A Week At Surfside Beach by Pierce Koslosky Jr.

A Week At Surfside Beach

This cover is a total WOW. It totally drew me in. In fact, since this is a book of short stories, I would probably never have  opened it if not for this great cover.

I don’t read many short stories. Why not? Good question.  I like a big story that I can get into and stay in. But this little book is an exception. I needed it. Did I get to go to the beach lately? Nope. And not a whole lot of people did. This pandemic has kept most of us at home and most of us do not live at the beach . Sadly…

When I was a teenager I lived in Delaware about a forty-five minute drive to Rehoboth Beach .  Each year I could hardly wait for the weather to warm up so my mom and I could spend a Saturday on the beach .  We usually got one entire week at a cottage several blocks from the beach as well. I can still remember the anticipation.  I can smell the salty atmosphere. And I can hear the waves crash to the shore. So you get the picture. I love the beach .

Koslosky brings us sixteen stories all set during a single rental season in a small community in South Carolina. The main characters range from a six-year-old child to an older gentleman who’s escaped his family and a retirement home.  Families come together, couples arrive, and even once in a while it’s just a single person staying for the week. No matter who the tenant, they each have their story. I loved the stories. Each  story is unique and each one  sporting some sort of angst as life tends to throw our way.  But the stories are filled with hope and fulfillment.  And that is one more reason these stories are so darn good.

I think this is a great book to hold close during the upcoming winter months. Coddle it. Care for it. Keep it close and pick it up and read one of these stories each time  you find yourself yearning for the beach .  Next year, maybe we all can go.

My copy of A WEEK AT SURFSIDE BEACH  was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. It’s just super! Thanks for sending. LOBA publishing.

Death On The Menu by Lucy Burdette

Death On The Menu

 

Welcome to the exciting and fun world of Haylee Snow, food critic for Key Zest Magazine in breezy Key West, Florida.  If this is your first time reading the series,  settle yourself in for a treat. If you’re already a fan, get ready to enjoy DEATH ON THE MENU which is number eight in the Key West Food Critic’s Mystery Series.

I fell head over heels  years ago when I read the first of the series,  AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. You see, I’ve loved Key West for thirty years. Visited every chance I could get. When I discovered Lucy Burdette,

Lucy Burdette

I knew I had hit on something big.  Each book returns to the island with a new adventure filled with great food, atmospheric restaurants, sunset pier, Houseboat Row, Miss Gloria, the cats, and all the colorful characters I’ve come to love. Oh yeah, and  there’s always a murder.

DEATH ON THE  MENU begins with Miss Gloria and Haylee reading  over the Key West Citizen and speculating about the upcoming event of the season. Haylee will be helping her mom who is just getting her fledgling catering business off the ground. They’ve gotten a big gig and will be doing all the food for a three day affair at Harry Truman’s Little Whitehouse. There’s lots of chatter as to who will be showing up. Could even be Jimmy Buffett or President Obama. It’s going to be that big of a deal.  But when Haylee’s boyfriend Nathan who’s a detective with the Key West Police Department shows up to warn Haylee of expected trouble at the event, they start getting a premonition.

Haylee doesn’t scare off easily. Off she goes in the morning, just as planned, to help mom.  Celebrities do show up. Even Diana Nyad gives a speech, Obama says a little something, and Jimmy Buffett sings some tunes and strums his guitar and adds a lot of color. And then the trouble comes along.  Along with a murder. And the theft of  rErnest Hemingway’s Nobel prize gold medal for THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA that was stolen right from its case in the museum.

Let the crime solving begin. Lots of amazing food shows up in this novel. And Burdette very generously shares eight recipes at the back of the book. Very cool.  I am so impressed that I’ve decided to try my hand at the black bean soup later this week. It looks like the most authentic black bean soup I’ve seen and I can’t wait to try it.

I never get tired of hearing about the tucked away side streets of Key West.  Just the thought of the bakeries and restaurants make my mouth water . And the Cuban  coffee.

