This was a 3-star read for me because of the author's writing, specifically her colorful imagery that transported me to the bookstore and to the beach. But other than the beautiful writing, I struggled with the multiple characters that weren't quite main characters but not quite secondary characters. I have found when I read novels like this, with so much going on, that I eventually lose interest in every character and every plot/sub-plot which is what happened here. I put this down and re-started it several times before finishing. When the ending finally arrived, it wasn't satisfying but felt abrupt.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Autumns husband went missing two years ago and she's still reeling from the possible loss. Thats when she finally decides to go back to her hometown with her kids for the summer. She never expected to see a past love and with her husband gone there maybe a second chance at love? Meanwhile someone seems to be bringing up her mothers past, something she's kept well hidden and refuses to go back to it but circumstances are making things harder to keep secret. Then theres Autumns daughter who's life seem to be getting complicated by the moment and have a few life changes coming up. This summer is really a season of discovery and healing.

I usually have a tough time getting into books with more the the two main characters but this book was different. I will admit I did have a lot of confusion trying to get used to the family members and making those connection of how their story was going but once I got the hang of it I was pretty much hooked. This book has the perspective of the grandmother, mother and daughter and each of them are dealing with some hard life choices at the moment and could change everything as they know it if revealed. I loved how each characters remained interesting and unique and I couldn't help but want the best. I will say that I could see where the mothers story was going from a mile away and still managed to get hooked. I thought that twist was going to come eventually and liked how it ended with how it turned out. Overall this was a pretty great book with some deep and complex characters .

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

Brenda Novak has done it again! She is a masterful storyteller and I love her books. The Bookstore on the Beach does not disappoint, I was hooked on this story from chapter one. This book follows a family and three generations of women, each facing life altering changes. Taylor (17 yrs), her mother, Autumn, and Grandmother, Mary are a close knit family living on the Virginia coast. This is a story of family, overcoming life's curveballs, survival, and love. This is a great summer read full of drama and family secrets. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves chick-lit and romance. I will not forget this book soon and cannot say enough good about it.

4.5/5 -- This has been one of my most anticipated books for this year and it was awesome to finally read it!! Ms. Novak's previous women's fiction story One Perfect Summer was one of my favorite reads last year, and I'm excited to say that I enjoyed this one as much. Ms. Novak takes her characters lives and pushes just a little farther with their backstories and histories, and I am so fascinated by that. Her characters always seem to go through so much stress and a lot of drama, but they always find their way back in with their friends and family. I'm enamored at how well the author connects all of her plotlines together so well.

In this story, three generations of women in one family spend the summer together. All three have big decisions to make, big enough to change the entire trajectory of the rest of their lives. I don't want to spoil by listing any part of these POV's and what they're going through, but holy cow is this family under stress. They don't let it get them down though. They don't let their issues tear them apart. Instead, they actually love and respect one another so much for what they're going through, which is ultimately what helps them all to come to conclusions they can live with.

They keep big secrets, though. I know the drama surrounding secrets propels the story and allows the author to build the plot. But, man, these secrets are NO JOKE. In particular, the matriarch of the family, Mary, has a whopper of a tale. My gosh. I can't say that I've ever been in any situation even remotely similar to the ones these individual women are dealing with, so I don't really need to criticize how they handle things. But I don't think I would have done things the way they did-any of them!-so reading this was an interesting experience for me.

One thing I will say here is that there is a surprise pregnancy and I love the way the entire family handle that situation: the respect they gave to the one carrying the baby, in allowing her to truly make decisions for her own self, but also by discussing all of the possible outcomes so candidly. I just respect the hell out of the way it was handled here.

Anyway, I'm already excited for whatever this author's next women's fiction story will be. When I pick these books up, I know the characters are going to go through a lot and there may be some WTF moments, but they're always a good time.



Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for review! These opinions are my own.

Autumn is spending the summer with her mother in the beach town where she grew up and there is a lot going on in Autumn’s life. Her husband has been working covertly overseas and has now been missing for over a year. Every summer Autumn and her two teenage children head to Grandma’s but this year, more than ever, the family members have big issues/secrets they are all dealing with in each of their lives. To complicate Autumn’s life even further her teenage crush has also moved home too. This book has a lot happening, maybe too much, but it gets sorted out in the end. I enjoyed this story and will definitely read more from this author.

Brenda Novak is a master at creating characters with great depth. This multi generational story is full of emotion. There is a lot to love here and you can't help but become immersed in the lives of the characters. It's a journey that will stick with you long after you finish reading.

“The Bookstore on the Beach” by Brenda Novak. I don’t think I have read any books by Brenda Novak before and now I am wondering why not. What can I say other than I loved it and read in one day.

How do you start a new chapter of your life when you haven’t closed the book on the previous one?

The story is told from three generations of women—a grandmother, a mother and a daughter. It had everything you could want in a story love, regret, laughter, sadness, forgiveness, friendships and family however that might look.

I found the characters to be well developed, and multi-dimensional. There were multiple sub-plots to keep you engaged and interested in the outcome. I must admit I choked up and even wanted to know more

I will definitely read other books by this author.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Harlequin and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining. The characters were complex while being completely entertaining.

Mary is keeping a secret that she doesn't want to share with her daughter, Autumn. Autumn has enough on her plate with a missing husband and two teens. However, Autumn starts seeing a guy she worshipped back in high school.
I really enjoyed this book and at the end I was crying. If you enjoy romance novels you need to read this one.

I was immediately sucked into this story about three generations of women dealing with secrets and situations that are not about to go away or resolve themselves easily.

