Southern Charm meets Cape Cod Living. Best friends since childhood, each married with a daughter, Jessica and Allison are at a crossroads in their lives. Needing new direction and time to focus, they reunite on Cape Cod where they grew up. This summer read is filled with contemplations, confessions, and second chances. Kelley explores relationships between grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, budding new couples and divorced couples, stale acquaintances refreshed, burgeoning business partnerships, and unsupportive snooty friends! Pack all these relationships into one summer on Cape Cod, add a struggling bookshop, and readers have a satisfying, hope filled read. The Bookshop by the Bay checks all the beach read boxes.

The Bookshop by the Bay has a lot of things going for it. A gorgeous cover, a wonderful premise of a Bookshop and a coffee shop, two friends starting over, a summer book, and few authors pop in the novel as well.

The story revolves around four women who are mother-daughter pairs. All of them want a change in their lives. The premise, as I said earlier, is excellent. However, there are too many characters added to the story. It's hard to keep track of who's who. It's a melting pot in a relatively small size novel.

Unfortunately, this novel was not for me. Having said that, if you are looking for a women's fiction with a quaint and cozy read, this will fit the bill.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this book.

The Bookshop by the Bay contained many of my favorite elements—a Cape Cod setting, mature main characters, and a bookstore. This was a very enjoyable read with well-developed and likeable characters. The Bookshop by the Bay is what summer reading is all about to me! Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this five star book.

A sweet beach read. A book about second chances, starting over and living your new life. Love the setting and of course, including a bookshop in the story is always interesting for those of us who love to buy books and read and love nothing more than small independently owned bookshops!

Attorney Jessica Coleman is stunned when she finds out her husband has been cheating on her with a much younger woman. She quickly leaves their home in Charleston and heads to Cape Cod to spend the summer with her mother. It’s the perfect escape to clear her head and visit with her best friend, Allison Page.

Allison Page is going through her own difficulties when her job as a magazine editor is threatened with financial trouble. Allison’s dream job is to open a bookshop but financially it’s not possible. She’s thrilled when Jess arrives for a summer holiday.

Jess doesn’t arrive alone. Her thirty-year old daughter, Caitlin, tags along. She’s been jumping from job to job. She needs a break from job hunting and Cape Cod is just the place to get it.

Allison’s daughter, Julia, is also going through a few things. She’s trying to build her jewelry shop while her relationship isn’t working out as she’d hoped it would.

The four women put their heads together and come up with a plan to purchase a bookstore and run it themselves. They get much more than they bargained for including some romance thrown into the mix.

This book is a huge slice of life. There are so many emotions running through this book for the four major characters. They are all likeable, even if there were a couple of instances that I wanted to shake some sense into them, but mostly I felt for them. They are realistic personalities with realistic life situations.

It’s a fast-paced book that actually left me both smiling and teary-eyed. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. This is the perfect book to read at the beach. I’ll be looking for more books by this author.






FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

There are so many "bookshop" books out there and this one follows a very similar format. Heartbroken woman travels to a new town to reinvent herself and mend her broken heart. Jess is that woman and Cape Cod is the setting. The story follows two mother-daughter teams on their quest to find their passions and love. Jess and her daughter, Caitlin return to Jessica's hometown to spend the summer with her mother. Jess has just recently discovered that her husband is in a relationship with his receptionist and her marriage is ending. This trip to Chatham is not like her typical summer getaway- Jess is in no hurry to return home. She needs a restart on her life and being in Chatham and hanging out with her childhood BFF Allison is exactly what she needs.
The characters are fun to follow and the small coastal town adds a charm. The bookshop as a setting doesn't mean there will be a focus on reading and book selections. The shop becomes the catalyst for change and new beginnings. It's all about relationships and moving forward. Or course, there will be happy endings and new loves. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

“The Bookshop by the Bay” is a perfect beach read! I loved the charming Cape Cod setting, especially the numerous mentions of a longtime favorite restaurant, The Impudent Oyster. I found the characters—best friends Jess and Alison, and their grown daughters Caitlin and Julia—likeable and interesting, and I enjoyed this story of relationships and second chances very much. I think that what I liked best was that it was more about friendships and family connections than romance (although there is some of that too). How all of these women dealt with starting over, taking chances in careers and relationships, and finding their place after difficult changes made for a compelling read; the fact that most of the action takes place in a bookstore/coffee shop in a beachside town provided a perfect backdrop. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

❤️ #fridayiminlove ❤️

📚The Bookshop By The Bay🏖️Pamela Kelley📚

I adore books about books, bookshops, libraries, writers (you get the idea). There’s just something about this genre that feels both so validating, familiar, and cosy. Pamela Kelley has given us a lovely, warm, summer book to sink into with The Bookshop By The Bay you’re going to want for your summer beach/pool/reading bag!