Haylee Snow lives on a houseboat with Miss Gloria, a very feisty octogenarian.  She might be a senior citizen but she’s no slouch. Sharp as a whistle and quick on her feet, she also loves animals. That totally endears me to her.   Evinrude and Sparky are wonderful editions to the cast of characters in that they are both cats and live on the boat. I have always been fond of the eclectic  houseboats of Key West.

Key West Houseboats

Haylee seems to have a dream job. After all, who wouldn’t want to review restaurants for a living in Key West? But you have to know there are trials and tribulations a plenty.

This is a colorful series full of “take me away from it all” scenarios. Just what we all need right now.  There are nine books in the series and one coming in a couple weeks. So you have plenty of back stock to keep you reading . DEATH ON THE  MENU  came out last spring in hardcover and is now available in mass market paperback. You can get your copy at

Copperfish Books

Copperfish Books. Word on the street is they have them in stock right now. But, don’t wait. These puppies disappear quickly. Oh, and before I forget, we’ll be doing a zoom event with Lucy Burdette  on August 11, the pub date for THE KEY LIME CRIME. More on that later this week!

The Last Train To Key West by Chanel Cleeton

The Last Train To Key West

I’ve loved Cleeton’s first two novels: WHEN WE LEFT CUBA and NEXT YEAR IN HAVANA.  Really got excited when I heard the title of this new one. Key West, one of my favorite places and a great place to set this novel.

Years ago Wes Standiford wrote a non fiction book called THE LAST TRAIN TO PARADISE.  ( we have copies on our shelves right now at Copperfish)He told the story of the making of the overseas railroad that traveled through the Keys into Key West. He also told the horrific story of the unknown storm of 1935 that tore down the railroad and slaughtered hundreds of souls.

Now, Cleeton brings us a novel that encapsulates this and she brings this amazing historical event to life through the lives of three women from totally different walks of life.

THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST is a  very quick read.  Cleeton’s fictional characters are so alive they practically leap from the page. Part romance, part  suspense, THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST introduces you to three courageous women who have survival skills galore.  Helen is nine months pregnant and running away from an abusive husband. Elizabeth is a socialite escaping from , looking for her brother and wondering if she really should marry the man she’s engaged to. Mirta is a newly wed from Havana and on her honeymoon. Will her arranged marriage survive?

The ticking time bomb of eminent terror reaches hair-raising levels as the hurricane takes over the islands. Honestly, I could almost hear the clock ticking as the storm took over.

Chanel Cleeton

Cleeton has certainly done her research but it takes a great storyteller to be able to move people as she does in this novel.  At least 400 people were lost in this devastating storm that was never even named. Civilians as well as WW1 vets who were building the railroad were all killed.  We know now it was a 5 hurricane and we now have the technology to evacuate when a storm of this magnitude is upon us. Thank God.

What begins as a pretty light story quickly becomes a tightly written novel of survival and courage. Not to be missed.

I was lucky enough to read a review copy of THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST provided by Berkley an imprint of Penguin Random publishing.  I loved it!

You can pick up your copy of THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST  from Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida. They are currently having an amazing sale through the weekend and this trade paperback book will be 30% off as will most of their inventory. I know I love a great sale and I bet you do too!

Copperfish Books

The Last Flight By Julie Clark

The Last Flight

Hold onto your seat. You’re about to go on a wild, wild ride. And you’re gonna LOVE it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPys9D60C8c

I stumbled upon a digital review copy of THE LAST FLIGHT and it sounded good. Little did I know how amazing it would prove to be. I read it in two sittings. I could have read straight through but, I wanted to make it last. I don’t read a lot of thrillers. When I do it’s almost always authors I’m very familiar with. Julie Clark is new to me. But now I’ll be eagerly awaiting her next novel.

Claire and Eva are two women who will risk their lives to escape from what have become unlivable lives. Claire is married to a powerful man who is about to announce his campaign to run for the U.S. senate in New York .  She’s tired of hiding the bruises left from Rory’s hands.  Eva has gotten caught up in a terrifying world that’s left her hostage to a life she didn’t bargain for. She too has had enough.  When Claire and Eva meet as strangers in JFK  airport, they decide on practically a moment’s notice,  to swap identities. Neither knowing what they were getting into, only that they were desperate to flee, no matter what.

