Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was such a wonderful and relatable story. The characters were so well done. The setting itself becomes a character and is described in such a lovely way. Heartwarming and touching story from start to finish.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Fran and Wyn. Fran is having a good time at a party till she has a heart attack, now she is a retire police officer. Wyn was a deep sea diver, now he is a handyman. There is an attraction when they meet. It takes awhile for both of them to see how much they are alike. Fran makes friends with the sea sisters swimming club. Fran and Wyn fall in love.

An enjoyable story, location made the book. A book about wild swimming, community and second chances with a bit of romance thrown in . A great summer read

A brilliant story about a police officer who has a heart attack and then moves to a new town to house sit and finds more than she bargained for. She finds love and a supportive community environment and I for one thought that this book is bloody brilliant. I was engrossed from beginning to end!

A nice easy read, I loved where it was set too – added to the story for me!

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I loved the feeling that reading this story gave. I could picture the seaside town and imagined myself there. It made me wish I really was. The friendships between the women and the neighbours was enviable!
The first part of the book started off great but as I read I became bored. At about 3/4 I started to skip multiple paragraphs so I could get to where relationships and truths moved forward. It was just too much of the same thing every day.
Overall it was a lighthearted read about finding joy in life, romance and healing the pains from the past.

A sweet summer type romance read about wild swimming, new friends and an exciting new romance. The sea descriptions are beautiful and the storyline is well-plotted. Not to be missed.

Fran is a fifty-year-old London police officer. At the beginning of the story, she suffers a heart attack that forces her into early retirement. Faced with an uncertain future and needing a change of scenery, she accepts an offer to spend time in the seaside village of Llanbryn, Wales. Fran finds in Llanbryn a community that readily embraces and values her. The Sea Sisters, a local group of women that swim on the ocean, have taken her under their wing. As days and weeks pass, Llanbryn begins to feel like home. Fran has also grown close to the local handyman, Wyn, a kind man with emotional scars of his own. As Fran’s stay approaches its end, will the scars and fears long held inside keep her from starting a new life?

This is a transporting story that deals with second chances. The plot is engaging, though mostly slow. The author did a wonderful job of introducing us to our main character, Fran, a fun-loving but committed police officer that sees her life upended by a health crisis. Her willingness to better her life and overcome her fears was inspiring, I particularly enjoyed the evolution of her relationship with her parents, and the support she finds in the Sea Sisters and in her neighbor, Elin. Wyn, her love interest, is kind and intriguing, but his internal conflict dragged on through the plot.

As for the setting, the author did an excellent job of describing the village. I wanted to step into Fran’s world and experience with her the beauty of the scenery and the sense of community depicted so brilliantly in the story. The ending, on the other hand, felt rushed.

Overall, a good summer read sprinkled with romance, humor, and community. If you are a fan of these themes and of second chances, this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books, Choc Lit for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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This was such a moving novel that made me weep at times. I loved it and would wholeheartedly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I’ve discovered many authors, new to me, by using NetGalley and Sue McDonagh and The Sea Sisters Swimming Club is one that I’m so glad that I received the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. I will now be looking for every new book Sue McDonagh writes as this book was so well-written and fun to read.

Fran is a police officer, who on the job suffers a heart attack and has to retire. Her retirement and post-heart attack recovery was inspiring to me as I have had open-heart surgery and loved the sensitive and inspiring way Sue McDonagh handled recovering from a life-threatening health condition. The author’s descriptions of how it feels to drive after major surgery and the exhaustion and fear that you will never get back to your old self were exactly correct and were handled in a realistic manner, so as not to be demeaning or hurtful to those of us who are reading this after surgery. It was encouraging to me that Fran could renew her spirits and accomplish so much and could build up her health. This is a great point in the book, because the details showed research and care in Sue McDonagh’s writing. It was great to explore this theme in a fun, laugh out loud book that was so easy to read.

Fran gets the opportunity to house sit in Wales and meets a group of women who just enjoy the beach and the sea and the celebration of life. The characters in the town were so wonderful to get to know, including Wyn the guy she meets unexpectantly as she pulls into town, her wonderful caring neighbor Elin – everyone should have a great neighbor like Elin- Caitlin the head of the Swim Club and her hippie parents. The townspeople really take Fran in and help her leave her city slicker ways behind. Their friendship and care to this newcomer is so enjoyable to read and follows all the positive vibes this book leaves you with. This book really shows life past 50 as positive, fulfilling and active, which was truly inspiring and a fresh change from books just showing seniors as too frail to enjoy life or just sitting around remembering the past.
Much is shared about the small town in Wales and even we got to learn some Welsh words, which was a nice bonus. Wales was a great setting for this book, and I now want to travel to Wales to find my own Sea Sisters club. This book kind of reminds me of the British series Doc Martin, but with better characters that you really could see as becoming friends with, if you lived in the Welsh town of Llanbryn.

Even though I loved the ending with Fran’s relationship with Wyn and her parents developing, I would love to revisit this town and these characters again in a sequel.

