A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

Kit Blakemore, grieving the loss of her military husband, strives to rebuild her life. To support her son, Oliver, she plans to sell their old Victorian home and pursue an education and a better career. Before saying goodbye to their seaside town, Kit aims to create lasting memories for Oliver. Unexpectedly, her husband's best friend, Alex de la Cruz, returns and offers to help with renovations. As they bond and heal, Kit's numb heart begins to thaw. To guide her son and herself toward bravery and moving forward, Kit must confront her fears, defying the pain of loss once again.

I loved this book. It’s such a sweet vacation in a novel! I loved the competition between the two characters and how it blended so many tropes so seamlessly: second chance, small town, and enemies to lovers.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A beautiful story about getting over the loss of a loved one and moving on with your life.

A great summer beach read. Sea Glass Summer is the second book in the Seashell Harbor Series, and it is a completely standalone novel, so you don’t have to worry about reading these books in order. Kit is a single mom after being widowed when she lost her high school sweetheart overseas during his military service, and she is doing her best to get back on her feet and is trying to move on. Her future plans can be set in motion if she can just sell the old hose that she and her husband dreamed of fixing up and making their home. Carson’s best friend Alex returns home to try and help Kit fix up the house; though his appearance isn’t welcomed by Kit as they have not been friendly since high school. Can Alex help Kit achieve her dreams?

What made me pick this one up? The house on the cover drew me in, and I have the other books by Miranda Liasson I have read.

Did it live up to my expectations? Absolutely- the characters were all so likeable, and I fell in love with Ollie, Kit’s quirky son. I was really rooting for the characters to be able to find a way to move past their pain and get to where they could look forward to their futures.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kit is tackling a summer of new beginnings as she tries to take back control of her life. She continues crossing paths with Alex, her late husband's best friend, who is determined to help her with anything she needs.

This is a great summer read about overcoming grief and facing your fears. I loved Kit's candor — she was not afraid to call Alex out for his hot and cold behavior, and was honest with her grief. I appreciated the slow build of their relationship, and seeing how supportive Alex was for both Kit and her son Ollie. It's a heartwarming story with a great friend group and community who are eager to support the pair as they rebuild their life.

Thank you Forever for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

This has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while and once I started reading I couldn’t figure out why. Liasson’s second in the Seashell Harbor series is delightful. The themes of moving forward and being brave were pitch perfect. If you are looking for a summer afternoon in print this is the perfect choice.

It was fun to visit Seashell Harbor again. A wonderful addition to the Seashell Harbor series! I love Miranda Liasson's books.

This is book 2 in the Seashell Harbor series. It can be read as a stand alone. Kit has lost her husband while he was serving in the military and now she and her young son Oliver are return to Seashell Harbor to sell his family home and start a new life. Alex, her husband's best friend offers to help her renovate the cottage so she can get a better price. Kit swore she wouldn’t leave herself open to the pain of loss again. But if she’s going to teach her son to be brave and move forward, Kit must first face her own fears.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 STARS

This was the first book that I've read from Miranda Liasson. I loved the unexpected love story between Kit and Alex, it truly moved me. Sea Glass Summer by Miranda Liasson is an EPIC read and will join the ranks of the BIBLIO-ARISTOCRACY!!!

Sea Glass Summer is the second book in Miranda Liasson’s Seashell Harbor series. Kit Blakemore has had a very rough few years since her husband Carson was lost in a war across the world, leaving her a very young widow with a small son to raise. Thanks to her parents and her best friends, Hadley and Darla, Kit is slowly coming to the point where she can begin to stand on her own two feet.

With a dead end job and an unfinished college degree, Kit decides to begin courses to complete her psychology degree. Kit and her son Ollie have been living with her parents but, with a burst of personal strength, Kit takes the opportunity Hadley’s grandmother offers by moving into her beach house as a low rent caretaker.

As this is coming together for Kit, Alex de la Cruz, Carson’s best friend and fellow Air Force pilot, returns home from duty with the sole purpose of restoring the large, bayside historical family home Carson had inherited. With it ready for sale, Kit can sell the place and secure her future and Ollie’s. Maybe the weight of his own guilt will lift if he does this for his friend’s family. He will then meet his mother’s expectations and head to law school.

Kit meets Alex’s offer of help with resistance. Why has he always seemed to avoid her and been so cold when they are together? Why would she want him around? But with her new found plans, how can she refuse his help?

This is a lovely and timely story of love, loss, and resilience. Although part of a series, this book could definitely stand alone. With wonderful characters, a beautiful setting, and a bit of a twisty plot, I very much enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

I was granted an early edition of the book from NetGalley. This is not a paid review.