With heart-pounding intensity Clark mounts a story that begs for page-turning. Eva takes the flight to Puerto Rico that was supposed to take Claire. Claire ends up on the flight to Berkley where Eva’s little house awaits her. But when Claire arrives in Berkeley and discovers that Eva’s plane, the plane that was supposed to carry her, has crashed with no known survivors, well, the world begins spinning in a new direction. And the games begin….

Eva and Claire are such strong women. But they’ve been betrayed and their lives have been ruined by men. This is a timely novel. It asks us what we would do to escape a life of abuse. It also gives us the support of friends and shows us a strength beyond reason.

I think you are going to love this book. It’s just right for getting away from it all. We may not all be at the beach this summer but, we certainly still need and want great reads. This is one of those and then some.

We have copies of THE LAST FLIGHT by Julie Clark at Copperfish Books

Copperfish Books

right this minute. They are discounted 20% and you can bet they will fly from the shelves all summer long. Reserve your copy now.

My review copy was provided by Sourcebooks. I can’t thank them enough. They already know how much I love this book!

28 Summers by Elin Hilderband

28 Summers

I’ve been reading Elin Hilderbrand since she first began writing. I fell in love with Nantucket because of Elin. I’ve never set foot on Nantucket but in my mind I’ve been there 28 times. Every summer there is a new novel set on Nantucket Island. And every summer I am there.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to read a review copy of 28 SUMMERS.  I wanted to take my time and savor it but, I ended up swallowing it whole. When I turned the last page and shut the book, I stood up and was dumbfounded to discover that my backyard was not the Atlantic Ocean. I had become so totally immersed in 28 SUMMERS that I actually lost myself for a moment in time. I did not make this up.  When I tell you that this novel is one of the most moving love stories I’ve ever read, I am not kidding. I am not exaggerating. It’s extraordinary.

Elin has used the movie SAME TIME NEXT YEAR as the theme of 28 SUMMERS.  It works. It’s genius. And it’s totally right for this point in time. We need escapism.  And here it is.

Elin Hilderbrand

Love the cover. For me, a great cover is the best way to grab your readers. And this one is a real winner.  The first chapter is numbered Summer#28: 2020. So it’s beginning with the end.  I love the beginning of each chapter where Elin gives us a synopsis of what we were  talking about that particular year. She does it with each summer. It’s so perfect because it sets us up to remember what was going on that year. I love this.  In this poignant last summer Mallory Blessing is telling her son Link that there’s an envelope in the desk.  On the front of the envelope is a message saying only , Please call.   Link is with his mother in her beach cottage on Nantucket. Inside the envelope is one thing: a phone number……We discover that Link’s mom is dying of cancer and he is only nineteen.  And so the story begins

Part One is titled Twenties.  Summer#1: 1993. Here we first meet Mallory Blessing who is twenty-four years old and living on the Upper East Side of New York with her very best friend in the world.  We are reminded at the top of the chapter what is going on in the world: Waco, Texas; World Trade Center bombing; Arthur Ashe; R.E.M.; Lorena Bobbitt; Robert Redford, Woody Harrelson, and Demi Moore; NAFTA; River Phoenix; the EU; Got Milk?; Nordic Track; Rabin and Arafat; Monica Seles; Sleepless in Seattle; the World Wide Web; the Buffalo Bills losing the Super Bowl for the third straight time; Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer; Whitney Houston singing “I Will Always Love You.’ You get the picture..

Mallory has inherited an amazing old  cottage on the ocean on Nantucket from her aunt Greta.  Lucky girl.  So when Mallory’s brother Cooper is getting married he asks if he can bring some guys for Labor Day weekend; a bachelor party of sorts. She agrees and so the party is on. But the party ends up being  more of a party for two for various reasons. This is where Mallory meets Jake  McCloud and her life is forever changed.

