This story was very different – in a good way – to what I was expecting after reading the blurb. It is a story of families, friendships, betrayal, infidelity, second chances and self-discovery, all skilfully interwoven into a story with characters who you soon feel you know and can relate to. Adele (Addie) and her older sister Justine don’t really know each other very well as there’s an age gap of twenty years, they’ve never lived together and aren’t that great at sharing their thoughts and feelings with each other.

When their parents needed caring for, Addie dropped out of University to look after them whilst Justine, a successful corporate lawyer, helped cover their expenses. Now their parents are dead, Addie is unsure of herself and what to do in future – only to have this compounded when Justine reveals she may be losing her job. Addie assumes Justine’s life is perfect – great job, loving husband and two delightful teenage daughters. However, appearances are often deceptive and Justine’s marriage is disintegrating . . . . The sisters are both needing to make a fresh start in their lives, to cope with all the impending changes and dare to look to the future. Can they also learn to know and support each other whilst they make all the necessary changes?

This is a family drama, a story about learning to stand up for yourself, to face the future and that sometimes out of heartbreak you can find an even better future. It is a heartwarming story of discovering yourself, finding someone to trust and that love is sometimes right in front of you if you’re only brave enough to take a chance. It deals with some very difficult issues, including infidelity, grief, abusive relationships, divorce and starting again. It is about second chances, counselling, making the most of your opportunities, lasting love and friendship with families at the heart of it all – and is a great read!

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Robyn Carr for the ARC of Sunrise on Half Moon Bay.

Adele and Justin are two sister several years apart in age. Justine is a prominent lawyer married with two daughters. Adele drops out of college to take care of her aging parents. With the help from Justine Adele can take care for her parents without worrying about money.
When their parents pass away, and Justine’s marriage falls apart they both find themselves unsure of the direction their lives will turn.
It is a story of becoming close as sisters again and learning what they want in life.
I was taken in from page on by the Robyn Carr gave us. I am a true fan of her books and enjoy them all.

The author did a great job of portraying the challenges and rewards of a relationship between two sisters that are 2 decades apart in age. Adele had to put off finishing her master's degree to care for their ailing mother, while Justine handled the financial burden. After their parents die, both sisters are at a crossroads in their individual lives, as Justine has a marriage that is in trouble and Adele doesn't know what to do now that she doesn't have to care for anyone. The journey of these women was a great read!

SUNRISE ON HALF MOON BAY by Robyn Carr is her new Women’s fiction novel set in a small California coastal town featuring two sisters who are about to deal with life changing transitions. This story is full of love, empathy, strength and pain as the two sister’s lives change.

Justine and Adele have led very different lives. They are twenty years apart in age and even though they like each other, they are not close.

Justine is a successful, high-power corporate attorney with a stay at home husband and two daughters. Married since college, Justine has devoted her life and long working hours to making a comfortable life for her family. With her company’s merger, she has to make some decisions about the type of work she wants in the future. And then she finds out her husband of twenty-eight years has been having an affair.

Adele returned home from college to be the caregiver for her ailing parents. After eight years as a caregiver, she has few friends and is stuck in a rut. Then Justine comes to tell Adele, finances are tight and she needs to get a job, Adele feels betrayed.

Each woman must find ways to start over and they both discover they need each other more than ever. Together they fight to overcome their failures and learn to fight for their new happiness.

I enjoyed this book so much and found it difficult to put down. Justine and Adele were so different and yet they were there for each other. Justine’s feelings of pain and heartbreak were written with such empathy by this author. How she was afraid to cry because she thought she would crack and not be able to keep all her responsibilities together ripped at my heart. I was cheering for Adele as she took the steps to change her personal life, but I was completely frustrated when she kept refusing to move on emotionally.

I was engrossed in all the emotions, good and bad that this story made me feel. All the secondary characters were fully fleshed and were essential players in this story. There is one mild sex scene that is not gratuitous. (Please Be Advised: this story contains adultery, domestic abuse and a stillborn birth.)

I highly recommend this emotional and ultimately uplifting story!

Two sisters Adele and Justine born twenty years apart are now going to have to rely on each other like never before.

