Two lifelong friends - Jess, a high profile lawyer in Charleston who has just found out her husband has cheated on her; and Allison, a magazine editor whose magazine is experiencing cutbacks. Jess needs some time and space so she retreats with her daughter to the Cape to get her thoughts and emotions together. Who knew she would buy a bookstore with Allison and change her whole life. This is mostly a story about family, both chosen and inherited. The characters are totally relatable and it is just a heart warming story. I highly recommend.
#TheBookshopBytheBay#NetGalley#St.Martin'sGriffin

I really enjoyed reading this book. Picture yourself on Cape Cod, in the summer, with your best friend nearby and you and your daughter staying at your Mom’s home! The story takes place in the picturesque town of Chatham. Two best friends decide to embark on a dream of owning a bookstore on main street. Don’t miss this one it’s a really lovely story about moving on with your life and following your dreams.

I loved this story about two women and their daughters. All trying to find their place in the world. Changing love and careers and homes. Great ending!

Loved The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M. Kelley! I just couldn’t put it down.

Pamela has a way of drawing you into her stories from the start. I’ve read many of her books and they never disappoint. The characters are interesting and so are their challenges. The setting of this book in Chatham on Cape Cod is one of my favorite destinations.

The pace of the book keeps the story moving along nicely. This is the perfect beach read or sit by the fire kinda book. I’m always sad to finish one of her books as I wish it would continue.

Looking forward to her next books.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for this ARC for my honest opinion.

The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M. Kelley was a great beach read. Two friends, separated by miles, get together when Jess, a lawyer in North Carolina is blindsided by her husband's request for a divorce, and the news that his girlfriend is pregnant. She takes off to her childhood home on Cape Cod to lick her wounds and spend time with her mother and her best friend Allison, who after years of working for a local magazine is seeing her hours cut back due to low circulation. The two work together to buy a bookstore in Chatham, but Jess plans to go back to NC to work and her daughter and let Allison run the store. But the best laid plans can change on a dime, and life on the Cape is too enticing...or is it?

Thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing, The Bookshop by the Bay is a place that I want to go to and I'm sure you will too! Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I love Pamela Kelley! The best thing about her books is they are very simple, short, and heartwarming. That being said, I felt this one was a little long and had too much fluff. It was still a good book, and I love books that take place on the cape. This def is true Pamela fashion.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book for my honest review. Adorable romance story about books (which I love) which was set in a beautiful town with very lovable characters. Couldn’t put it down and was due for a book with a happy ending. Definitely would recommend and have already !!
Would like to point out one think though. Siblings born less than a year apart are often called “Irish twins” not “Irish cousins” as the book stated. Also toward the end of the book, the realtor Gina was mistakenly called Rebecca which was initially confusing as the attorney was Rebecca.

What a wonderful read. What happens when you find out your husband is having an affair and has got his young assistant pregnant? You go back home. That is exactly what successful attorney Jess does. There she reconnects with her childhood best friend Allison. They visit memories which include a visit to a favorite haunt The Bookstore. They find out there that the elderly owner is ready to retire and an idea forms, they decide to buy The Bookstore and make major changes to their lives. New friendships are formed along with new romances. Just a great feel good read.

Middle-aged Jess has just learned her husband is having an affair, while her daughter Caitlin has just lost her job and her boyfriend. At a crossroads, the two women decide to spend the summer in Jess's childhood home in Cape Cod, where Jess's childhood best friend, Allison, and Alison's daughter, Julia, are also struggling. Together, the four women will recover from their setbacks and find new paths forward.

The book's tagline describes it as a "breezy" read, and that's accurate. The pages turn fast, and even though the characters' lives are in turmoil, the tone is light and the story is easy to absorb. This makes for a quick read - but a superficial one. I never felt like I was truly in the mind of any one character despite the omniscient narration, and none of the objectively moving events of the story really moved me. There was always plenty going on - four main characters and at least one romantic interest for each made for a lot of well-written banter - but I didn't feel much emotional heft. It was a light read, nothing more or less.

Four women face life changing upsets in The Bookshop by the Bay, a summer read that belongs in your beach bag! Jess is a South Carolina lawyer in a family law firm. Then she learns that her husband is expanding his family by one. His assistant is pregnant. She decides to return to Chatham, her Cape Cod home, for some much needed summer “me” time. Her daughter Caitlin, who has been fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, all in the same day, is more than happy to join her. Allison, Jess’ best friend, is a journalist for a fading local Cape Cod magazine and is facing a certain layoff. Her daughter Julia, a talented jewelry designer with her own Main Street shop, is planning to break up with the domineering Kyle. What could solve these very different life problems? A bookstore, of course.

