I never miss a Mary Alice Monroe book! I was beyond thrilled to get to receive and advanced copy of her newest book through NetGalley. This book was so good. The newest book in the Beach House series was just as good as the others. I absolutely couldn't put it down! Thank you so much!

If you are looking for a beach read that won't make you think about anything, this would be a good choice. Scenario seems routine as a woman returns without a job or boyfriend to the island she vacationed when she was younger and where her folks live now. A cute guy, some female friends, a new job make up her story. Other relatives have problems of their own and then there are the turtles and hatching issues where they all try to help in their own ways.
There is nothing deep here, but fine to read on the beach. 2.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book completely stole my heart! It has been quite some time since I read a book with so much natural positivity. It is a story of new beginnings, of how family comes together in times of tragedy, how they support each other. It is about family values, caring for each other and loving one another. I also learned about ocean conservation. I absolutely loved reading about the sea turtles, how they nest and then somehow just know when and how to head for the sea. A magnificent story!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the story of generations of the Rutledge women who are on the cusp of a new beginning. A marriage, a new career and a heartbreaking illness are woven into the story of Cara, Linnea and Flo. New friends, a new romance and a fulfilling of a love well deserved are all here on Sullivan’s Island.
Mary Alice Monroe writes of traditions, secrets, love and of relationships that are broken with the hope they can be healed.
The snippets she writes of the turtles nesting and the Turtle Ladies that watch for their hatching are not only a lesson in environmental issues, but also of traditions that have lasted years,
On Ocean Boulevard is a book to read, to remember and to share with others. Thank you Net Galley and the Publisher for an early copy of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.

Nothing makes me look forward to warmer weather like catching up with the Rutledge family! The Beach House series always has me wanting to make vacation plans in Low Country! Mary Alice Monroe has once again wow’ed me with the latest installment, On Ocean Boulevard! I enjoy the fact that I feel like I’m catching up with old friends, but at the same time every single book is fresh and original. I truly hope Mary Alice Monroe never ends this series- the entire series is a MUST READ!

I was very excited to get this ARC, I've read all of Mary Alice Monroe's books and was looking forward to the next installment of the Beach House series.

Cara and her family and friends are back! Her niece Linnea has graduated from college and comes back to the island and the beach house to figure out her next steps. Cara is working at the Aquarium and has adopted a baby named Hope and is engaged to marry David, a man she met through one of the long-ago beach house tenants.

The book is truly a family and friends affair. Cara's oldest friend Emmi is helping Cara with her wedding planning and is still living with Flo, who is suffering from dementia and needs to move to a home.

The writing is beautiful and the characters are old friends. I highly recommend this book!

As in every Beach House book, there are beautiful descriptions of the loggerhead turtle, especially their mating and birthing. I've learned a lot I never knew about turtles from these books!

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 6th book in the author's Beach House Series, and I loved it just as I have the other ones. Every time I read another book in this series, it is like returning back to a familiar vacation home, year after year, and getting updates on all of the neighbors. I definitely would recommend starting with the first one and reading from there, Over this series of books, I have seen Cara grow from the daughter returning home to reconnect with her mother into the family matriarch. It has not been an easy journey, but she perseveres and the books have all been great reads!

Cara is preparing to get married to David, in the big wedding she never had, but isn't quite sure she wants. She is helping Palmer, her brother, try to build his life and business back up. This story is as much her niece, Linnea's, as she has returned from California and tries to build her life back in South Carolina. I was also happy to see Palmer's wife, Julia, in a more central role in this book.

I truly enjoy reading about the turtles, the mornings and nights spent out at the beach, and seeing how each of these characters has grown. It makes me long to spend summers on the Isle of Palms in a beach house by the sea. I hope you pick this one up and enjoy it as much as I did! I can't give this any less than 5 stars and I hope the stories keep on coming!

Lovely story of family ties, community ties, friendship and love. It was touching and really entertaining. Cara Rutledge is the center of all of it. I've been reading these stories of the turtle ladies for as long as the author has been writing them and they continue to be fantastic.

The setting is beautifully written and the characters are relatable. About halfway in I felt the pacing was slow. The descriptions of the area are wonderful I love the focus on environment and sea turtles. I liked the main character Linnea and her family. I did feel lost a couple times and I finally figured that this book is a sequel. Knowing that helped make a lot of sense to me. I enjoyed the story and I am sure anyone who has read the prior books will enjoy it even more!

Continuation of this wonderful south family saga. Having been to the Low Country many times(as recent as last month), I look forward to reading these types of books. Now with the passing of Dorothea Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons,, it has been harder to find this type of authors. Keep up the good work!

I always look forward to the next book in Mary Alice Monroe’s Beach House series. This a fun series that follows the Rutledge family through aging, death, remarriages, financial instability and alcoholism. You can’t help but like all the characters, and they have come to be like family to me. Reading these books feels like I’m visiting them in South Carolina. Each chapter starts with information about the loggerhead turtles’ nesting habits. This is not the main focus of the book; it ties into the work some of the characters are engaged in, and I’ve learned a lot about these turtles. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but I would suggest you read the series from the beginning to get to know all the characters. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Gallery Books. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is like coming back to visit old friends in the Low Country. A season with the Rutledge family is always enjoyable and this book is no exception.

This is a wonderful book! As usual, Mary Alice Monroe weaves a wonderful story of family relations, personal revelations, friendships, real-life issues, some romance, some drama, and information about important concerns in today’s world. Her Beach Cottage series centers around protecting loggerhead sea turtles and I have learned so much, all while being captivated by the ongoing story of the characters. Her characters are realistic; there are strong women and those learning to be strong, and the men they love, all dealing with real issues in love and life. I always come away from her stories wanting more. I highly recommend it!