Addie (Adele) is the younger of the two sisters who left college broken hearted and pregnant to become the caretaker of her ailing parents. What was supposed to be a few months turned into years and know Addie is lost. She doesn’t know where she belongs and what she should do with her life.

Justine, had it all. A successful career, two beautiful daughters and a perfect marriage until one day it wasn’t perfect anymore. She doesn’t know where to turn, so she finally confides in her younger sister which she was never that close to, but she needs her family now more than ever.

Addie and Justine find their way back to the only family they have left and forge a new friendship and a bond only sisters can share. They begin to find their way home as they both learn to trust again.
This was such a beautiful story of real life, trials, families lost, yet filled with hope, love and families reunited. I loved the book and could relate to both Addie and Justine in the story. It has all the ingredients for the perfect novel and this is one you don’t want to miss. Thank you to the author Robyn Carr, Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to read and review.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay follows the lives of two sisters, born twenty years apart and with a very weak relationship save for the common link that is their parents. Adele dropped out of university to stay home and care for her ailing parents while Justine provided the monetary support. However, tragedy strikes in the form of their parents deaths and then follows a scrambling as the girls try to adjust to their lives without them. Furthermore, Justine also faces a failing marriage and is unsure how to deal with it.

Adele is reserved and keeps to herself. Being younger, she looks for guidance but doesn't always get it. Justine is more put together, successful and the sole breadwinner of her family, putting her children through school, paying the bills and saving for college funds. Her husband is happy to be the parent at home taking care of the house and children, until he is not.

The story follows the sisters as they navigate a rocky relationship and finally find solace in each other and in family. They learn to change, live a little and take decisions together, bringing them more closer than ever. This is a story of togetherness, family and even forgiveness. As Adele stumbles upon a job that helps her interact more with people, she is inspired to go back to school and complete her degree. She also gains confidence to face her past and try to move forward, even allowing herself a chance at love. Justine on the other hand cuts back on her brutal hours as a corporate lawyer, looking for something more laid back and ending up in her old town. This brings her closer to her daughters, allowing her more time to spend with her children and sister and maybe, even a chance at a new life and new love.

The story is well-written and though it gets a little monotonous, the message is wonderful and heartfelt! This is a wonderful story to read at your leisure and it has all the right elements of a family story filled with love and romance.

I can’t even tell you how much comfort Robyn Carr’s books have brought to me lately, I’ve been listening to the Virgin River series and am obsessed with it and was thrilled that she also had this new release as well. She’s the queen of writing authentic and relatable characters who you fully support and adore but she also always infuses her stories with other characters that aren’t as likable but they’re messy, flawed individuals who just seem so very real. Throw in a deeply emotional read, romance, complicated family dynamics and a pretty setting and it’s everything I could ever want.

I always seem to gain some insight and wisdom about life and relationships when I read an RC book and this was no exception. While I always find myself thinking about different passages later on, the addition of humor and heart are what really make her books unforgettable reads. As two sisters, Addie and Justine navigate several challenges, both separately and in their relationship with each other I emphasized with them and also related to them so many times. This is a book that will make you feel all the feels but when I finished I felt hopeful and cozy and really, that’s so important to me nowadays. Another winner from one of my go to authors!

Sisters Support Each Other as Their Lives Change

Addie dropped out of her master’s program to care for her parents. Justine, her sister, twenty years older than Addie, is a corporate lawyer. Making more money, she took care of expenses while Addie was the caregiver. Now their mother is dead, and Addie wants to move on with her life.

Justine is faced with job and marriage challenges and isn’t sure she’ll be able to support Addie. She’s afraid her job will be abolished, and her stay-at-home husband would rather play than get a real job. Addie was supposed to have her parent’s house now Justine wants to fix it up and sell it because she needs money.

As the sisters face their challenges, they get to know each other and find support in the relationship. Although I didn’t like Justine at the start of the novel, as she faces her challenges, I saw her as a strong woman and came to respect her. Addie was always my favorite. She just seems like a nice caring person. I was rooting for her to find herself and move into the world.

