Meira Pentermann

LOVED IT!!!

No more crunching numbers....only a serene life filled with painting and relaxing. That is what Beth thought she would find when she moved to Virginia Point Cove.

What she did find was many sad, lonely residents, a very unpleasant landlord, a jeweler who never spoke more than two words, a couple with a nosey wife, and a firefly that talked to her....yes a firefly. The firefly seemed to summon Beth with his wings and body turns. He frightened Beth at first until she realized he must show more be trying to tell her something and to guide her to where a secret or unknown item may be. She was right, and what Beth was guided to was a diary of a young girl named Katherine who was the daughter of her landlord and who had disappeared thirty-six years ago. As Beth began reading the diary, she became obsessed with finding Katherine. She even used her painting talents to imagine what Katherine looked like.

FIREFLY BEACH has a strong, passionate heroine that you would want for a friend, a town you that you would want to live in, a storyline that will keep you up late, a mystery that must be solved, and characters that are memorable, loving, and different. The characters also were an odd sort and pathetic in their own way, different, but quite remarkable. Beth brought out the good in a few of the characters....a good that helped their lives become better.

I totally enjoyed this book and did stay up late reading. The author used flashbacks very effectively in order to keep the story flowing smoothly. Her exceptional writing style pulled you in and kept up the intrigue. The book has an appealing, unique storyline with an ending that is heartwarming and one that is kept secret until the very last pages. It was a plot with a different twist. The descriptions and detail were superb. These words truly describe the story and the characters: incredible, outstanding, dazzling, marvelous, and touching.

You will love it. A huge firefly rating of 5/5.

ENJOY!!!

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Com show less

This review was originally posted on Tea, Daydreams & Fairytales on 25th May 2012.

I signed up for the book tour shortly after reading the phenomenal Young Adult novel, Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar which had a similar premise and I was really in the mood for supernatural thrillers. After getting the excerpt and tour information I started to worry, how on earth was I going to be able to give this book a chance without continually comparing the 2? Thankfully it became pretty clear within a show more couple of chapters that while the 2 sounded alike, where one was full of symbolism and quite disturbing, Firefly Beach on the otherhand was more lighthearted and fun not really alike at all.

Firefly beach is about the emotional journey Beth LaMonte, our heroine takes after going through personal loss and a relationship breakdown. Determined to rediscover herself and start living life again, she moves to a small coastal community to fulfill her youthful dream of becoming an artist and immediately on arrival is rewarded with some artistic success and inspiration. Along with her professional successes, Beth, with the help of a supernatural ball of light ie. the “firefly”, discovers a diary of a young woman who disappeared some 30 odd years ago. Caught up in the story of this young girl, she sets out to uncover what happened to her and discovers there is much more than originally meets the eye.

The first half of this book is fairly slow paced, filled with a lot of character development and introducing you to the coastal community. I found myself quite impatient at times and felt that the writing could be a little clunky – there was simply too much commentary about what Beth was doing at that particular point of time. I am a big believer that sometimes its the things that are left unsaid that makes a big impact, and hearing about her eating lunch, having a shower, making the bed whatever mundane activity it happened to be just really could have been edited out.

The character of Beth was quite frustrating to me as well. I understand that she endured quite a few emotional hardships but her reaction to things such as the firefly and some of the events that occur just didn’t sit well to me. In fact I think this poor girl could have done with some serious therapy, would have done her a world of good. She does grow throughout the novel and by the end of the book while I still couldn’t really relate to her, I did feel she was a stronger person and definitely more likeable to read about. I quite enjoyed the secondary characters of Rod and Kenny both of whom also conquer their own personal demons in the story and I really empathised with both of them. I was hoping there would be perhaps more backstory into Kenny and his relationship with his mother but can understand that it wasn’t really of value to the plot, just something that interested me.

The second half of this novel really picked up pace and from about 60% through the ebook on I found it very difficult to put down. Infact towards the end I turned to the clock and realised it was 1am, then found myself unable to sleep as I couldn’t stop thinking about some of the developments and plot twists that had come to light! Some of the plot twists relating to Katherine, the diary’s owner, I found quite heartbreaking most likely due to being a mother myself. I think also the fact that there were so many forks in Katherine’s road that if each decision had just gone a little bit differently things could have worked out so much better. I found this so sad and just wished that things could have worked out differently for her!

Overall I really did enjoy this book, and I think that anyone looking for a fast summer read with a mystery element will thoroughly enjoy this book! show less

Firely Beach is a story of a lonely divorced woman Beth, who decides to leave her former life after the death of her mother and move to the coast of Maine. There she rents a cottage and wants nothing more than to paint and maybe make a living while she is at it. That does not happen though at first because on her first night she sees a light that she thinks is just a firefly. It is not a firefly though but an other worldly entity. After she finally figures out what the light wants of her, show more she follows it to a hidden beach and there she finds hidden away, a diary. As she reads this diary she is determined to find out more of the writer of this diary. What happened to her, where is she and is she still alive?? These are questions that Beth is eager to answer. Along the way she meets some very interesting people in the town. As I was reading this novel I was as eager as Beth to find out what happened to the writer of the diary. It is an emotional story of heartbreak, lost love and doing the right thing. The author's writing is such that I was pulled right into the story.I enjoyed this book very much and read it in two sittings. A definite must read. I give it 5 stars.!! show less

I loved this book, because I love the beach, but there is much more to this story. The setting is on thecoast of Maine where Beth has moved to start a new life. She finds herself trying to peice together someone elses life by finding a diary that has been hidden away on a beach for many years. A delightful read especially great for a summer beach book, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.