First, there's Mary. She's kept a secret from her daughter Autumn for so long she doesn't know how to come clean now. She's got to take care of a few things first before she can tell her daughter the truth about where she came from. Mary's story is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

Then there's Autumn. Her husband has been missing for 18 months. She doesn't know if he's coming back or if he's dead. She's exhausted and in desperate need of something good in her life. Her old high school crush is available, but it's not an easy decision to move on when she doesn't know what happened to her husband. I really felt for Autumn's situation, especially when her first love Quinn is waiting in the wings to lift her up. She thinks she's faced with a choice between her own happiness and her family -- loved her dilemma and her character as she makes her tough decisions.

Autumn's daughter Taylor is dealing with her sexuality and a huge mistake she made with long-term consequences on top of losing her father and possibly her brother when he finds out what she did.

They're all dealing with something. What I loved best about this story was how this story was told. I'm usually not a big fan of head hopping from one character to the next, but that worked so very well with this story in keeping all three story lines moving forward at a very nice pace. This was an easy read that had me engaged with these characters from page one and kept me interested. It's been a while since I've been tempted to skip to the end to see what happens! I loved that about this story.

I really enjoyed this. If you are a fan of women's fiction with a touch of romance, you might like this title. I thought it was terrific, and this will definitely be one of my favorites of 2021. The characters are interesting, the writing seems effortless, and it was very easy to get involved in the story. Definitely 5 stars from me.

I thought this was going to be an easy fun beach read, but nope, I was so wrong, this book is really complex.
Complicated stories from three generation women. The journey to move on, to find love again, to face the fears. Lots of heartbreaking moments. Lots of sweet moments. Love the three generation women, they've been through a lot, and I can't not root for their happy ending from the beginning.
Not a big fan of the ending though kinda hate it, it kinda rushed and I felt something missing in the end.

If you're looking for a complex story about family with lots of drama, go for this one.

The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak features the stories of three generations of women in a single family, each faced with very different, compelling issues in their lives. I found myself looking forward to learning what came next in each woman’s journey as their stories developed. This was a well-written and truly enjoyable book. It would be the perfect summer beach read!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC. The opinions expressed above are all my own.

This book had too many things going on it in. I would list them out but you wouldn’t believe all of that could happen to one person (it can) and I try to keep it spoiler free around here. Also, the title was completely misleading - there were like a handful of scenes in a bookstore if the setting matters to you. There are better books to read this summer, so I’d politely pass on this if I were you. Trying to end on a positive: I did listen to the audiobook version of this, and it was well done.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Harlequin for my ARC!

Loved this one. Definitely not a super light-hearted beach read (despite the cover). And you know what, that is totally okay with me! I listened to the audio version, which was great! Love all the family dynamics and all the elements of mystery, secrets, and intrigue along the way. Really enjoyed it!

This was a wonderfully complex book with so many stories happening with each character. There was kidnapping, a mysterious disappearance, a stabbing, teen angst, and confused sexuality all rolled into one book in this idyllic beach setting. The ending was a little rushed and I believe could have benefitted from a bit more development but otherwise it gets my wholehearted recommendation.

This was such an interesting story! With a family that's had to keep such heavy secrets, to making life changing decisions, this book had twists and turns on every page. Getting into the book I wasn't sure what to expect as the author had the reader guessing as to what deep dark secret was being kept.

Autumn Divac’s husband of twenty years has been missing for 18 months. She has spent countless hours, hoping and praying and exhausting all avenues to find him before deciding to go back to her childhood home. Autumn and her two teenage children would be spending the summer with her mother, Mary Langford, who runs a bookstore on the beach along with her sister Laurie. Autumn is hoping to relax and find a way to recharge while spending the summer here. But fate has other plans for her. It turns out her high school crush is also home, working at his family restaurant while taking care of his sick mother.

There were so many different layers to the story as there were life changing events taking place for the 3 generations of women, Mary, Autumn's mom, Autumn and for her daughter, Taylor. I feel like the story could have been 3 different books because there was so much to uncover and I felt that there was so much left unsaid.

Overall this was an enjoyable read as secrets were brought out into the open and it was a happy ending for all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

Beautiful written story by Brenda Novak!! This has to be one of my favorite reads of 2021. Will reread and recommend to all readers!!

Autumn’s husband has been missing for almost two years. She finally goes home to Sable Beach for the summer. Is it time to give up searching for her husband and start living again?
I could not put this book down at all. I loved every minute of it. There was so much I had to figure out, drama with all the family.
And then seeing Autumn and Quinn reconnect, it was wonderful.

Brenda Novak always delivers a heartwarming novel, I’m a big fan of her Silver Springs series. No worries, this novel is a standalone. This is a great beach read, just like the cover shows. It has a really big build up in the book as it follows a family about 18 months after Autumn’s husband has disappeared. It’s a generational family story of three strong women in different stages of life. Autumn, her mother, and her daughter are all navigating beginnings and endings. There’s a lot of turmoil in the group and as they return to their beach cottage to visit their grandmother, all their secrets will be revealed. There were many sweet moments and a lot of character development as well. Overall, it’s an enjoyable read with many soap-opera like dramatic moments.

Three generations of women joined together for a life-changing summer.
Mary, the grandmother, who has deep secrets from her past she would like to remain there.
Autumn, the mother, is unsure whether to move on with life even though her husband has been missing for over a year.
Taylor, the daughter, has a secret of her own, and a new friend she isn't sure she wants to be just friends with.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was swept up in all the drama this book had to offer. A missing husband, teenage pregnancy, and 35-year-old secrets. I fell in love with the characters and was rooting for their success. I knew how it was going to end, but I was hoping that would not be the case. I was disappointed with the ending which is why it got 3.5 stars instead of 4.