The setting is perfect for the story. Half Moon Bay is a small town where everyone knows everyone else. It’s a place where Addie can safely come out of her shell. It’s also a place that Justine begins to enjoy once she sheds her corporate lifestyle.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

I loved Sunrise on Half Moon Bay!

Two sisters who have grown up separately with a twenty-year age difference are brought together through the trials and tribulations of life following the death of their parents. These sisters realize they can support each other and bring their family back together despite the challenges they faced.

This is a book about sisters. Separated by twenty years they are not close, but their circumstances have turned upside down and now they are both starting over. Will the time they spend together bring together a bond they might have thought never to happen?

Adele has always done the responsible thing for their parents, caring for them despite the worries that came with it, even leaving college and giving up her master's degree when they fel ill. Although so much younger than Justine, Adele proved more than up to the task. Meanwhile, Justine has had to had to cope with the devastating that comes with being the wife of an adulterer. Justine has made a fine career as a successful lawyer and has two teenage daughters. What changes in their lives is the fact that Adele and Justine end up together with hopes of forging a future together?

Along the course of this book there is a situation involving domestic violence, and that might have an impact on some readers. Even so, this book was a very warm, inviting read about sisterhood, family, love and growth.

Although this is only the second book I have read by Robyn Carr, her name is more than familiar to me and I would love to find the time to read more by her as her writing is smooth and my attention was drawn to the story from the very beginning.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I’ve read a few Robyn Carr books, and have enjoyed them. As much as I enjoy them, I find I enjoy the author’s series more than I enjoy the standalones. Nevertheless, I’m always willing to read more of the author’s work.

With Sunrise on Half Moon Bay, we have another enjoyable read. Although not a favourite, the more I read the more I enjoyed. At first, I was unsure about the characters and the story. It didn’t quite grip me in the way the author’s books usually do. However, once the story got going I found I was sucked in. There was more going on than it initially seemed, and I was happy to power through the story to see how it came together.

All in all, another enjoyable read from Robyn Carr.

Another wonderful story from Ms Carr

I really like Robyn Carr's books, and this is one of her best. As time goes on, I am finding that her plots and characters are becoming much more mature and resonate better with my middle aged plus situation. Yes, there are still the hunky men to drool over, but the relationships are complex, the situations challenging and the solutions involve more than just finding a man! Others are synopsizing the plot, I prefer to tell you how this books made me feel about the book and about my own relationships. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for lending me a time-constrained electronic advanced readers copy. This review is optional and reflects my own opinion.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr has Adele Descaro contemplating what she wants to do with her life now. She has spent the last eight years caring for her parents. Adele had been halfway through her master’s degree when her mother needed her to care for her father. Adele and her sister, Justine Somersby have never been close because of the twenty-year age difference between them. Adele is thankful for Justine covering the household expenses plus providing her with a stipend. Justine is a successful lawyer with a house husband and two teenage daughters. Now, though, her marriage is falling apart, and Justine has a chance to start anew. Both sisters are unsure how to move forward. But together they can figure it out and be better for it. Sunrise on Half Moon Bay is a heartwarming story. Adele and Justine are getting a chance to change their lives. The hard part, of course, is figuring out what you want to do and getting the courage to do it. I thought the characters were realistic along with their situations. Both sisters must recover and learn to trust again. Only when they decide what will make them happy, can they be open to a new relationship. I thought the story had a good flow and moved along at a steady pace. I did feel that there was too much repetition. The same details would be repeated two to four times. I liked seeing the sisters get to know each other. I can see many women relating to the two main characters. I could have done without the foul language (mild) and a graphic, intimate scene (it did not go with the rest of the book). I do want readers to know that there is a domestic violence situation in the story. My favorite phrase from the book is “Out of the ashes comes the beauty.” Sunrise on Half Moon Bay is an uplifting story that is perfect to read on a stormy afternoon or while sitting poolside. Sunrise on Half Moon Bay is a story about second chances, family and happiness.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay looks like it may be the beginning of another heartwarming series by an author I have grown to love! Two sisters, born twenty years apart and living totally different lives, grow closer during dramatic changes in their lives. The younger sister, Addie, has put her life on hold in order to care for her elderly parents. The older sister, Justine, lives a comfortable life as an attorney with a husband who stays home to care for the house and their girls. When both girls find themselves in situations they hadn't planned on, they come together and grow as individuals. This is a book about second chances, finding ones inner strength, and dealing with what life has handed to you. And it's a story about the bond between sisters, no matter how far apart their ages may be.

