On Ocean Boulevard
Beach House #6


A delightful story of new beginnings for the Rutledge family.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
Linnea Rutledge returns to Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina with her tail between her legs after losing both her job and her boyfriend in San Francisco. The first place she stops after her flight lands is Primrose Cottage to see her Aunt Cara. She’s been homesick for the Atlantic Ocean and she needed advice from Cara, who sixteen years ago had also returned to the island after losing a job.

Cara is busy panicking over the elaborate and expensive wedding festivities for her June marriage to the wealthy David Wyatt. At fifty-five, she just want something small and intimate, but that is not what was being planned. As wedding plans progress a devastating illness hits a member of her family, and brings Cara and David’s wedding plans to a screeching halt. Will they ever be able to get married?


REVIEW
Love the characters, love the setting, love the story! Mary Alice Monroe has written another delightful addition to her immensely popular Beach House Series. Place this one on your night stand or in your beach bag, it’s a perfectly charming and comfortable escape.

Cara’s beloved yellow Primrose Cottage on the Isle of Palms is like one of the characters in the book. It’s the heart of the story, bursting with wild roses, honeysuckle and a pergola, it’s just the perfect beach cottage. And the loggerhead sea turtles are back! In Mary Alice Monroe’s signature flair, she creatively and smartly weaves the sea turtles return into the story and gives us all a lesson in starting again.

My favorite part was the special relationship between Linnea and Cara. They keep each other grounded and in check despite their differences in age. Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Gallery Books
Published May 12, 2020
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Another great addition to The Beach House series by Mary Alice Monroe, On Ocean Boulevard.
This series is a favorite of mine. Love the beach settings, the characters (and the turtles) and the dialogue. Each book brings in new characters plus we are still seeing what the old characters are up too. I look forward to more in this great series.

I love her books and this was another gem. Always feel as if I am at the beach when I read these books so timing was great!

One of my favorite authors. Monroe doesn’t disappoint. Loved, loved this book. Can’t wait for her next one !

I lived in Charleston and appreciate the accuracy of family ties to the community due to family name, southern mannerisms and history. What I enjoyed most of this book is how Linnnea reemerged as a strong Southern woman who knew what she wanted and deserved and was going to take it. How love always prevails was evidenced through the relationship between David and Cara and their daughter Hope. Lovie would have been proud.

I want to thank NetGalley, Gallery Books, and author Mary Alice Monroe for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

On Ocean Boulevard literally feels like taking a beach vacation. You will feel wrapped in sunshine and like your toes are buried in the sand. I have not read any of the other Beach House books, but I found I had no problems reading this as a standalone. I felt like the author really did a superb job at catching me up on situations I wasn’t familiar with from the prior books. I also really appreciated the dedication to introducing the facts about how all of the plastic in our oceans affects all of our aquatic animals. That’s a mission I’m familiar with and passionate about, so I loved that this was included! If you’re lucky enough to be by a beach, grab this novel and go read it in the sand. If you’re somewhere else, don’t worry. This will transport you right there! What a great and comfortable read.

Thank you again to those named above for the opportunity to read and review this novel!

What a beautiful story. On Ocen Boulevard continues the Beach House series and further develops the love of Cara and her extended family. Typically a series will diminish the value of the series, however, this book is my favorite of the entire Beach House Series. The rich detail, artistic dialogue, and warm character development makes this a fantastic read. Can't wait for her next novel. This book has given me a book hangover.

From the first page, On Ocean Boulevard was like revisiting good times & old friends of summers past. It was a sweet, summer story perfectly suited for an afternoon of sun at the beach or a lazy evening on the porch. The 'regular cast of characters from the other Beach House books are present as well as a few new faces. And while it is great to catch up with our old friends from previous books, this book also works well as a standalone read. To her credit, Monroe does an excellent job of "catching up" her new readers when characters or situations from previous books pop up. She does this without the annoying synopsis at the beginning of the book that so many other series authors use as their go to method. For that reason alone, this book is worth a read.

The story itself is a bit predictable but isn't that what we love about slipping into our summer favorites? It may not be crisp or trendy, but it is comfortable and soothing - attributes that I crave most in my summer reading. This book embodies summer and is the perfect companion to a cool drink and a warm breeze.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to reach an ARC of this book.