I dnf’d this book an around halfway through, to be honest I thought that the beginning was so so so good but as I read more into it I just lost more and more interest. The main character tended to be annoying at times and the only saving grace was Wyn.
I could see people really enjoying this book but unfortunately it just was t for me.

I want to be a part of this tribe! The Sea Sisters Swimming Club by Sue McDonagh is an inspirational read, even if you would never swim in the sea. If that’s the case, you’re more of a Fran, and Fran is awesome! A feel-good read, this is a story about sisterhood, resilience, and second chances.

Meet Fran. She’s a newly retired police officer who is struggling. Who is she without her job? She is taken under the wings of the Sea Sisters, who are a group of women of all ages and sizes who swim in the ocean. Will Fran be able to meet their challenge and face her life-long fear?

I highly recommend this read and it’s one of my top reads for 2023! This story is an amazing representation for life after fifty, showing retirement isn’t the end but an opportunity for a new chapter. I found out the author painted the cover herself and I’m blown away.

The cover is what drew me in while scrolling through the NetGalley list, and it’s amazing that the author was able to capture the essence of the story in such a beautiful painting. Such talent displayed by McDonagh all around with this novel!

Fran is medically retired from her demanding work as a police officer after an accident. A former colleague suggests she leaves city life and house-sits his parents' house in a Welsh village as a break. At first it is hard for Fran to adjust to the slower, quiet life in Llabrin, but as the days pass she is welcomed by the Sea Sisters, a group of remarkable women, who challenge her to confront her fears and embrace life to the fullest.
As she gets more into village life, she realises she doesn't want to return to her old life, that there is more to life than your work, rethinking what is important. It's not too late to find purpose and happiness, to understand more about yourself, overcome your fears, and accept a second chance when it is given to you.

Started out slow but soon became a nice easy read. A little romance, not too much drama or angst, just a chill sort of summer read.

I loved the dawn swimmers, found them to be quite humorous, and definitely got a few chuckles.

The Sea Sisters Swimming Club is a story about finding yourself, understand you're more than your work, overcome your fears, and accept a second chance when it is given to you.

Fran retires from her high energy consuming work after a shocking accident. When a former colleague proposes her to leave the city and to go house-sitting his parents' house in a welsh village, she accepts. When she first moved in it was hard for Fran to adjust to the quiet life in Llabrin, but as the days pass she feels welcome thanks to the wonderful people she meets.

“Their lives were organic. Shaped by tides, not by their calendars.”

I liked Fran, her experience is relatable, I empathized with her, even her initial grumpiness is endearing. I was glad she met some great people that gave her a little push out of her comfort zone, and made her see that also the life in a little village is worth to live at the fullest.

Sue McDonagh created a group of likeable characters, a close community, and a lovely welsh village by the sea where I'd like to come back.

Sue McDonagh - The Sea Sisters Swimming Club.

Poor Fran has been through the mill. She now has a lot of adjusting to do in her life.
Settling in to a new town, making new friends, recovering from illness, facing fears and embracing life and new challenges.

#TheSeaSistersSwimmingClub is an absolute joy to read.

There are some wonderful characters who bring such life and colour to the story.

The Welsh setting is, as we say in Wales… lush!
Llanbryn is idylic and quintessentially Welsh.

I whizzed through this book, because I just didn’t want to put it down.

Sue McDonagh is a wonderful writer. I’ve enjoyed all her books and her writing just gets better and better.
Sue has clearly drawn on her own life experience in this book, which has given the story real depth of emotion.

I thoroughly enjoyed #TheSeaSistersSwimmingClub it’s a touching story of learning to live a different life, facing new challenges, making new friends and finding where you belong in the world.

A glorious five stars from me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for a digital arc of this title.

I loved this story about a middle-aged romance. I loved the setting in Wales. very sweet story. I read in one afternoon.

I loved the atmosphere of this book! The description of the small seaside town made me miss my summer vacations at the ocean. I really enjoyed the female friendships in this book and the closeness of the neighbors in this small town of Llanbryn in Wales. This was a fabulous, lighthearted read about healing and finding joy in the next stage of life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a great happy ever after feeling. It was a little slow to begin with, however the description of the characters helped me empathise with their situation. A great holiday read with added extra of reconsidering life after a major health scare.

"The Sea Sisters Swimming Club" by Sue McDonagh is a heart-warming and inspiring tale of second chances and newfound purpose. Fran Doherty, a retired police officer, embarks on a journey of self-discovery and healing in the picturesque village of Llanbryn. There, she finds solace and strength among the Sea Sisters, a group of remarkable women who challenge her to confront her fears and embrace life to the fullest.

As Fran's relationship with the enigmatic Wyn deepens, the novel beautifully explores themes of love, healing, and the transformative power of community. McDonagh's storytelling is engaging, and the characters are relatable and endearing. The coastal setting adds a charming backdrop to the story, making it an ideal escape for readers seeking a tale of resilience, friendship, and the joy of embracing new beginnings. "The Sea Sisters Swimming Club" is a delightful and uplifting read that reminds us it's never too late to find purpose and happiness.