The beginning of the book dragged a bit, but once things started falling into place, I couldn't put it down.

This book was just ok for me. I actually found it boring. I did not like the characters or the story line.

The story of Justine and Adele is just delicious! Justine has been married for over two decades when she discovers that her husband Scott is a cheat. As a lawyer, she knows just what to do legally, but then she has to pick up the pieces of her life and try to hold together the sanity of herself and their two teen daughters. Adele has been caring for their ailing parents for almost a decade and now she is at loose ends because their mom has died. Does she stay in the old home where she was raised, continue her education, find a job...what does she do with her life now that she is free? I enjoyed how the plot unfolded slowly and with lots of layers to the lives of both women. Their discovery of how to start a new life as well as a new relationship with each other made for a wonderful read. I wanted to know more about Justine, more about Adele, more about the teens, more about their love interests. I just wanted to know more, and in the time I set aside each day to read, this was the first book that drew me in regularly. I loved the setting and the symbolism of having a sunrise, which is like a new start. My favorite part was seeing the sisters discover what they had in common and how much they could help each other out of their dilemmas. There are many sub-plots that I am not mentioning, but I am certain that fans of romance will devour this book. It is so good! This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will definitely look for more by her since I have read that she is a prolific author. I need more of uplifting books with lots of conflict but a fairy tale ending! This book definitely fit that bill!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Two sisters needing to start from scratch. Adele dedicated eight years of her life to taking care of her parents when they fell ill and now that they both passed away she does not know how to start over, she does not know what her dreams were, her projects, her goals. Justine had the perfect family, the perfect career, the perfect life until nothing seemed so perfect.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay brings two stories of resilience, rediscovered, love between sisters, new loves and new horizons. I especially liked Justine, who showed all the feminine strength of a warrior. Besides bringing a strong subject little shown in books which is the physical and psychological abuse of women towards men, something real. Adele, on the other hand, did not win me over, I found her a bit monotonous and confused and mainly tied to the past in such a way that she simply went blind to the love that was right in front of her. She redeemed herself at the end but still didn't convince me.
3,5 /5 stars

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "Sunrise on Half Moon Bay" by Robyn Carr, MIRA, April 14, 2020

Robyn Carr, author of "Sunrise on Half Moon Bay" has written an entertaining, captivating and memorable novel. The Genres for this novel are Domestic Fiction, Fiction, and Romance. The timeline for this story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. This is a wonderful and thought-provoking story about sisters, and family that I would highly recommend.

Justine and Addie are sisters with a huge age difference between them. Justine has a family and works as an attorney in a very busy practice. Her husband basically stays at home with their girls. Addie has dropped out of school and wasn't able to complete her master's degree. Addie was the caretaker for both parents for 8 years. After their deaths, Addie has conflicts with what she can do.

Justine now is facing certain domestic and career adjustments, and she and Addie realize they both have to change their lifestyles. This is the first opportunity both sisters have to communicate and perhaps support each other.

 I appreciate that the author discusses important topics such as family, friends, emotional support, love and hope.  I enjoyed this thought-provoking novel.

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay is an absolute heartbreaker of a story that leads its heroines through some very dark places. But when they emerge on the other side, they are all made stronger by the journey. And they beautifully earn their peace, their joy, and their happy ever afters.

Even if – or perhaps especially because those HEAs are not dependent on the men in their lives. But rather on their love for each other as sisters, daughters, aunt and nieces. The women of the Descaro family have learned to help each other stand tall and strong. And it’s marvelous.

The story is focused on the Descaro sisters, successful Justine in her early 50s, and rudderless Adele, their parents’ surprise baby, in her early 30s. But as the story begins, both of them are at crossroads in their lives.

Adele’s situation is the more obvious. She’s depressed, unfocused and not sure how to pick up her life and her dreams after 8 years of being her invalid parents’ caregiver. Now that her mother has died, her life is her own again. She just doesn’t know what to do with it now that she has it back.