Each subsequent summer and continuing on to amount to 28 in all, Jake and Mallory manage to get together on Nantucket for Labor Day weekend. One weekend each year. Only one.  Why? Because that is what works for them. Maybe they would not have that special spark if they had to deal with the mundane events of everyday life.  Mallory knows she loves living on Nantucket. She is not going to leave the island even to be with Jake. Jake’s life is not on the island. And he’s been involved in a very serious relationship with his girlfriend since they were kids. There is history and baggage. So the one  weekend a year system  continues to work for them both.

All the characters in this novel are well-developed. Cooper is Mallory’s brother.  He’s not able to sustain a marriage longer than it takes to say I do.  Mallory’s parents really want her to get married and be  happy. Their version.  Leland is Mallory’s best friend who we discover is not such a great friend after all.  And Frazier is one of Cooper’s best friends who becomes a vital part of the story.

I knew I wanted this novel to last, but I also could not put it down for long.  The ocean kept calling and Labor Day Weekend was always beckoning. OMG! The romance. The beach. The cottage. The food.  Being on the water. Summertime. This book is escapism at its peak.

Even though I knew what was going to happen at the end, I have to tell you that it is a very satisfying ending. And I sobbed. I was happy to have the house to myself so I could wallow in it.

Elin Hilderbrand was visiting the island of St. John while I was reading the book.  She’s working on the third in the Winter Series that will come out in October. She lives on the island part of the year. How very cool.

Elin Hilderbrand  has lived on Nantucket for 28 years. She moved there and lived in a small apartment to begin with. She was twenty-three.

Little Brown will publish 28 SUMMERS on June 16 and everyone will be able to read this amazing novel for themselves.  I am putting this amazing novel on the very top of my summer reading list of favorites. I think you will too.  I hope you’ll think of Copperfish Books and order from us.  You know how much we love you guys.

Camino Winds by John Grisham

Camino Winds

I loved CAMINO ISLAND.  Discovering that a sequel was coming, well, it is here!! And it’s wonderful. Perfect. Entertaining but with a murder mystery to be solved,  during a hurricane at that.

The story begins with a  sumptuous party at Bruce Cable’s home on Camino Island. Celebrating the return of now best-selling literary ,  Mercer Mann. All the usual suspects are there. What a bunch of literary gossips. A delightful and very colorful group.

But the fun quickly dissipates as hurricane Leo changes course and makes a beeline straight for the island. Mandatory evacuations go out. Most residents heed the alarm. But  Bruce decides to stay behind and ride the storm out.  I knew this would not end well. It rarely does. The scenes during the storm are harrowing. Anyone who’s endured a storm such as this understands the aftermath. Sometime as you hunker down in the midst of the storm, your mind reminds you that this was not a good plan.

After the storm passes Bruce emerges from his mostly unscathed to   out the island and  on friends.  When he discovers the body of  Nelson Kerr who is a popular thriller writer, the question arrises: was this an accident from the storm, or was this murder? We get up front and personal with some of the local  who seem to be totally bungling the investigation…Small town stuff.

Grisham brings back more of what he is so well known for:  murder and mystery and even legal stuff. So as much as I loved the story, I missed, missed, missed, the . Of course the is a mess and has sustained lots of damage due to flooding. It could have been much worse if Bruce and some of his employees hadn’t taken the time to move books and valuables to the second floor. Still, wreckage to be repaired.

John Grisham is a master story-teller.  CAMINO WINDS brings what is actually a   read into the murder mystery genre.  So there is more story for everyone.

John Grisham

CAMINO WINDS is pure entertainment. But  it also brings to mind that hurricane season is almost upon us. Always mindful, I can’t even imagine the fear of a storm coming during this pandemic. I shudder at that thought and pray they all just go away.

I am including a link to a very enjoyable podcast with Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books out of . His conversation with Grisham is just delightful. You will enjoy it and hearing the passion in their voices as they speak of books and stuff is just what you need right now.

Some really great news to end my review. There will be a third in the Camino Series. Yippee. Much dancing around and clapping. You see, I’ve totally  fallen for the quirky character of Bruce Cable. I can’t wait to meet him again.

My copy of CAMINO WINDS was a gift. So I am not indebted to anyone for a review. However, I did love it! The great publishing people at Double Day, a division of Penguin Random ,  have a great gift in John Grisham.