I so loved going back to check on the Rutledge family. This is like visiting with an old friend you haven’t seen in years but immediately feel like you are back home. This novel is a continuation of the characters that we first met in The Beach House. This is a standalone novel but once you are introduced to the family you will want to see where it all started. If you love the low country of South Carolina or any coastal area, this is the book for you. I love how Mary Alice Monroe always has strong female characters and educates the reader to some of the environmental issues facing the world now. We still see the turtles on the Isle of Palms but we also learn about the impact that plastic is having on the ocean creatures.

This book centers around Cara Rutledge and her upcoming second marriage at a later time in life and her niece Linnea who is returning home after a broken relationship and a lost job. It is always welcome to see the generations of Rutledge women come together and build each other up. This novel is what I have grown to expect from Mary Alice Monroe – a great read with strong relationships, beautiful scenery and important environmental education.

I read an advance readers’ copy of On Ocean Boulevard, by Mary Alice Monroe, at the invitation of her publisher, Simon and Schuster, in exchange for an honest review. Monroe is one of my favorite authors, and the books of her Beach House Series are always superbly written, poignant, romantic stories with environmental education included. This one, book #6 in the series, addresses many topics from plastics in the ocean to yet another measles epidemic caused primarily by uneducated parents’ refusal to vaccinate their children; from the importance of a woman realizing that a man can’t save her — she must save herself — to caring for an elderly cherished friend with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The story weaves together so many of today’s topics of concern, but does it through the voices of the characters. It’s not done in a preachy way, but through soft-spoken concerned women to whom we all can relate. When you finish reading this book, you will want to go out to pick up trash off the beach nearest you. You will want to beg your representatives and senators to listen to the scientists who know what they are talking about, and to pass climate change resolutions.

Another topic of concern among these very realistic characters is our continued insistence to build on barrier islands, and destroy maritime forests and shrubs which protect mainland property from erosion and extreme weather. She calls for government support of science and innovative ideas from professionals in the field. After Cara’s adopted daughter, Hope, catches measles because her medical records were falsified, you will want to beg your local government officials to make vaccinations a requirement to attend any public or private school.

One very important mistake is the reference to the Confederate battle flag, as “the Confederate flag”. Except for their colors, they look nothing alike. I feel compelled to mention this because the one that causes so much heartache and anger is the battle flag. Main character, Cara Rutledge, makes the valid and important observation that, while we cannot change history, we certainly can change and improve what we do today.

On Ocean Boulevard may very well be Ms. Monroe’s most important book to date. Her prose is almost lyrical. Her characters are delightful. Her knowledge of coastal environmental crises and needs, and her ability to convey both in a romance novel is amazing.

What makes The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?
• The word “piazza” is repeatedly used in text that implies a veranda or a porch. A piazza is an open square in a town or city.
• Verb tense errors: “…I wish you would have in place of I wish you had….”
• Using “further” in place of “farther”: they are not the same.
• Mistaking the Confederate battle flag with the Confederate flag.

On Ocean Boulevard is a riveting continuation of a fictional Charleston, South Carolina family saga. The coastal setting is the perfect backdrop using the journey of sea turtles as a metaphor for the generations in families and communities. The daughter of the third generation of Ravenels has returned to take up her beloved grandmother’s legacy of saving the nests of sea turtles—that is the perception her aunt teaches her to project rather than wallow in self-pity due to circumstances that left her jobless and single. Truths are unveiled and recognized as matters to be faced and dealt with, while societal expectations and perceived behaviors are acknowledged. The new house built on Ocean Boulevard is a metaphor for the struggles of starting over with determination to create and enjoy beauty in its natural habitat. The arduous trek of the sea turtles to return ashore year after year to build protective nests for their eggs mirrors the strength of this family of women to survive and thrive through the turmoils of life. The environmental protection efforts of the coastal community is wondrously detailed, and the miraculous hatching of the sea turtles and their treks to the ocean where they instinctively know how to follow their swimming destinations illuminates the celebration of each phase of life beautifully depicted by three generations of women, their families, and their friends. There are no shortcuts. Life is to be lived, problems addressed and solutions found, and love is valued. Indeed, family and /or best friend love that remains true, one that no circumstance can destroy, is the best gift so eloquently and strongly threaded throughout this touching, generational saga.

On Ocean Boulevard was like visiting old friends. I love the entire Beach House series. Generations of the Rutledge family returning to the lowcountry of South Carolina to carry on what Lovie started as a young woman raising her children and careing about the fate of the sea turtles.

I just love visiting South Carolina with the turtles, Rutledge family and summer time!
Of course I went with the thought of attending a wedding that almost did not happen!
There is a bit of everything in this novel of love, fear,friendship, and family.
A wonderfully descriptive story that had me wishing for suntan lotion, sweet tea and a beach chair!
Perfect!

Nothing like a book written about Charleston, the beaches surrounding Charleston, and turtle nesting to get me out of this blaah winter mood I’ve been in (it’s so cold outside today) ... Mary Alice Monroe knows how to pull you into a story!! Another great book! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this Mary Alice Monroe book that returns readers to primrose cottage for an update on the Rutledge family. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. One of the things I enjoyed in this book was the author’s ability to educate while entertaining. The story of the need to protect our oceans is woven into the family drama and romance in a way that is not at all preachy, simply passionate characters living out their ideals. It is a feel good story that takes place on a southern island beach, what’s not to like?