This is a story of getting the wind knocked out of you, of finding new opportunities where you least expect them, and knowing what true friendship really is. It’s going home, three generations of women under one roof in transition, see themselves and each other in new ways. It’s books and a beach, it’s ending relationships that aren’t working and leaning into ones that fill you with light and joy.

When Jess is blindsided by gut wrenching news she leaves Charleston for the summer for home on Cape Cod. Her daughter Allison is in between jobs and decides to join her. Jess’s best friend Allison still lives in Cape Cod and is thrilled to have her back. When they find the local bookstore is for sale it seems out of reach, Jess isn’t staying and Allison doesn’t have the money. Can they work together to make it happen, and is the end result maybe even better than they’d dreamed?
I love the support that Kelley creates between these best friends, between mothers and daughters. It’s warm and comforting. I love how they’re all in different stages supporting one another, growing, reimagining a life that fits them. Initially the number of characters seemed overwhelming so it took a bit for me to plug into who was who. Once I did, this sung! This is available now, and a perfect summer read!!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press @stmartinspress , Pamela Kelley @pamelamkelley , and Netgalley @netgalley for the early copy.

Here’s the perfect beach read—The BOOKSHOP BY THE BAY, by Pamela Kelley, bestselling author of women’s fiction. No one writes family sagas like her. Meet Jess and Allison, best-friends since childhood and their two daughters Caitlin and Julia. Who doesn’t love stories about multiple generations of women in a family? Jess’ grandmother will steal your heart. Each of these women has own problem, with either money or a man. No surprise there!

The scenic Cape Cod descriptions entice and call the reader. And on Main Street, there’s Chatham Books with a coffee shop attached. I loved the dialogue between a writer and the bookstore owner. What a perfect plot for a book lover. The author artfully weaves a story of true friendship, trust, second chances, and the value of grabbing opportunities to live a happy life.

If you need a getaway, escape to the bay for a few days.

Out now. Published June 6, 2023.

One star for the book. One star for Grace Burrowes showing up in the book. Five stars for my buddy read.

@readingwithmrleo was joking with me that this book was going to put her into a reading slump. But I think it actually did put me in one because I haven't liked the last 3-4 books since I finished it.

All of the relationships for all the characters started falling apart in the beginning of the book. Then there were just WAY too many characters and POVs to keep up with. Once I finally figured out who all the characters were, I felt like more characters were thrown in to create love interests for the main characters and then it just got confusing all over again.

This book was so hard for me to get through. The book's plot made no sense to me. Jess, who was going to get a divorce, decided to buy a bookshop and coffee shop because it had always been her friend's dream. It wasn't even HER dream. It would have made more sense if it was her dream, but she bought it thinking she wasn't going to stay at the Bay.

Besides the plot and too many characters to keep up with, I just found the writing a bit lacking for me. It was hard to follow along and the dialogue and descriptions made no sense at times. Things that we didn't need descriptions of were described in detail; however, things that I would have liked a description for were not described at all. I didn't feel like I was in the bay or bookstore or picture anything about it.

Overall, this book was not for me. While this was is my first book by this author I MIGHT give another one of their books a chance just in case it was the book I wasn't feeling. But I won't be going out anytime soon to buy this one.... or ever.

The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M Kelly is a slice-of-life novel with a half dozen main characters. It had come to her attention that her husband’s assistant was pregnant and her husband was the father. She had known things weren’t right between then but had postponed the talk. Jessica hadn’t realized he’d been cheating. She had not thought him capable. She decided to go to her hometown on Cape Cod for a few weeks of stress relief, and she invited her daughter, Caitlin, to join her. Caitlin had had a bad day, too, between being fired and being dumped. They had lived in Charleston all her life. Caitlin’s parents were both lawyers, partners in the law firm her grandfather had started. She could do with a few weeks off, but that was not to be. It wasn’t too many days before her mother bought a bookshop, in fact, the entire building, which also housed a defunct coffee shop which they vowed to reopen. It had all happened so fast. They still both believed they would return to Charleston at the end of the season.

