To Mothers And Daughters And Best Friends Forever! Yes, the title is a line from near the end of the book. But I thought it summed up the book quite well - this is ultimately a story of girl power, of friends and family and the family you choose. It is a lighter-side Hallmarkie type tale where there is some amount of drama, but most of the tale is women finding their paths at various ages and stages of life. Yes, there is some romance here (though with no sex scenes, for the clean/ sweet crowd), but really the focus really is squarely on the various women at hand. While the men are never *quite* caricatures, there is certainly a fair amount lacking in their characterizations and indeed even ultimate importance to the story, but that is perhaps to be expected with the type of tale crafted here. Foodies - and those aware that Kelley has written at least two fiction tales specifically about a restaurant - will love the descriptions of the meals and drinks here. This is clearly designed, from its storytelling to its cover to even its early June release date, to be designated a "beach read", and it absolutely feels comfortable in that type of space. Very much recommended.

I have visited Chatham a few times in the past couple years and have been charmed by this sweet little city so I was delighted to read this book!

I felt that The Bookshow by the Bay really captured the city well and I enjoyed getting to see it through the eyes of Jess, Caitlin, Allison and Julie who are 4 women on their own paths with love and their lives. While it was a bit predictable at time that's also why I picked this one up to read- I wanted something cozy and easy to read with a bit of escapism.

Overall this is the perfect book to slip into your bag for a vacation read - especially if you're hitting the cape!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I am a fan of Pamela Kelley’s and have read several of her books that take place in Nantucket (a place I’d love to visit someday). I knew, just by the title, that I wanted to read The Bookshop by the Bay—she had me at “bookshop” and “bay!” This “beach read” takes place primarily in Chatham, MA, and focuses on second chances, starting over, friendships, and mother & daughter relationships. The two lifelong friends, Jess and Allison, are each going through changes in their work, relationships, and, in Jess’ case, her marriage. Jess buys the bookstore, and Allison becomes the manager. Jess' daughter, Caitlin, becomes the manager of the adjacent coffee shop. Pamela does a great job of writing women in their 40s/50s, and I can relate to both these characters. Pamela also gently reminds readers that regardless of age, it’s never too late to start over, to do what you love, and ignore the snobs and naysayers! The dialogue and situations are realistic and well-written. Yes, the story lines (and there are a few here) ARE predictable, but I like that! When I’m invested in the characters, I want them to have their HEA or HFN. I gave this book four stars because I would have liked to see more scenes in the bookshop, including how Jess and Allison adjust to their new circumstances, interact with customers, and deal with the good and the bad of owning a business. I hope that this will be the first in a new series, because there are lots of characters that I’d like to see again! Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first time reading a book written by Pamela Kelley and I throughly enjoyed it. This is a story of friendship, summer in the cape, family, divorce and mothers and daughters. It made me want to move to a small town in the cape, make new friends and start a new life. This was an easy read and I recommend it highly

This was such a great read. It would be a perfect vacation book, especially if you are going to the beach.
The characters were relatable, the plot was interesting, and the writing was well done.
I would recommend this book to anyone.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own *

Jess is a lawyer with her husband. When she realizes he is cheating on her with his assistant she goes to Cape Cod to visit her mother. Her daughter Caitlin is between jobs and goes along with her. Jess learns her best friend, Allison, has a dream to own a bookstore. When the town’s bookstore is for sale, Jess decides to buy it as an investment along with the coffee shop next door. This book is full of second chances and demonstrates how important friendships can be, both old and new. Caitlin has a chance to compare the small community of her Cape Cod life and the life she left in Charleston. It was fun watching her interact with her new friends and take a closer look at the friends she used to have. I really liked the portrayal of the new romances for Jess and Allison as well as their daughters. Great book with great characters and a lot to think about.

This is a perfect book to read during the summer and on a beach vacation! A beautifully written story about starting over and second chances. The flow of the story kept me engaged and I didn't want to stop reading until I finished. This is the first book I have read by Pamela Kelley and it won't be my last. Thank you for my copy!

The Bookshop by the Bay is the kind of book I would recommend to take on vacation to read by the pool. A quick, breezy read that is both charming and engaging. Few great surprises but an entertaining read none-the-less.