Copperfish Book

Copperfish Books is selling CAMINO WINDS at a 20% in or online.  Free shipping to your home with $35 or more purchase. Might I suggest a paperback copy of CAMINO ISLAND….. to add to your pleasure. Cheers!

 

The Summer Guests by Mary Alice Monroe ( now in trade paper )

The Summer Guests

A new novel by Mary Alice Monroe is always a big deal. THE SUMMER GUESTS is just out in trade paper and available to purchase at Copperfish Books. As I scanned for information about the story, I expected to see it taking place along the coast of South Carolina where most of her other novels are set. Yes, this one actually begins on Isle of Palm on the coast of South Carolina, but it quickly moves away from the coast and up into the gorgeous mountains of North Carolina. Why? EVACUATION! A monster hurricane has just rolled off the coast of Africa and is headed that way.

When I began reading the prologue the hair actually stood up on the back of my neck. I kid you not. Those of you who have known the horrors of a hurricane coming straight for you know what I’m talking about.  Residents in Florida and along the Southern Eastern coast need to leave their home; evacuate, now. That’s where this story begins. A couple years ago we had hurricane Irma come so close to our home that it scared the bejesus out of all of us. I know what the day by day waiting is like. I know what it’s like to hear the hour by hour reporting as the storm gets ready to blow through your community.  My heart was already pounding.

Mary Alice

Mary Alice Monroe is now famous for bringing us the very best in environmental fiction.  I have learned so much about endangered species that live in my own backyard and nearby. I love her writing and I love how involved she is with protecting the animals and wildlife.  This time her main concern is the equestrian world of horses and handlers. I fell hard for this novel. I just think it’s super.  I completely lost myself in it.

Cara Rutledge just did not think the tropical wave the newscasters were talking about would come to amount to much. After all, she’d been through plenty of storms through the  years. You don’t live on Isle of Palm  and not feel scathed. But she was preparing to take her young daughter to visit friends in the mountains in North Carolina. Surely, it would just be fine.  So, she turned her back on the storm and went her way.

In Palm Beach, Florida, Hannah McLain was flitting between her boyfriend Angel’s creepy dog Max, and trying to shove all Angel’s Olympic medals in a suitcase per his instructions.  Hannah is a make-up artist and Angel is a famous equestrian.

In Kiawah, South Carolina, Moira Stevens is packed and ready to evacuate to her  parent’s horse farm Freehold Farm in the mountains of North Carolina.  Her husband Thom was away on business.  Their marriage could easily be in trouble.

In Wellington, Florida, Elise Klug and her mother are struggling to get their prize horses into their trailers and ready to begin the long drive to the mountains.  Elise’s mother is a no-nonsense German woman  who is determined that her daughter become an award-winning  equestrian whether she wants it or not.

Each chapter begins with a weather update that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  My neck is getting tight just contemplating it all.  It adds to the tension.

So, the question arises: what would you take with you if  you had to evacuate your home not knowing if you would ever return?

All these people are thrown together with a some very special  dogs and some very important horses. They are in close quarters for a week. They are forced to confront issues, come to terms with important life-changing events, and question love and devotion. Tempers bristle and even the animals question the many changes.

“Mary Alice Monroe is a passionate conservationist who uses novels to bring public awareness to the plight of the world’s endangered, undervalued, and sometimes obscure creatures. ”  This is why I love Mary Alice Monroe.

Let’s just say that these people will leave this mountain different than when they arrived. All good.

” But as the storm passes, they realize that what really matters isn’t what they brought with them to the mountains. Rather, it’s what they’ll take with them when they leave.”

My review copy arrived via Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster publishers in exchange for an honest review. Well, folks, I absolutely LOVE it.

Copperfish Books

Copperfish Books loves Mary Alice Monroe. We have trade paperback copies of THE SUMMER GUESTS in stock and read to go.  Plus, our Cathy has chosen the paperback version as her bookclub pick for August. Perfect timing.  You’ll receive 10% off this book club pick.