Jess’s best friend, Allison, had just been cut to part-time and it was really her dream to have a bookstore, so the timing worked for her. Jess and Allison were both in their mid-fifties, not necessarily looking for romance, but not adverse to it. Caitlin was a young woman who had not yet found her spot in life. She found that the coffee shop was it. She loved her customers and they loved her. She also discovered that most of her friends in Charleston were snobs, not a lifestyle she was interested in. This was an entertaining novel, short on plot, but very long on characters. They changed that summer: being together and living a different life proved to be rewarding for all of them. A wonderful, easy novel. Feel-good. I recommend it. Beach/pool read.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Bookshop by the Bay by St Martin’s Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #PamelaMKelly #TheBookshopByTheBay

A wonderful Women’s fiction story of a mother, daughter, and grandmother and best friends. There was a lot of different threads to this story and I enjoyed them all. From Jess learning that her husband has gotten his secretary pregnant and realizing how far apart they have grown, to her daughter who seems to be drifting with her life in Charleston. Mother and daughter decide to go visit Jess’s mother in Chatham, a beach community near Boston, where her best friend, Allison, lives and works. While there, this book covers all the relationships of the various characters and how their decisions affect the storyline. I so enjoyed weaving through different story lines to find everyone’s HEA. A wonderful beach read, it was unputdownable! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's time to load up your beach bag with some 'beach reads'. Pamela Kelley's new novel, The Bookshop by the Bay, would be great choice!
Jess's life is turned upside down when her husband admits to cheating on her. Jess decides to head home to Chatham, Cape Cod, where her mother and best friend Allison reside. It's also home to a bookstore - that might just be what be the friends need...

"Yes, but there's nothing like browsing a bookstore. Smelling through all those books, flipping through the pages and choosing the perfect one for your mood at that moment."

Jess is the lead character, with Allison right behind her. I quite enjoyed the depiction of their friendship and ideas about romance. Kelley gives the reader some generational romance as Jess and Allison's daughters also play a large part of the book. And Jess's mom is as well. There's a large cast of supporting characters and they too are well drawn. The characters are people you'd like to know in real life. (except for one or two!)

The setting is wonderful and I'd love to be lying on the beach reading the book I just bought at the bookshop, heading in to the coffee shop, perusing the main street and more.

There's not a lot of surprise in how the plot progresses and what direction Jess and Allison's lives will take. But that's exactly what I was looking for - a wonderful escapist read where a 'happily ever after' ending waits.

When her husband's infidelity comes to light, Jess flees to her hometown with her daughter, Caitlin to regroup. Caitlin is at a crossroads herself as she is between jobs and between relationships. Jess' best friend, Alison and her daughter are at crossroads in their lives as well. Alison needs to supplement her income now that she's been downsized and her daughter, Julia is unsure if she is happy with her relationship. When Jess and Alison decide to buy a bookshop together, it changes all of their lives.

While there are some lovely romances in this book, that is just a small part of the book. It is more about the relationships between these women. It is so nice to read a book about women who really support each other and are there for each other. Mothers and daughters in particular are often portrayed as having difficult relationships so it is really refreshing to read about two pairs of mothers and daughters who are shining examples of the best that mother/daughter relationships can be. Each half of these mother/daughter pairs is truly loving, caring, and supportive of the other.

This is a really sweet book, ideal to bring along on a day trip to the beach. Character driven throughout and centers around strong female relationships. Love and support can be felt throughout the pages. It’s an overall easy and relaxing read. I enjoyed it but, the truth is at times I didn’t feel connected to the storyline as much as I wanted. I would however recommend taking it for a lazy day on the sand reading by the water.

I am never sure how to rate books like this. It is supposed to be a beach read, an easy summer book... And it is, but it had so much more potential and even though it was an enjoyable read, it just was kind of blah.

There were so many characters to keep up with that at times I had to go back and re-read sections just to make sure I was understanding what was going on.

Caitlyn's character was never fleshed out at all. All she talked about was going back to Charleston and finding a job. All Caitlyn's friends from Charles talked about was finding Caitlyn a husband. So much potential wasted with this character.

Julia's character spent most of her time questioning herself about Kyle ( one more character that wasn't fleshed out). She knew she shouldn't be with him. And when Kyle showed his true side the author wrapped up what could have been an explosive storyline, in a neat little happy bow.

I am all about HEA, but there needs to be conflict and angst in a story. Don't tell me there is conflict, you have to show me there is conflict. So much potential, and it was just thrown out. 3⭐

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Title: The Bookshop by the Bay
Author: Pamela M. Kelley
Genre: Women's Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: June 6, 2023

I received complimentary eARC and ALC copies of this book from St. Martin's Griffin and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Refreshing • Cozy • Forgettable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

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. Caitlin has always been bright but directionless, looking for her passion but keeps coming up blank.

Jess' best friend 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 take a step back. 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 pivotal 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, she learns that the owner wants to sell. Allison and Jess set a plan in motion and what was once a place that held warm childhood memories is now theirs to run. As the two friends, along with the help of their daughters, reopen the doors of the cherished bookstore and adjacent coffee shop to the community, they also open themselves up to the possibility of romance, the bonds of mothers and daughters, and the magic of second chances.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I requested this book on a whim from NetGalley because it seemed like a feel-good summer read and, of course, because it involved a bookshop. The Bookshop by the Bay was my first foray into Pamela M. Kelley's work, and while it was enjoyable, it was also highly forgettable.