You had me at the title...The Bookshop by the Bay. Books about books are my favorite so I knew I was going to like this one. The story is about two friends each with their own personal struggles who have to come together in their hometown to help each other out. Jess has just found out her husband was cheating on her and got the young girl pregnant. She decides to take her daughter with her to Cape Cod to have a little distance but also to decide what she wants to do going forward.
Allison loves her job as an editor but the magazine isn't doing well and she needs to make a change before she gets laid off. She respects her boss and feels bad he's having to make these cuts but maybe it's time to do something else with her life. On a visit home Allison hears that her favorite bookstore is for sale she thinks this may be her chance to start a new career. Her childhood is full of good memories from the bookstore and she can't imagine it closing or anyone else running it.
The two friends will come together and decide how they can make this dream come true for Allison, but also it will be a time for healing and learning to love again.

Jess loves her work as a high-profile lawyer in the respectable and austere city of Charleston. But when she finds her husband, Parker, has been cheating on her with his assistant, she retreats, with her thirty year-old daughter Caitlin for support, to her childhood home on Cape Cod, in Chatham. Caitlin has always been bright but directionless, looking for her passion but keeps coming up blank. And Jess needs to regroup with the help of good food and wine, the company of her best friend, Allison, and come up with a plan for the future.
Allison’s career has hit a low. After twenty years as an editor for the Chatham magazine, circulation is dwindling and though her boss and long-time friend, Jim, does everything to keep her, she has no choice but to go part time. With a career on hiatus and her main relationship being with Chris, her ex-husband who is still a good friend, Allison is at a turning point in life. Her daughter Julia opened her own artisanal jewelry shop a year prior, and she has the kind of day-to-day fulfillment Allison yearns for. When Allison stops into her beloved local bookstore one day and learns that the owner wants to sell, a long-held dream turns into a reality, thanks to Jess. Allison and Jess set a plan in motion and what was once a place that held warm childhood memories is now theirs to run. The two friends, along with the help of their daughters, reopen the doors of the cherished bookstore and adjacent coffee shop to the community. Also, yhey open themselves up to the possibility of romance, the bonds of mothers and daughters, and the magic of second chances.

I am not familiar with this author, but any title that has "bookshop" in the title attracts me so I decided to give it a try. This is a well written book that develops the main characters throughout the book plus brings in some important secondary characters. I love the description of the area and Chatham. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I will be looking for other books by this author. I highly recommend.

An easy breezy story of friends who open a bookshop and coffeeshop on the bay. They come from other careers and need a change of scenery and a change of purpose.

The Bookshop by the Bay
By Pamela M. Kelley

Here I am just a week before Christmas recommending a book that you will want to add to your summer TBR list. The Bookshop by the Bay by Author Pamela M. Kelley will have you standing right behind Jessica, Caitlin, Allison and Julia; cheering them on when need be and hugging them when things seem like they may not get any better.

This is where we learn how strong we can be when life throws a lot of crap at us. How crying alone and with your best friend can be cathartic for both and why it’s ok to change your mind at the last moment.

Jess and Allison grew up together in Chatham and Cape Cod town that makes you want to eat with the locals, enjoy the beach and a place where you are always welcomed home. Jess left for college in South Carolina, meets her husband Parker and marries him after graduating law school. They have a beautiful daughter Caitlin and for years it seems they had it all. We change though as time goes by and Jess is very aware that she and Parker aren’t really communicating and have in a way gone in different directions. The day Jess found out Parker had gone where no married man should go, she gives him an ultimatum and she and daughter Caitlin return to her home town of Chatham.

Allison never really left Chatham behind, she had the best of jobs working for a magazine that features Cape Cod life, she has a wonderful daughter Julia and her ex-husband Chris is her best friend. Now her best friend Jess is coming home and bringing her daughter with her. Allison is bound and determined to be there for Jessica while she is working out how things are going to change.

Will their daughters finally become the friends Jess and Allison have wanted them to be? While all of their lives are changing, their favorite childhood bookshop goes up for sale, should they or shouldn’t they?

The chapters flew by, each character grew and changed and that made reading this book even more enjoyable.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Griffin and Author Pamela Kelley for the opportunity to read The Bookshop by the Bay.

Pleasant if not somewhat (totally?) predictable beach book about two friends and their daughters, two of whom live in Chatham, Cape Cod and the other two of whom are visiting for the summer after breaking off relationships with their husband and their boyfriend back in Charleston. I think the story could have used a bit more tension to make it a little more dramatic, but if you're looking for an easy read on a summer's day, this is a decent choice.