If you purchase ON OCEAN BOULEVARD and THE SUMER GUESTS you’ll get free shipping to your home. Something to think about. And they’re both  discounted.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Beach Read

I was combing the bookshelves in our office a couple weeks ago looking for something special to read. The shelves are used to display review copies of upcoming titles. And I needed something new. Something fresh. Just look how colorful this cover is.  And the photo on the front definitely got my attention.  I was actually hoping for a beach read. And that is what I got.

BEACH READ by Emily Henry is a novel about two blocked novelists who can’t get out of their own tracks.  January Andrews has sequestered herself in her recently deceased dad’s beach house in Michigan. She’s listening as the clock tick-ticks against her deadline for the next great romance novel. And she’s blocked. She’s broke, and she’s feeling pretty beat up.  Who’s her neighbor? Augustus Everett writes literary fiction. They say opposites attract. Really?

Henry managed to grab my reading attention right away with her sense of place and sense of humor.  January has issues and she’s trying to deal with the newness of discovering her father had another life, one she has only found out about since his death.  So there is that.  And it’s getting in the way of her writing. She’s also lost the ability to feel love and that’s devastating for someone who makes her living writing about it.  I love the beach cottage. And the small town the story is set in. Not to mention the little book store and the cast of unique characters.

Augustus has his own demons. His world is filled with secrets that do not come to the surface right away. They ooze into the story like cold honey from the jar.

When push comes to shove, the two decide to swap genres for the summer. January will take a stab at writing a literary novel. Augustus will write a rom-com. Where on earth is this going? January gets to take Augustus into her romance world one day a week; show him the way around. One day she takes him to the carnival, a great place for lovers.  Augustus takes January on several interviews with survivors of a death cult he’s been following. Now you get the ghist.

You have to know they are going to hook up. After all, this is a romance novel. And when they do ooh-la-la. Hot and heavy. Scenes are pretty steamy. Beware.  This is just what you need to take you away from this virus and get you out of your house and into another world. The writing is very good. Being at the beach or the lake is always a good thing. And this delightful story is being published in trade paper form and will be on sale tomorrow. You can purchase your copy at Copperfish Books. Our Lucy will be hosting a virtual book club featuring BEACH READ in July. Purchase the book at 10% off. We will have copies in store as of tomorrow, May 19.

I have to thank Berkley Jove publishing company, a division of penguinrandomhouse for providing a review copy of this book. I loved it.

Copperfish Books

Camino Island by John Grisham

Camino Island

Somehow I missed CAMINO ISLAND last year when it came out in hardcover. But it’s out now in mass market paperback and I just  gobbled it up. It’s so perfect for book lovers. PERFECT. It was my Mother’s Day read.

Takes place mostly on a small island off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Small.  Santa Rosa is a sleepy little town with lots of character and plenty of small restaurants that will beckon to you. Bruce Cable owns the little bookshop named Bay Books. He’s built up a following of authors and has plenty of bookie friends nearby. But what most people don’t know is that he sometimes dabbles in stolen material.

Another great cover.  It’s about books and is at the beach.  But it begins with a great heist on the property of Princeton University’s Firestone Library, far from any beach.  The criminals have their heads together planning a fantastic operation. They are about steal five of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s original manuscripts right out from under the school. How do they do this? Who the hell are they? And how will the beach come into play?

Mercer Mann is a writer who had one book success years ago and has passed her deadline for the next book by three years. Yes, she’s blocked. She’s been teaching and that job is disappearing. So when she’s approached and offered a job making a lot more money than she’s making now, well, she goes for it.  She’s being asked to spy on a little bookseller who owns a small Indy store on Camino Island….. You see, the insurance people do not want to have pay out. They heard maybe Bruce Cage has the manuscript buried in his vault beneath his shop. But does he?

And we move to the beach. Mercer is living in her dead aunt’s cottage right on the beach.  And she becomes deeply involved rather quickly with the bookseller and his cronies. There are long lunches complete with wine. Dinner parties to die for. You’ll meet a host of book lovers who will make your head spin. And I learned so much about the world of antiquated books…. A feast for those of us who truly love our books.