Justine, a successful corporate attorney, is facing a decision. The company she has worked long nights and weekends for for over 20 years has just gone through a merger. Positions are being eliminated right, left and center, and she knows that hers is on the chopping block. She’s burned out and wants to do something different, but her family, her stay-at-home husband, her two high school age daughters, AND her sister are all dependent on her income. An income that is now in jeopardy.

But so is her marriage. When Addie witnesses her brother-in-law passionately kissing a woman other than his wife at the local pizza parlor, she feels compelled to tell her sister what she saw.

And that’s where everyone’s life goes more than a little pear-shaped, as the perfect life that Justine thought she had goes up in flames. Leaving her with a choice. She can continue putting her time and energy into a relationship based on lies, and into a job that has long since lost its appeal. Or she can choose another path. She can divorce the cheating husband and find work that fills her soul.

While Addie, shocked into motion at the shattering of her sister’s life, begins to take charge of her own.

Together they find a way forwards into the future. And finally into becoming the friends, the sisters, the family that they never really were.

Escape Rating A: I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. But I really, really did. I found it to be a completely compelling read, and I basically lost a day between its pages, pulled along in this story of growth and change and sisterhood.

I loved Justine’s side of the story. I found her easy to identify with and enjoyed the time spent in her head, even when there was so much in her headspace that was hard and painful. She thought her life was perfect. She believed her marriage was good. She counted on her husband as her partner in life and in raising their girls. The arrangement where she worked and he took care of their daughters was one that they had agreed to, and that appeared to be working for both of them. Until she learned that it wasn’t.

I adored her decisiveness in the face of her discovery. She didn’t waffle or dilly-dally. She was fortunate to have a successful career, and she picked up the pieces and started moving on. There were painful days when the pieces seemed to scatter all over again, but she kept moving forward and eventually got through.

Of the sisters, Addie was the dilly-dallier, but her journey was a portrait of a different kind of learning and growing. She started by just putting one foot in front of the other, but learned to find a new purpose as well as let go of old baggage. It was only in her search for love that she kept holding herself back.

I liked the way that the two sisters grew up, grew together and grew towards each other. And that they did their level best to provide examples of strong women who learned to stand their ground to Justine’s two daughters.

I also liked the fact that while romantic relationships do eventually become part of their lives, those romances are not the reward. Finding a new man is never the be-all and end-all of either woman’s journey, and that’s a great example for the teenagers.

Instead, they both get their own stuff together first and then reach out for someone who not merely loves but genuinely respects them and their strength.

A great story with the best kind of happy ending!

Born twenty years apart, Adele and Justine have never been close, even as they ‘love’ each other. The younger Adele had left her dreams to take care of her aging parents, and Justine, as a successful attorney was taking care of the bills and providing Adele with a stipend for her own personal use. But everything is set to change with their parents now gone, and Justine’s marriage in tatters. Unfortunately, Adele had never really planned for her ‘what’s next’, and with Justine’s issues the two are floundering a bit.

From having to get to know one another, to unearthing long buried secrets that are bound to cause issues for them both, personally and to their relationship: the story contains details of adultery and domestic violence – while not substantially graphic, both issues have a great impact on both of the sisters’ choices and issues to confront. Things do find a way to work for them both- with choices opening up as each embraces the changes in front of them, and they try to build their ‘sisterly’ relationship with all of the new parameters.

This was an on-again / off-again story for me: the age difference in the two sisters played largely into their relationship, and made their earlier interactions rather awkward and stilted, and the moments I was expecting with resentments popping forward to take over the story didn’t have the resounding emotional impact that I had hoped for. Both abuse and adultery were dealt with fairly gently, although on some levels things were repeatedly popping up at the oddest times in strange ways – often not feeling particularly organic or natural. But the conclusion and relationship with the growth for them both as they found a new source of comfort, support and camaraderie in their relationship, that felt more like friends of choice rather than sisters by chance did wrap up the story with a smile. A solid beachy read that allows you to escape but not requiring a ton of time or investment to enjoy.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aFY /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>