NOTE: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Bookshop by the Bay" was an enjoyable story about four women (two pairs of mothers and daughters) whose lives are in transition and who find happiness and the next stage of their lives through a bookshop/coffeeshop. Jessica Coleman and her daughter Caitlin are spending time in Chatham, Massachusetts, the small Cape Cod village where Jessica grew up, and where Jessica's best friend, Alison Page, and her daughter, Julia, still live. Jessica is preparing to divorce her husband, who has been having an affair with his assistant, who is now pregnant. Caitlin's relationship has recently unexpectedly ended, and she is at loose ends career-wise, cycling through a series of short-term jobs as she tries to figure out what she wants to do. The visit to Chatham is intended to be a vacation, with both women fully intending to return to Charleston, SC. However, while in Chatham, an opportunity arises to help Alison achieve her dream of owning a bookshop. Jess sees it as a good investment, especially paired with re-opening the adjoining coffee shop, and it is a good opportunity for Alison, who is preparing to be laid off from the magazine where she had worked for years due to budget cuts. Julia, her daughter, has a small jewelry shop on main street and is managing to make ends meet, but it is still a struggle. She will also soon see the end of her relationship, when her boyfriend's job takes him to Nashville. The experience of running the bookstore and restarting and running the coffee shop, as well as the friendships that are made or rekindled, will result in new experiences for the four women, and significant changes in plans for Jess and Caitlin.

A story involving a bookstore is always going to be appealing to me. In addition, this is a sweet story. The main characters are dealing with some rather significant issues, but they find support in each other and from others in Chatham. The characters are interesting and well-developed, including many of the "minor" characters. The author does a good job of portraying how different life is in Chatham compared to Charleston or other places. She also uses the backstories of other characters, including unexpected career choices, to help Caitlin realize that her situation in Charleston, and the expectations that come with it, is really not what she wants. I would definitely recommend this book.

A wonderful about picking up the pieces and second chances. Being able to return to your childhood beach town where family and friends will help you move on. Easy, awesome beach read!




Thanks to Pamela M Kelley and St. Martin’s Press

This book was a fun, lighthearted read. I loved the development of each character and the way their stories are all woven together. I also loved that some of the characters are from Charleston, which is my hometown. I couldn't put this book down, and found myself reading it late into the night. It was enjoyable and heartwarming to follow the characters in the ups and downs of their lives. Overall the book was well written and relatable.

This will be a wonderful beach read. This book will be released in June 2023.

'Bookshop by the Bay' is about 2 Mothers (lifelong friends) and their Daughters but it's about so much more. It's a story about new beginnings, second chances and where you belong in this crazy thing we call life.

The main characters are Jess (Jessica), Caitlin, Alison, and Julia. They are all a little lost about where they are headed in life. But with the help from each other and their family/friends they get to where they belong in a small town named Chatham with a bookshop and coffee shop. What's not to love!?!

All the characters about likeable...even the cheating husband. This was a fun and easy read...great for a Summer vacation read on the beach. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins's Press for the e~ARC.

A delightful relationship between grandmother, mother, daughter, and best friend, highlight this novel. A feel-good ending that will brighten your day! Women’s Fiction story about taking chances when life throws you curveballs. Each of the ladies face change that will make them or break them. They stand together and support each other; opening a bookshop/coffee bar. The author shows and tells the story with great narrative and descriptions. 5 Stars! I highly recommend.

Pamela Kelley provides another wonderful story perfect for any time of year but would be nice on a hot beach in the sun. Jess and Alison have been lifelong friends and are both at a crossroads in their lives. Jess is an attorney living in Charleston with her husband and thirty year old daughter. Jess discovers her husband is cheating and retreats to Chatham along with her daughter for support where her best friend and her mother reside. Alison is an editor for the Chatham Magazine but due to poor circulation her boss and friend has no choice but to cut her hours. . Alison’s daughter Julia has opened a jewelry store and is quite fulfilled something Alison is seeking. When a beloved bookstore comes up for sale the two best friends decide to go into business together along with opening the coffee shop next door. With the help of their daughters the women discover friendships that grow, bonds strengthen, and love is a possibility when starting over. I appreciated that the main characters were older women and that starting over and romance were possibilities at their age . The book flows well and keeps a nice pace and is perfect for the seasoned reader as well as a reader looking for something relatable. I definitely recommend.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley, and Pamela M. Kelley for the opportunity.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Jess and her daughter decide 1o spend a month in Cape Cod with her mom. Jess is excited to see her best friend who she missed. Jess is unsure what she wants to do after learning of her husband's affair. I liked the different characters in this book.