enjoying a summer of graduation parties and is looking forward to attending college in the fall; but not the one his father has planned for him.
Palmer, Cara's big brother (Linnea & Cooper's Dad) seems to be under a lot of stress lately, and is drinking more than he should, much like his father did. Cara has noted that Julia, his lovely wife, has had to intervene in several unpleasant and public family squabbles.
The Ruttledge family members will bond with old friends, form new relationships, break old patterns and heal old wounds together. There's pain, discovery and celebration. It's worth coming to this reunion, whether for the first time, or as an old friend. Don't miss it!

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Publishing, and Mary Alice Monroe

Note: I found the "turtle facts" that open each chapter both informative and delightful, especially since our author is involved in their conservation herself. (Lovie, Cara's Mom, was the original "Turtle Lady" on the Isle of Palms.)

I enjoyed this book. I must say I miss Brett. A lot of changes for the family in this story. All in all a good addition to the series.

I adore this series and love just about everything Mary Alice Monroe writes. This is book 5 in the Beach House series. She pulls you into the tale as if you're sitting on the beach with Cara and Linnea. Isle of Palms, South Carolina sounds like my dream home when it's off season. I love "hearing" all the ladies reminiscing about Lovey and her Turtle Rescue program. The story centers on Cara returning to the Beach House and getting involved with the rescue program. She welcomes her niece Linnea who has graduated from college but is at loose ends. Always lots of family interaction and multi-generation bonding. The perfect summer read with romance, ecology and family drama. Also helpful is the information about the endangered Loggerhead turtle gives you food for thought. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Beach House Reunion is the latest addition to Mary Alice Monroe’s Beach House saga. Cara Rutledge Beauchamps is returning to her Mama’s beach House, Primrose Cottage, on the Isle of Pines, South Carolina. She has spent the last three years working PR at the Chattanooga Aquarium trying to get her life back on track after the sudden and unexpected death of her husband Brett.

While never completely successful at this, she had made friends and had mentored a young woman from Mexico. But Elena left the aquarium and hadn’t been heard from until Cara was contacted as listed next of kin when Elena is tragically killed in an auto accident leaving behind her baby girl, Esperanza. Cara, who had been unsuccessful in conceiving, stepped up at 53 and adopted the beautiful little girl, translating her name to the English Hope.

Needing familial support in this new parenthood endeavor, Cara leaves her job in Tennessee and returns home at just about the same time her niece Linnea graduates from USC. Linnea has a degree in environmental studies and wants to work in that field, although her father Palmer has other ideas. Since jobs are not forthcoming, Linnea signs on to work as nanny to Hope as Cara tries to get her consultation firm up and running.

The beach house holds its own kind of magic, showing both Cara and Linnea an unimaginable future that is there for their taking. A beautiful saga involving family and friends that might as well be family, this is a heartwarming story that will only lead you to wanting one more story of these rich characters.

I have read all of Mary Alice Monroe’s novels and have most loved her family sagas. These people have such rich tales to tell, perhaps as we all do. I wholeheartedly recommend this book

I love the beach, and I love the atmosphere that Monroe describes so well in Beach House Reunion. She also sets a dead reckoning for the weaknesses of the aristocratic south, including the weight of family expectations, the substance abuse, and even the hurricanes! All in all a fun escape novel that takes me on a nostalgic beach vacation.

I am a fan of Mary Alice Monroe's many books, and the Beach House series is one of my favorites. I highly recommend reading the books in order. This is the 5th book in the series, and like the others, it was a joy and pleasure to read. I feel like I already know the characters, so it was great to see their stories continue. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. Reading ithis book was almost as good as being at the beach.

*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

First off, I’ll say that this is my first Beach House book. After reading this one I’m not sold on going back to read the other books or any future ones.

Cara has returned to Charleston after years away and hopes to reconnect with her family and find a way to move on with her life after her husband’s death. We also hear of her niece, Linnea, as she looks for how to start her life after finishing college. The story had a good core but the execution could’ve been stronger. Maybe a couple of the plot lines should’ve been saved for later. I think a driving point for these books are the turtles and conservation, and they were thrown in just because the author wants to stress the importance of saving them. It’s not a bad thing to want to protect them, but it sometimes came across as preachy.
The characters were the driving point for everything happening and many of them fell flat. A lot of characters blurred together, like Toy and Heather, and they all seemed to have issues that needed to be addressed, no mater how small, which slowed things down.
Cara is in her early fifties and yet doesn’t have a lot of wisdom for her age. She’s taken on raising a baby girl and is totally unprepared for it and makes some poor choices as a result. She had moments of depth but like that plot, had too many things crowding her and not enough room to develop in a satisfying way.
Emmi was the shoulder to cry on and someone to dish out hugs, but I didn’t feel her lifelong friendship with Cara. They should have had more inside jokes and knowing glances.
Linnea had the most potential but she made some real dumb decisions. John was all muscle and no real substance. The two of them supposedly had a good conversation but I was told they did, rather than shown.
David seemed interesting but didn’t have enough page time. He had some real history but got lost behind Cara’s mourning for her dead husband and her job hunting, which wasn’t handled well. (She wants to raise Hope but seems to like her job more? Some mother.)
All the other people were kinda just cut-outs of some personality trait. I guess some of them had a bigger role in previous books and you got to know them, but I found several to be more filler than necessary and likable.
If I read a piece of dialogue that didn’t clearly say who was talking, I wouldn’t have a clue who it was. All the women sounded the same, acted the same and aside from Cara and Linnea, only had a life when they were on the page. I didn’t get a sense of movement outside the current perspective, if that makes sense.
The setting held everything together. I’m not familiar with Charleston but I do know Columbia and it was fun to hear references to places I know. I love the idea of beach houses and historical towns and this book makes me want to go visit.
I know I seemed a little harsh, but overall it was a decent book. The idea of a family joining together and overcoming their problems is a nice thing to see happen. I didn’t adore this book but I had no trouble finishing it.