Three women, Margaret, Emma and Gabriella Monroe are all sisters living in a small town along with their darling grandmother who raised them after their mother died. Each woman has her own memories and pain from their childhood that they are working through. Gabriella had vowed on her mother’s grave to keep their family together, and she is working hard to do just that. When her and her sisters are in the grandmother’s attic, they discover a secret from long ago and it just may be the key to helping raise their grandmothers’ spirits. The girls are on a mission, but for Gabby, there is also something else on her mind, Jake Maddox! Her best friend since she was a small girl, is now an attraction she just will not allow herself to pursue. She has her grandmother and sisters to worry about, a failing business, and a town event to plan. Can she find time to put herself first for a change and find the one thing she has been missing?

This is the first Shirley Jump novel I have read, but it will definitely not be the last. I fell in love with the Monroe sisters, their adorable grandmother and Jake. The family dynamics kept me turning pages to see what would happen next. The writing was brilliant, the characters intriguing and the story line was not only about Gabby and Jake but how to help her grandmother, which made me giggle more than once. I am so excited for the next book to see which sisters’ story is next. Thank you Forever, Grand Central Publishing for my advanced copy to read and review. A solid five star read my friends.

The Marvelous Monroe girls by Shirley Jump is a very enjoyable book. The characters are wonderfully written and the story is interesting, fun, and unique.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing for the opportunity to read.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls is a fun, light, romance-women's fiction hybrid, perfect for a vacation beach read or for a rainy winter's day. Jump is an expert at writing snappy dialogue so one of the pleasures of this book is the witty repartee between the main characters. While mainly a romance, the book also focuses on issues like depression and broken family dynamics without being morbid.

Fans of Hallmark movies and friends to lovers stories will truly enjoy this.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls by Shirley Jump was an enjoyable and fun story to read. This is book one in the Fortunes of Lost Lake series. It was full of family, friendship, and love. Set in a small town it was all about second chances and family drama. Three sisters have all drifted apart and come back together to focus on what connects them. In addition, it includes Gabby and Jakes story. I look forward to reading more from this series and author.
Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC story in exchange for my honest review.

Family, friendship and love set in a charming small town. I enjoyed this book about siblings re-connecting, second chances and family drama. I can’t wait to see the rest of the series which I assume will each focus on one of the sisters. If you enjoy the series by Sara Richardson I highly recommend you pick this one up too.

#TheMarvelousMonroeGirls:

I loved Sara Richardson’s series also published by Forever, and I was hoping The Monroe Sisters would be about the same. We have 3 sisters that have drifted apart, finding a way to reconnect over something in their childhood. For The Buchanan women, it was the inn. For The Monroe Girls, it’s letters from an attic, it provided a bit of almost mystery with dear Amelia and personality, so it was fun!

While it’s titled The Monroe Girls, we mainly focus on Gabby.. and Jake! They were the best and I truly think this is a great start to a series. I was hoping this would be a series and was so happy to see the authors note in the back of the book! I think it laid a perfect foundation for a series as we got the background and we’re able to establish a genuine connection with the sisters.

This is such a fun and loving read. While it’s definitely a book to keep in your beach bag, it’s a wonderful reminder to keep your family close. Give them a big hug. Thank you so much Forever for the gifted copy. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the chance to read an advanced copy of The marvelous Monroe girls by Shirley Jump. This was a sweet, chick lit romance that would be a perfect beach read. While we were introduced to the 3 Monroe sisters this story centered on Gabby and her forever friendship with Jake. I enjoyed the story, but was confused because it seemed the book was supposed to be about the three sisters. I assume there will be two more books later.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls by Shirley Jump, book one in her Fortunes of Lost Lake series, is about family, friendship, and love that take place in the charming small town of Harbor Cove. Sisters Gabby, Margaret, and Emma were once inseparable and are now drifting apart in adulthood. After their mother unexpectedly passed away, their grandmother helped raise the sisters. Worried about their grandmother's odd behavior, Gabby tries to bring the sisters back together. Helping Gabby search the attic for a vintage dress, the sisters stumble upon letters to Dear Amelia, an advice column possibly written by their grandmother. Together they decide to use this as a way to get their grandmother out of her funk and feel needed again by working together behind the scenes, making sure her advice plays out. It’s also a way Gabby can ignore the problems in her life; a life that seems to be crumbling around her. As she ropes her childhood best friend, Jake, into her plans these two navigate jumping from best friends to dating; with Jake forcing her to face her true feelings for him after telling her how he feels. Gabby tries her best in all that she does, whether it is uniting her family, helping their small town by setting up a historical event to attract more visitors in the off-season, and help showcase their specialties; but is unable to figure out what or who is best for her. Gabby will need to learn to trust herself and let herself fall in love.