Kit is a widower and a single mom to Oliver (Ollie). Kit's husband, Carson, was an air force fighter pilot who died while deployed. After his death, Kit would read the letters he had sent her. Two years after her husband passed, Kit still lived with her parents who were helping her with Ollie and helping her get her life back on track. Before Carson had been deployed, he and Kit had purchased a house on the beach that they had planned to renovate so it could be their family home. With Carson's death, Kit couldn't fathom the idea of living there so she listed the house for sale in hopes that the money from the sale would help her buy a home of her own and help her pay for schooling. Kit's two best friends, Darla and Hadley, were pushing for Kit to move out on her own and to start dating again. Ollie was on a tee ball team and his Coach, Bryan, was showing interest in Kit.

Alex, Carson's childhood best friend who was deployed with him, decided to return to their hometown to help Kit renovate the house in hopes that it would get her more money when it sold. He had planned to come for the summer and spend his own money rehabbing it as a surprise to her. Alex felt responsible for Carson's death and also felt it was his duty to help his best friend's widow and son.

When Kit found out what Alex was planning on doing she was less than pleased. She eventually came around and agreed to let Alex renovate with the caveat that she got a say in some of the changes he was making. Reluctantly Alex agreed.

As the weeks went by, both made changes in their lives and lurking tensions and questions came to the surface. A great story filled with sadness, loyalty, and new beginnings.

4.5 stars

I really liked getting to return to Seashell Harbor for Alex and Kit's story.

Alex was best friends with Kit's husband Carson and they were also serving in the military together when Carson died. He has come to town to help Kit fix up an old house Carson loved so she can sell it. When he ends up living next door too, their relationship begins to change.

Kit and Alex's romance was sweet and emotional as they find love while trying to move forward with their lives. I loved how they formed a connection as they worked together. It was sweet, too, how Alex forms a connection with Kit's son. This is definitely a slow burn, which felt right as they each grappled with their feelings over moving on after Carson's death.

This story was really nice small-town romance with great friendships and a charming town. Miranda Liasson has done a wonderful job with this series and I am already looking forward to the next book!

I loved this book and boy will it pull at your heart strings. In short this was a book about 2 people recovering from the loss of 1 man.

What I liked:
🌊 Second chance romance
🌊Amazing friendships
🌊Deeper themes of grief & loss balanced with hope and love

Final thoughts: I loved this book but would definitely recommend reading book 1 first for better context.

I throughly enjoyed another stellar romance from Miranda Liasson. I loved the characters in the book, the angst, the heartache, the chemistry - all of it!

Her book are just so well done and so very enjoyable, that I'm always going to be happy to sit down and read whatever she writes.

I love this series. The friendship is what keeps them all going, the support they give one another is everything. I was always curious with Kit being a widow and a single mom, her story was perfect for her. Second chance romance with bits of aggravation LOL. But most of all LOVE wins them all!

4.5 stars on the blog

Sea Glass Summer, the second book in author Miranda Liasson’s Seashell Harbor does not disappoint. Two people recovering from the loss of one man; the husband to Kit Blakemore and father of her son Ollie, and best friend to Alex de la Cruz who he served with in the military. This wasn’t an easy romance and this book in fact learned more towards women’s fiction with a heavy romantic element in that Kit after three years was ready to reclaim her former life; get her own place, go back and finish her degree, open to the possibility of dating, and rid herself of the old Victorian house her late husband inherited and had dreams of restoring for their family. Alex had one thing on his mind, spend his summer and his own money restoring the house so Kit could sell it and ensure her and Ollie’s future before he moved on with the dreams of going to law school. Filled with themes of loss, grieving, strength, longing, hope and love; Sea Glass Summer is the perfect feel-good, summer beach read.

It was easy to see from the beginning of this book that Kit’s friends and family had offered love and support after she lost her husband, but they also crippled her and she was feeling it. While some thought she was making rash decisions quite quickly, it was easy to see that she was a woman wanting to move on and figure out her new normal without relying of everyone. I admired her for that even when at times she was stubborn and didn’t want to ask for help. In a way I think her standing up to Alex whom she believes never really liked her gave her a boost of confidence she didn’t have and while she did compromise and grant him permission to work on the house she also let him know that she intended to be involved in the decisions about the house.

Alex really didn’t intend to get mixed up in Kit’s life but when he meets her son, his late best friend’s little boy, it was easy to see that he was going to have a hard time staying away. I loved that Alex was a stand up guy and he intended to do everything he could to restore the house so the sale of it would give Kit and Ollie the financial freedom her late husband wanted her to have. I also felt he had Kit and Ollie’s best interest at hand in everything that he said or did.

There was a connection, a tension between Kit and Alex that was undeniable and yes, part of it was the fact Alex had harbored feelings for Kit for a long time and Kit thought he didn’t like her, but most of it was chemistry they both tried to ignore.

I felt their relationship moved at a natural pace and there were ebbs and flows to it. It wasn’t easy because between them was a man they both loved and missed, yet what the two of them have was different and just as important.

While I loved the moments between Alex and Kit as they were so obviously falling for one another some of my favorite moments were between Alex and Ollie as Alex guided Ollie through little hurdles with ease and patience. I loved their sweet conversations about t-ball, Carson (Ollie’s dad), and even life.

Once I began reading Sea Glass Summer, I could not put it down. Beautifully told with characters that charm and steal your heart, I loved this novel.