In this novel featuring the ‘Beach House’ sited on Ocean Boulevard in the low country of South Carolina, we once more meet the Rutledge family with further stories about some of their family members. Although there are some familiar characters to meet again, there are also new characters to greet us, created especially for this story, so the novel can easily be read as a standalone. Cara, now the family matriarch, has inherited the Beach House from her mother Lovie. After many years away from the family home she has settled in and fully embraced her island life. After witnessing many family celebrations as well as less happy events, it once again about to turn around one last time. She is preparing for her second wedding in a few months’ time; still busy juggling her work with looking after her young daughter Hope.
Cara’s niece Linnea has just returned from California to her family home on Sullivan’s Island. She has sadly lost her exciting new job in an innovative fledgling business when it collapses. Her boyfriend has also dumped her after their relationship petered out, so she is feeling humiliated and is having to look for work so as not to burden her parents. Almost immediately she is accepted back into the community she grew up in and starts working on the Turtle Project, whose founder years ago was Lovie. She is keen and steps up with lots of experience and new ideas to offer up. Her main interests are conservation within a teaching role. It has always been her passion and she feels relieved to have an income at last. Her Father has started work on an exciting new project with his sister Cara, when a sudden family illness and a bad investment turns their lives around. This is the setting for this novel with new beginnings on the horizon for both Aunt and Niece. In times of trouble the Rutledge family do what they always do so selflessly: support each other and unite to help each other through the bad times as well as in the joyous occasions, with the three generations of females, Mother, Daughter and Granddaughter sharing their love, strength, work ethics and legacy.
I enjoyed reading this emotional and beautifully written story. Mary Alice Monroe writes from the heart, using sterling research to enhance her writing and add authenticity and factual data which adds interest to the story. I liked familiarising myself with characters I had already encountered in the Beach House novels. It is like meeting up with old friends once again. The new characters were interesting, skilfully developed and a welcome addition to this story, as was the smouldering romances and intriguing storyline. I loved the theme of Turtle conservation. I have visited the beautiful island of Zakynthos and its renowned Turtle Beach in the south, where tourists can view their conservation efforts and marked out Turtle nests. It was very refreshing and heart-warming to witness the proud natural life conservation in all of its raw beauty alongside the respect of the holiday-makers for the Caretta (Turtles).
I received this book through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher Gallery Books in return for an honest review. Thank you for my copy. I recommend it as an interesting, well informed and continually engaging family saga.

Amazing book!! This book is one of my new favorite feel good books. You just fell in love with the characters. Definitely one I will reread!

A young woman, Linnea, returns home to Charleston after losing her job and her boyfriend. Her strong family help her find her way. I enjoyed this book and especially enjoyed learning about the sea turtles. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book did not disappoint. Great story, great characters. I was sucked in from the start and did not put it down!

I saw this book on bookstagram and knew I wanted to read it. I absolutely loved it. It drew me in and I didn't want to take a break. Definitely did not disappoint!

This is my first “Beach House” book and I totally enjoyed it. Perhaps readers who follow the series would find things that I missed, I felt this book worked great as a stand-alone. Past relationships were quickly understood. The information about sea turtles and ocean conservation that preceded each chapter were welcomed.

Reading one of Mary Alice Monroe's books feels like coming home. We're back with Cara and the entire Rutledge clan in Charleston, South Carolina. Kara's has had her ups and downs: she's been married, widowed and had a child. She's now planning another wedding for herself, as well as working at the South Carolina Aquarium and Turtle Rescue.

Linnea, her niece, left South Carolina for California with big dreams and hopes of finding love. Unfortunately, neither happened for her, so she's back on Sullivan Island living at home with her parents.

Soon, someone develops a major illness and everything seems to stop. But this is a group of people that has been known to come together unlike many, they find strength in each other and in their love for one another, their family and their friends.

This is one of my very favorite series by one of my very favorite authors. I live in South Carolina, only an hour's drive from Charleston, so it's wonderful to see well-loved locations show up in her books. I highly recommend this, book 6, in the series.

I would like to thank Mary Alice Monroe, Gallery Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

On Ocean Boulevard is the perfect book to read right now! It is a relaxing read with wonderful characters. I loved the Charleston, SC setting. Mary Alice Monroe delivers another great book.

This book is everything that you think you would want in that wholesome summer beach read. This was my first book by Monroe, but her writing made me feel so much at home that I am absolutely going to pick up more.

Thanks netgalley!

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of On Ocean Boulevard.

Mary Alice Monroe returns with her sixth installment of her Beach House series. Linnea has returned home after her company has failed and her long term relationship has come to an end. She has arrived just in time for her Aunt Cara's wedding and the beginning of the sea turtle nesting period. She is surprised to see that her parents who narrowly escaped bankruptcy are putting all of their effort into building a home and business on Ocean Boulevard. When an illness halts all of their plans the family must reunite to get through it.

I have read one other Beach House novel and enjoyed it so I was excited to reconnect with the characters. Monroe weaves the plight of sea life, specifically sea turtles, into the stories she tells. The characters have a long history together but you don't have to have read the previous works to get to know them. While I enjoyed the information surrounding the sea turtles I really struggled to find the story line interesting. It felt predictable. This is an easy beach read but lacks some heat.

This is #6 of the Beach House series and Mary Alice Monroe wrote an exceptional book.

Set in beautiful Charleston, SC and the surrounding beach areas, This is an incredible story of love, family, and the important things in life. You can hear the waves crashing on the beach and you can see the baby turtles rushing to the water for the first time.

Loved this book!’n

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me the ARC. This was a great book! my patrons will love it at the library. 5 stars.