What I like:
• the setting. There are so many descriptions of places throughout that I just wanted to head to Cape Cod on vacation. Of course, there is also the bookshop.
• middle aged characters. It's refreshing to read a book involving middle aged characters and their older children. As you can probably guess there are lots of second-chance opportunities happening here.
• multi-generational. Similar to above, I really liked how the pair of mother/daughters came to work together and rebuild their lives.

What I didn't like:
• the pacing. At times it dragged. At times it felt like everything was moving way too quickly. And still it somehow felt longer than it needed to be.
• Four POVs. It took me quite awhile to get everyone sorted out, but I still don't think each perspective was necessary. It would have been fine with just two POVs.

The audio read by Stephanie Németh-Parker was decent and helped me get through this one quicker than I would have had I simply been reading with my eyes. Overall, an okay read but nothing extraordinary. This is just your average feel-good summer read.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone in need of a new start
• readers who love literary elements in their books

⚠️ CW: infidelity, pregnancy, divorce, alcohol

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"There’s nothing like browsing a bookstore. Smelling all those books, flipping through the pages and choosing the perfect one for your mood at that moment."

“I don’t think love is supposed to be that hard. It shouldn’t take that long to realize you love someone. I think most people realize it a lot sooner, and then fight that feeling because it seems too fast.”

When Jess finds her husband cheating on her, she takes time off to visit her best friend Allison in Cape Cod.

Each are confronting large life changes and choices. Jess brought her adult daughter along also and she goes through similar.

I love a book where people find themselves, find their true calling and do what they can to make it happen. Each woman is struggling, searching and changing during this time together.

While this moved a bit slow for me, I think many will love it as a light beach read or a feel-good happy ending. It was a bit predictable but in the best way.

I’m really sad to be writing this, but I had a hard time finishing this one. The premise sounded so cute, I love family stories and the setup with the bookshop/café and beach vibes was really appealing to me. But quite frankly, I just couldn't enjoy it. Most people seem to have loved this one, so don't let me stop you from reading it! Might be right up your alley! But for me, it was a no and here is why.

As soon as I started reading, I had my first issue. This book has 4 different points of view (all female) and it was so hard for me to remember who was who. I usually don’t mind multiple POVs but I need the characters to be very different in personalities and it also helps when you might see more of one or something like that. But this book was going from one to the other and the other and since it’s 2 daughters and their mothers it was so confusing to me. Add to this LOTS of side characters and it made it impossible for me to keep up. I couldn’t tell the differences between the characters, to me they all acted/spoke the same way, there was no way to differentiate them.

The way this was written, it was really more telling than actually showing what was going on. What I mean is that instead of assuming the reader will get what a character is feeling, it was always written out for us. This, for me, really broke the flow of my reading experience. There were also a lot of info dumps. For example, a new character appears and suddenly I have all his background info on a past relationship of his written in short paragraphs (not that it is even relevant in any way with the actual story, so it just added to my confusion).

I also had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. They felt a little emotionless to me. They were going through really big life changing situations and I couldn’t see how it affected them in any way. For example, Jess discovers her husband is cheating and it didn’t feel to me like she was sad or mad or anything, except that the narrator told me (telling me something doesn't make it believable to me if the actions don't speek for themselves, you know?). They then decide to buy a Bookshop and yet it didn't feel like anyone was stressed, ecstatic or anything. But like I said, I had trouble with connecting or relating to any character so that might be the reason it felt like this for me.

Every big confrontation in that book ended in 2-4 sentences which made it so hard to believe. For example, Kyle and Julia exchange 2 sentences after their break up and Kyle then says: I guess I’ll just go then, if that’s it. And that is really it... I needed a little more action/interactions for these important parts, and I felt let down.

Also, might just be me but what's up with people buying a Bookshop/Coffee place, or renting a second car, or starting a new business on their own on a whim? It seemed weird to me, to buy something as big when you are going through a divorce.... divorce is already a lot of changes and insecurities... I just don’t get it... And it’s a little hard to believe they can manage to buy and make everything work with that bookshop in such a short time when no one has any experiences with that at all. It was just weird to me, honestly.

I feel like there were too many explanations I didn’t need in this book and not enough interactions/action. I expected something heartwarming, with a cute feel to it and a summer/beach vibe, but it didn't feel like that for me... so yeah... that sums up my reading experience. I'm sorry I didn't like it. :(

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC, all opinions are my own.

The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M. Kelley follows two lifelong friends dealing with life’s obstacles as they reunite on Cape Cod. The story is told from four different points of views, two mothers and two daughters. What a terrific story of lives meant to be entwined!