This was a pleasant, if not predictable, contemporary romance. I was intrigued by the cover with a lighthouse and beach scene. Baseball and children gave it an ‘America, summertime and apple pie’ atmosphere.

The h and H had a history with some misunderstandings early on in life. Then the h ended up marrying his best friend. Without her aware of it, the H helped the husband write letters home (they were both in military service). Then the husband died. Instead, I felt empathy for this single man.

Though I did not read Coming Home to Seashell Harbor, it may have helped at the beginning of this story. Three BFsF, an engagement and, I sensed, a story about seconds chances for two of the secondary characters that would take place at another time.

I liked the H, Alex de la Cruz. Kit Blakemore came across a bit too sharp and clueless in the first half of the romance, but her son, Oliver, was a cutie.

If I could sum the romance up, it all boiled down to communication. Or lack of it, when it was convenient.

Sea Glass Summer is the second book in the Seashell Harbor series by Miranda Liasson. If you haven’t read the first book, Coming Home to Seashell Harbor, I’d recommend reading that first. Ideally, you can read this one as a standalone but I feel for context and connection, I’d read the first before diving into this one.

Setting the scene back at Seashell Harbor, we are brought back to this beautiful Jersey coastal town and reconnect with some wonderful friends. I didn’t realize or maybe I had forgotten this but this is only a two book series. Just like her other series, she brings these wonderful people into our lives and they leave. I’ve enjoyed visiting Seashell Harbor again and what a nice conclusion to the series this was.

It was wonderful reconnecting with the folks here in Seashell Harbor. One of my favorite things about this series is the friendship between these women. Friends for what seems like forever, the unbreakable bond and love they have for each other really pulls at you. They’ve brought some fun moments to the book that makes me want to be their friend.

The central focus of this book was between Kit and Alex. Kit, as a single mom and widow, we see her grief and challenges as she tries to move on. As she transforms through hope, patience and the support of her family and friends, it’s such a beautiful storyline.

What I like about Alex is we see a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s loyal, supportive and is the kind of guy any woman would be lucky to have. Life has been tough since losing his friend, Kit’s husband, and has definitely burdened the guilt of life without him. One of his greatest heart breaks is not having the chance to explore his first love. The joy of seeing him have an opportunity to get a second chance with the person who stole his heart truly made this a keeper for me.

There’s nothing sweeter than diving into one of Miranda’s books. Her characters who find love and hope, the blessing of second chances promise a future despite their obstacles of doubts. Their story was one that you will fall in love with. There are moments that will make you laugh, feel awh and just overall feel good. Their journey, the connections with friends and family all come together to make this a wonderful read for the summer. Nothing less than expected from one of my favorites. I’d recommend adding this series to check out.

Sea Glass Summer is another wonderfully written, emotional read from Miranda Liasson. The novel follows Kit Blakemore as she tries to raise her five-year-old son while still grieving the loss of her husband two years prior. She is saddled with an old house and wants to fix it up to sell and move on with her life. Her husband's best friend, Alex de la Cruz comes to town to help her do just that, and as the two work closely together, their relationship becomes much more complicated.

This is the fifth book I have read by Liasson and each one I read just reiterates how fantastic she is at writing books that make you feel just about every emotion out there. Kit is so easy to emphasize with as we share her grief, stress, and uncertainty as well as her joy. Alex is another sympathetic character and the relationship between the two is so beautiful. I love how Alex helps Kit realize that she is a strong woman and can do hard things, and I love how Kit gets Alex to open up more as they move through their shared grief.

The side characters are so great. Kit's son Oliver adds levity and glee to the novel. Kit and Alex's friends also add depth to the novel as we see them interact with the main characters. I am also very excited to read Darla and Nick's story when it comes out as I can already tell it will be another impassioned novel. Each character is written so well and they all have a great depth to them. The town itself is written expressly enough that I could picture every location mentioned in the book. I felt immersed in this novel from the moment I started until the moment I finished and if an emotion exists, I felt it while reading. I was so invested in Kit and Alex's story that I am still thinking about it days later. I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially readers of women's fiction and romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kit lost her husband in the war and has been living with her parents with her young son Oliver. She thinks that it is time to live on her own with Oliver. Before she can start her life, she knows she must deal with an old Victorian house that was left to her husband. She finds it in great disrepair, but she knows once it is fixed up that it will sell for a good price.

Her renovation of the house is being share by her husband's best friend Alex de la Cruz. He is only in town for a while, and he offers to assist Kit with the renovations. Alex misses his best friend, and is dealing with survivor's guilt. More than that, Alex is doing his best to hide long-held feelings of attraction towards Kit.

The past and present converge for Kit and Alex, especially when they both realize their strong attraction to another. However, guilt gets in the way of anything that might be blooming between them.

What a touching story! I love how this story showed how deeply Kit loved her husband, but how she allows her heart to open for Alex, all while Alex is navigating his feelings of loss all while dealing with feelings of love.

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