Ms. Jump wrote a sweet and endearing love story that should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with emotions, attraction, chemistry, clever banter, good intentions, and a cast of secondary characters assisting Gabby and Jake admit their feelings and love for one another. I highly recommend The Marvelous Monroe Girls to other readers and I hope there is a follow-up book featuring the other sisters.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

This is a heartwarming story of second chances and repairing relationships. The characters are delightful, the story is entertaining, and I was captivated!

I want to start by saying I got an ARC through NetGalley and it didn't have a cover yet. I love the cover! If you like books with sister and family dynamics as well as some romance mixed in, you'll like this book.

This book focused mainly on Gabby, but also gave some plot for the other two sisters. Gabby is one of those people that feels like it's her responsibility to make everything right for all of those around her. That's a hard row to hoe. She's also dealing with some guilt about the day their mother died as well as fighting her feelings for the guy next door who also happens to have been her best friend FOREVER. Also, her business is struggling. In other words...she is one hot mess.

I really, really liked this book. It held my undivided attention and I really wanted it to go on. I did just check Amazon, and it says Book One. Yea! I can't wait!

I was gifted a copy of this book via Forever Pub and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

What a wonderful book! It's a sweet small-town romance that is full of family drama. It will make you laugh, cry and feel every emotion in between. I loved this book.
I received a complimentary copy from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Forever for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

The first in a new series, The Marvelous Monroe Girls follows Gabby as she struggles to keep her family together, manage her small business, and figure out her love life. If you liked Sara Richardson’s Juniper Springs series, you’ll definitely want to get your hands on this one too!

Jake was by far my favorite character, seconded by Eleanor. I appreciate Jake’s determination to follow his own dreams, despite his father trying to hold him back. I enjoyed the storyline between Jake, his cousin, and his father, but I do wish it felt more resolved. His love for Gabby was so genuine; I was rooting for him right from the beginning. Friends to lovers is my favorite trope, so I loved learning about Jake and Gabby’s backstory as childhood friends.

I don’t know how these characters found time to sleep! Gabby had a ton on her plate as mentioned, but Jake did as well. He was practically working three jobs, one of which was his own startup, as well as helping Gabby and her grandmother with various chores.

Although I don’t believe a season is mentioned, I’d recommend this as a summer beach read. The Marvelous Monroe Girls tries to tackle a lot of different themes, and in doing so doesn’t go much into depth about any of them. Themes of family, grief, friendship, honesty, and love are all hinted at, but most of the conflicts are either resolved effortlessly or swept under the rug.

This series will be a must-read for fans of Sara Richardson, Jill Shalvis, and Jenny Hale.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls was a great story about sisters, Gabby, Emma and Margaret, who have grown up in the small town of Harbor Cove.

While the girls had been extremely close when they were younger, the past few years find them growing apart a bit as things in their lives ebb and flow. When the sisters are searching for their mother's wedding dress, they find some old letters in the attic at their Grandmother's house. Realizing what the letters are, and given the odd way their Grandmother has been acting, Gabby sees an opening for how the three sisters could work together and grow closer once again.

The letters indicate that their Grandmother has been harboring a secret for years and in order to "help" the girls plot in different ways depending on the situation. Gabby also enlists the help of her long-time best friend Jake. During all of this, will Gabby be forced to face her own feelings for Jake and his for her?

