Let me start by saying this was not what I expected from a beach read and I'm glad about that. Whisper Beach had some grit to it and some things were upsetting, so there's that, but overall it was a good story.

Vanessa Moran comes home for a funeral and plans to go on vacation right after. But her friends need her so she decides to stay for a few days. Those few days end up being for her entire two-week vacation.

Dorie is there for Van, Suze and Dana who need a place to stay. But how does a tough chick like Dorie let her hubby come and go as he pleases and then take all their money? The most upsetting thing was how Dana's boyfriend has been abusing her for years but is not held accountable at all and he's a police officer!!

Then there's Gigi (Van's cousin) who has just lost her husband but has everyone fooled! Also, Van's dad was bad news but has turned his life around. I'm glad that Van's not forgiving and forgetting right away but is understanding and willing to get to know him.

I do like the relationship between Van and Joe. Although there was a misunderstanding that some might say could be avoided in this day and age, I can see how insecurities could keep them from reaching out. I also like how they communicate now but are taking things slow. And although the ending was not tied up neatly in a bow, I like it for this book because some things should not be rushed. I see that there's a Whisper Beach Christmas story so I'm excited to see what's going on with everyone.

Thank you to BookClubGirls and NetGalley for this Friday Freebie. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to read it but I do recommend it.

Van (Vanessa) Moran left Whisper Beach 12 years earlier when her life was falling apart. She returns for a family funeral. She is a true success story yet this small town and the people in it make her feel insecure and less than.

The author slowly unravels the secrets everyone has from 12 years earlier. They delve into all of the emotional baggage the characters are carrying around. Facing or admitting the truth shall set everyone free. 

This book is set in a fictional beach town in New Jersey. There are authentic references that resonated with this native New Jerseyan.

I should have guessed from the cover that this was not my cup of tea. I found the plot boring and not anything that I could relate to on a personal level. The plot showed potential, but I did not like where the author took us. The plot and this style of writing reminded me very much of another author that I have already vowed to not read anymore of her books. I am adding this to the list.

I enjoyed this novel’s realistic characters and the location. It kept me interested and turning pages. I hoped for a better resolution to the relationship between Van and Joe. I liked them as a couple and thought the story was leading towards a happy ending for them both but I felt like I was left hanging almost as if it was set up for a sequel. I do not like being left to figure out the story lines myself!

This was an enjoyable read with interesting characters and a good plot. I love books like this. Vanessa left her hometown young due to unfortunate circumstances and returns many years later a successful NYC businesswoman for an old friend’s husband’s funeral. Lots of catching up, dealing with the past…. I recommend this book.

3.5 stars.

I'm in the middle of two other serious books so needed something light to read with them and this was just the book!

It was a very easy read, light and fun.

But there was no ending. I needed an ending. I needed a few of the lose ends tied, questions answered and to not be left hanging at the end.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A great read. A very heart warming read about returning home after being away many years. Vanessa Moran left Whisper Beach 15 years ago to never return, then her friend’s husband dies, and she decides to go go back for a short visit. Van finds she really has to review her memories about friendships and lovers. Are things really what you remember?
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

Going off the name of the book, I thought it was a "beach read", but it's definitely darker than that. The book centers on a successful young woman who comes back to Whisper Beach to attend her cousin's husband's funeral, and how she and the cousin and another friend reconnect and redefine their friendships. The highlights of this book for me were the characters; I think the author developed the characters' "voice" well set. However, I was somewhat disappointed that the women in the book still depended on men in their lives for one reason or another, so an opportunity to show strong women was a bit lost. Several deep, heavy topics weren't explored as fuly as I felt that should have been. Also, I feel the book could have achieved the same ending but been shorter. I found myself skimming towards the end. Overall, I am rating this book as a 3, but probably deserves 3.5. I enjoyed the book- not one I'd reread, but still an enjoyable read.

I was looking for a light, typical beach read and found it in Whisper Beach. Vanessa returns home for the first time in 12 years, and reunites with her best friends, who were there for each other and watched each other’s’ backs as the story unfolds. I also enjoyed the romance aspect as a sideline story. I did not like the abrupt ending, and would have liked a lot more closure.

Three best friends reunite after 12 years for the funeral of Gigi’s husband. Vanessa has not been in Whisper Beach for 12 years as she fled because she was pregnant. She has a miscarriage.

I had a hard time following this story. There seemed to be a lot of repetition and too many characters. The pacing was just off for me. The ending was very abrupt and left me desiring more closure.

Thank you for the read.