The Chatham bookstore is for sale, as is the empty coffee shop next door. Owning a bookstore has always been Allison’s dream and Jess is thrilled to make an investment to support her friend. Caitlin takes over the coffee shop, with Julia adding her marketing expertise. As the days summer fade into autumn, the women discover what is most important in their lives. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Pamela Kelley for this ARC.

Four women at crossroads, and one summer on Cape Cod that will change all their lives. And there's a bookstore with a coffee shop. What's better than that?

The Bookshop by the Bay is sure to be a bestseller for Pamela Kelley. The story is about mothers, daughters and friendships. Jess and Alison have been best friends since their childhood when they lived in Chatham.. Jess married and lives in Charleston with her husband, working in his family law firm, Alison is divorced and lives in Chatham. Their young adult daughters Caitlin and Julia are not the best friends their moms hoped they'd be.

As Jess experiences heartbreak at home she decides to take Caitlin and go stay with her mother for a month in Chatham. Alison has always wanted to own a bookshop, and there is one in Chatham that is for sale. Jess wants a business venture and purchases the store for them to have together.

The characters of Chatham will steal your heart. The mothers and daughters forge a close relationship and the reader is rooting for them. This book could (hopefully) become a new series.

What might have been a book of lost opportunities/lost loves was actually a fantastic and uplifting book about people taking charge of their lives. Lifelong friends are thrown together at a time of upset, and the way they turn their lives around is inspiring. The thing I liked best were these great characters who never stooped to an unseemly level when things fell apart. These women decided what they wanted and determinedly set about making it happen without tearing the problem causing part of their trouble to shreds. Fairness, dignity, hard work, friendship, and family are the foundation of this beautiful story that left me appreciating the author and her ethics.

I absolutely loved this book! All of the characters were so well written, and the development throughout the story made me feel as if I was friends with everyone in the book. The whole time I found myself wishing I was right there in Chatham experiencing this for myself.

When your world is falling apart, best friends are there to help ride life's waves. After Jess discovered the truth about her husband's late-night meetings, she needed to get away from Charleston. Taking shelter in Chatham, the brilliant beaches and childhood friends provided an oasis from the storm.

Through their own stories, readers will meet the mothers and daughters that are fashioning the bay. Julia's has her own jewelry shop and is on the cusp of an exciting chapter. Alison, is considering booking a new adventure. Jess' daughter Caitlin, takes on what is supposed to be a summer job but falls in love with the bay and its residents. At the end of her escape period, will Jess return to Charleston or has Chatham's still waters run deep?

In the storms of my own life, I was seeking a feel-good escape read. The picturesque setting and Pamela M Kelley's charismatic characters provided a staycation.. I've found a new author to add to my go-to list and look forward to checking out her backlist and future titles.

The Bookshop by the Bay is my kind of beach read. It’s women’s fiction and involves longtime friends and their daughters – all going through personal dramas.

Jess has lived in Charleston for most of her adult life. Her daughter Caitlin is grown and at loose ends so the timing couldn’t be better for the two of them to visit Jess’s mother on Cape Cod for the summer. Having found out her husband was unfaithful and clearly heading in a different direction from Jess the time away from Charleston will give her space and time to think and make some decisions.

Jess’s best friend from childhood is Allison. She has always dreamed of owning a bookstore and when the opportunity arises she can only hope to make that happen. When Jess agrees to being a business partner suddenly the future looks brighter in many ways. Allison’s daughter is a local jewelry designer whose business is taking off. She wishes her love life looked as bright.

If you’ve read enough romantic women’s fiction you’ll predict the ending and probably be right. I enjoyed it all and look forward to reading more by Pamela Kelley.

This is a perfect beach’y read! I loved the characters and the setting. Definitely on my list to recommend to friends. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

While I personally kept getting the characters a bit mixed up, I did enjoy reading the book. It is a somewhat lighthearted read with the outcome as I had expected. Therefore, it did not disappoint! I found it quite easy to visualize the different locations, which made this such a nice mental getaway, as I do love the beach!
Thank you #NetGalley & #StMartinsPress for the ARC. I look forward to seeing this book on the best seller list next June - this is certainly a good book for a vacation read by the beach.

Two lifelong friends at a crossroads (Jess finds out her husband has been cheating and Allison makes a career pivot) open a bookstore by the bach.

If you are looking for a light and easy read right now, look no further.
Yes, it was predictable, but sometimes you want that in a read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Jess finds out her husband is cheating on her and she and her adult daughter head North to her old home base to visit with Allison and regroup. Allison is going through her own challenges as her job is in danger of being cut. As the two besties commiserate and plan their future, their next act opens up as their old favorite bookstore goes up for sale. A new beginning for all four women as they forehead and open themselves up to new possibilities and new lives.

A great read and perfect for anyone who’s looking for that next act, or who just wants that good feeling that comes from reading about others finding it. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.