Mary Alice Monroe

When I read that this book was set during the Covid-19 pandemic, I was a little hesitant to read it. Did I really want to read about the pandemic after living through it? But I am so glad I changed my mind. Rather than focusing on the angst of those early, perplexing days, Mary Alice Monroe celebrates the ways we grew and supported one another. Mary Alice Monroe perfectly describes the various feelings and emotions we have all experienced during this time without weighing down the characters show more or the storyline. The Rutledge women, family, and friends, we have grown to love through The Beach House series, experience the same challenges and triumph and support each other in the good and bad times. show less

It was wonderful to go back to Primrose Cottage on Isle of Palms near Charleston, SC , and catch up with what's going on in the Rutledge family. As I read this book, I felt like I was spending time with old friends at the beach. This is a story about love - love of family and love for the world that we live in.

The Rutledge family was an old and respected family in the history of Charleston. Cara is living on the Isle of Palms in her mother's old beach house. She in learning how to be a show more mother to her adopted daughter and is in the process of planning her wedding to David whose main goal in life seems to do whatever he can to make Cara happy. She is fretting over the wedding, over the time she gets to spend with her daughter and over family issues. Her niece Linnea has just returned from California after losing her job and ending her relationship. She is unsure of what she wants to do next and how she fits into her family. When a terrible illness affects Cara's daughter, it makes everyone re-evaluate their plans for the future and make changes to help them all become happier. This is a season of return, rebirth and growth for Cara and Linnea as they face the future.

This is a beautiful story of love and family, new beginnings and learning to live in the future instead of the past. As with all of Mary Alice's books, her love of the environment shines through her novel. In this book, it's the loggerhead turtle and every chapter starts with a fact about sea turtles. There is also a lot of information about how pollution - especially plastic - in the ocean hurts the turtles and other sea animals. So along with my mental trip to the beach, I was able to learn more about sea turtles! I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed this horse/hurricane story, even though I am truly horrified with horse racing---fortunately NOT any part of this novel! Monroe is so good with her characters and their relationships. Definitely a fascinating book and I really liked the human/animal relationships---both horses and dogs.

I learned more than I ever thought to know about loggerhead turtles! But the details about their nests, the hatchlings, the return to the sea, etc. certainly linked Lovie, the protagonist, with the love of her life, Dr. Russell Bennett in short order! The author's descriptions of the sea and life in the Carolina Lowcountry in the seaside community of Isle of Palms put you right there. Also her glimpses into Charleston society were well done. Monroe also did an excellent job of presenting the show more obstacles facing women in the 1970s and before, when it came to initiating a divorce from an unwilling and abusive spouse. I became caught up in the love affair right along with Lovie, and was reaching for the kleenex long before the ending. I have to say that some of the scenes were a stretch -- Russell, returning to the cottage in mid-March in the middle of "... a nor'easter. Bitter cold winds whipped the Lowcountry, spitting out icy drops that clung to trees ...." Yet we read that Russell, with only his love to keep him warm, remained waiting outside all night in the freezing cold. Kind of hard to imagine. This is a good novel for those who enjoy romance stories with some substance and love scenes that leave things to the imagination. show less