This was an enjoyable book to read. The characters were well written and the romance was pleasant and done in a realistic way. The story was easy to follow and I was able to read this book in one sitting. The setting was beautiful and who doesn’t love a small town romance. The interaction with the secondary characters flowed well. A truly wonderful reading experience.

This was a sweet story about going back home and facing your demons. I enjoyed the story, but felt the author cut short the ending. The ending left me wanting more closure with the main characters. I was disappointed that there wasn't more resolution.

Twelve years after Van’s hasty leave taking from Whisper Beach, she returns for a funeral and is forced to face her past. Once back, she finds herself spending time with her old friends, family, and the man she loved who betrayed her.

The book is filled with surprising revelations and discoveries. It’s a bit heavier than many beach reads, but the theme holds true. It’s summer reunion filled with great friends and nostalgia, hurt, love, friendship, betrayal, anger, abuse, alcoholism, child abuse. It’s often dark and touches on serious issues.

The story is good and well written, but at times, it goes over and over the same things and kind of beats them to death. Still, I did enjoy reading it and found the surprises interesting. I was surprised that the ending didn’t tie up all the loose ends or answer all the questions, but it does set the stage for more. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is more. This book is part of a series, but it appears that each book in the series evolves around a different set of characters.

I especially enjoyed the camaraderie of the women at the center of the book, how they were there for each other and watched each other’s’ backs. I liked that the romance aspect of the book isn’t the driving force, but that it is secondary to the relationships between the women.

The cover was a bit perplexing as it shows a bicycle, but I don’t recall a bicycle in the book. My only guess is that it’s there to conjure the women as girls. That’s a small thing. The book itself provides an enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

This book was a long and drawn out read for me. I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't understand how they were all so stuck in the past. I couldn't imagine showing up somewhere 12 years after the fact, and having the whole town care that you moved or why! Most of them just needed to move along and mind their own business. So much dialogue was repetitive and unnecessary that it was hard to discern the point of the story.

I liked the premise of this book and the variety of characters. I’m was disappointed by the ending, though, and I wanted more closure.

I like reading light books in the summer and this one fit the bill. I enjoyed it but found it rather typical and slightly slow. I did not like the ending, because it was very vague. I’m assuming the author was setting up for a sequel

This book is about friendship and betrayal, high school grudges and somewhat immature people who get together for a funeral 15 years after one of them leaves town unexpectedly and no one knows why. A little mystery and a love story that is slow to get going. It was kind of hard to stick with it because I didn't really like the people and how they treated each other. Overall I would recommend it as a summer read if you have nothing better.

Whisper Beach was a nice somewhat typical beach story where the main character returns to her hometown to confront the heartbreaks and mistakes of her past. There were a number of interesting characters including the owner of the local seafood restaurant, Dorie, who has always been a mother figure and mentor to the local youth. I find this role a little disturbing given her own acceptance of her philandering and deceitful husband and the apparent weak relationship she has with her own children. Perhaps this is a story for another novel.
The main character, Van, has been through a lot in her life but still managed to rise above and start her own successful business. Sometimes I found her hard to like as she seemed to have a chip on her shoulder about the injustices done to her in the past and yet she was not a total innocent in the turn of events in her life. I understood her anger and resentment toward her alcoholic father but only later in the novel does she seem to recall glimpses of her mother’s role in the tragedy of her parents’ lives. She blamed her father for her mother’s death - hit by a car walking home from work - as he was drunk and told her to get a ride home. She seemed so defensive of her mother yet the book never expanded on their relationship at all. From later revelations in the story, it didn’t seem like she was a particularly good mother and did not seem to protect her daughter from her father’s drunken behavior. . Van seems to come to some acceptance that her father has now changed and is leading a peaceful life with his first love, but her hatred of him in the beginning is a bit off putting. Especially as the results of her own poor choices have changed the course of her life.

The ending was open with no full resolution but I suspect that this will allow for a sequel.

One irritating issue with the book is that is was confusing determining the “speaker” of the dialogues. Usually a new paragraph of dialogue is a different person unless otherwise noted but sometimes there would be 2-3 consecutive paragraphs with the same character speaking and I had trouble following.

Overall I enjoyed the book though and there were a number of interesting twists and turns.

This caught my eye by the beautiful cover and I a promising premise. It was a slow read for me, with a somewhat abrupt ending, and heavier than I expected.

This was a pretty quick read and fairly entertaining. The characters were ok and for the most part they were relatable. A little of the story felt forced and the plot was very predictable. There weren’t really much of an ending just a lot of build up and then it was over. All in all it wasn’t bad but it didn’t inspire me to look up other books by this author.