This was a very sweet book and it reminded me of a Hallmark movie. I enjoy a good Hallmark movie, so that's a compliment! I'm interested to see what is going to happen with our remaining two sisters in this series - they could be great stories!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for a copy of The Marvelous Monroe Girls. This was a cute small town women’s fiction about the Monroe Sisters. I always enjoyed family drama and would have liked more details on the stress of Margaret’s marriage which felt almost like a non existent side story. I was frustrated at times with all of the characters with their lack of communication. I enjoyed Gabby and Jake’s love story and wanted to see more of it.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls is such a heartwarming story about family, love, second chances mixed with grandmotherly advice. Gabby has been missing the closeness she shared with her sister when they were younger and concocted a plan to get them all together again. While they were searching for their mother’s old wedding dress, they found a stash of letters from the newspaper advice column that sound an awful lot like their grandmother’s words of wisdom. With Gabby’s persistent, the sisters start a new project to improve the lives of those around them all while Gabby ignores her own struggles. Gabby’s shop is struggling, she’s having a hard time figuring out her feelings for Jake and she’s missing that spark in her life.

This book is a great start to the series about the Monroe sisters and I hope in the next book we get a follow up on Gabby and Jake and Emma’s announcement. And also to see how Margaret is doing and how can you forget Grandma and Harry next door. Such a cute book with great characters; it would also make a great tv series.


Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest feedback!

Gabby's life is fine. No, really, it is. So, maybe her vintage dress shop is struggling a little during the off season. And her sisters, once so close, seem to be drifting away. And her grandmother is hiding a secret. And Jake, the boy next door that she's known her whole life, is looking good to her in a way she never noticed before—even if nothing can possibly happen between them…

Okay, so maybe she's not fine. If only she can fix everyone else's problems, her life will fall into place. Right?

This sweet romance has a strong family feel. Jake is my favorite part of the book—he's one of those cinnamon roll heroes you just want to hug. Gabby means well, but her her busybody ways get her into trouble. If you like family-oriented small-town romance, this book is for you.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Sweet and sappy story of a small-town family, led, in this installment, by headstrong, middle child Gabby, who sometimes spends more time meddling in the affairs of her grandmother, sisters, and best friend, Jake, than she does looking after herself. Reads like a Hallmark movie but that's definitely not a bad thing - totally a feel-good kind of story with all the elements of a romance that I adore. I'm already looking forward to the rest of the series!

The Monroe girls are awesome, but I think Grandma is the most marvelous of all. These characters are wonderful. I think they will make you chuckle and perhaps get a tear or two in your eyes. The storyline is great and it’s not all sunshine and roses, just like real life. These strong characters take on life as it comes at them. I enjoyed being with them and learning their personalities as they dealt with the ups and downs. I would love to hang out with them again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

Thanks to Forever for an advanced copy of The Marvelous Monroe Girls.

This is a feel good small town book about sisters and family relationships. The three Monroe sisters all live in the adorable town of Harbor Cove. Gabby owns a small boutique and while her and her two sisters Margaret and Emma have drifted apart as they've opened businesses and grown older. Gabby made a promise to her mom that they'd stay close, so she's hoping that she can bring them all closer together. as they work on a project for the town's anniversary. While there is a little bit of love with her neighbor Jake, the book is more about the sisters and their relationships.

If you're looking for a good book, with real characters and a sweet story of family and love then you'll enjoy The Marvelous Monroe Girls

I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the Harbor Cove series about Margaret and Emma!

This is the first in a series about three sisters. This one focuses on Gabby. It took me over half of the book to finally like Gabby. She’s sweet, but took entirely too much responsibility for others on herself. I found myself exasperated at her most of the time. She also tended to run away from issues, like with her father. I thought that was rather childish. It was a very slow build toward the romance with Jake. I liked Grandma Ellie the best. Despite my issues with the ,main character, it’s still a good read.