I so enjoyed this novel. Of course it took me to the beach. Gotta love that. But it had me engrossed in the very special book world that I love right from the start. I hope they make a movie out of this book because the part of Bruce Cage just has to be played by Ashton Kutcher. I can so picture Ashton in one of Bruce’s signature pastel seersucker suits, complete with bright yellow or red bow tie and scuffed up old buckskins and no sox, ever.  Yes, a real character!

Such an enjoyable read. Made me want to go directly to this island and have lunch and visit the bookstore. Ha ha.

So the end is satisfying but leaves you wanting more of these people and this so atmospheric island. Low and behold, CAMINO WINDS has just been published and is getting rave reviews. I’m halfway through it and I’m loving everything about it except that it takes place in the midst of a cat 5 hurricane. Yikes. Too close to home.

We have copies  at Copperfish Books  of CAMINO ISLAND in mass market paperThey’re in stock and ready for pick up or delivery.  Do not miss this. You are going to love it. We also have copies in stock of CAMINO WINDS, hardcover marked at 20% off.  They are hot off the press and ready to go.

Summer Longing by Jamie Brenner

 

Summer Longing

Jamie Brenner is back with another delightful novel set in one of my favorite places: Provincetown, Mass. What’s so special about this novel?  Everything.

Ruth sold her very successful cosmetics business for a fortune.  She was only 58-years old. Was that too young to retire? Not when you’ve spent your entire life working, nonstop.  Provincetown called to Ruth as the place she remembered being the happiest in years past. So she rented one of those gorgeous old homes downtown for the summer.

Ruth arrives in Provincetown via the ferry.  This is a great way to introduce this novel. All the sights and smells surround you as the ferry approaches the dock, slowly.

The house is perfect. And it has a name: Shell Haven. Ruth would have preferred to buy a house  but she was told nothing was for sale.  Clifford Henry, Ruth’s  very flamboyant real estate agent, assured her that the best thing was to rent and get to know the people of the town. Clifford assured her people would be much more likely to sell to someone they knew.  Elise and Fern own Shell Haven and  decided to rent it out just for the summer to establish a bit of a cushion for their savings. They own the cutest shop in town: Tea by the Sea.  They intend to live in the small apartment atop their store until summer’s end.

And then Ruth  answers the doorbell her first morning at Shell Haven and finds an infant  car seat has been left on her doorstep. With a sleeping baby inside. Boom!

That’s certainly a way to get your undivided attention. What we do know is that Elise and Fern who are a married couple have been trying to have a baby for a couple years now.  Elise has not been able to carry a baby to term and it’s been a real bone of contention between them.  So when this “surprise” infant arrives from the “stork” you can only imagine the intensity of emotions that are going to arise.

What we discover next is that Olivia who is Ruth’s somewhat estranged daughter,  is about to enter the picture. When she finds out her mother has moved to P-town, she’s convinced her mom is sick and getting her affairs in order. What a mess.  So she decides to make the trip to see for herself what the heck is going on.

Provincetown

I have to tell you that all but one of the  characters in this novel are pure delight.  And the one character who is not a delight is  that horrible person that you will love to hate.  I loved revisiting the lives of the characters brought back from previous novels and I loved meeting the new characters and getting to know them.  Portuguese families are very close and very Catholic.  The family we meet  is all of that and then some. Deeply caring and outgoing, the Barros family is one of the most endearing families I’ve met in a book in a long time.  The food, the ethics, the outpouring of sympathy and the warm,  wonderful friendships are refreshing.

From the quaint tucked away little cafes and shops to the Portuguese bakeries and craft classes, there is always something to do in Provincetown. You can even take writing classes.   Not to  mention the carnival-like atmosphere that takes over  this vacation paradise during the steamy days and nights of summer. And then you can go on a whale watching tour and your life may never be the same. I have actually done this and it is a memory I will cherish forever.

I’m still thinking about the lobster rolls and the fresh oysters. And I’m thrilled to discover that Beach Rose Inn was inspired by The Anchor Inn Beach House in Provincetown. 

The scent of the ocean and the sense of family and friendship will linger in your mind for a long time, maybe even forever. Don’t  miss this new novel. I absolutely loved it.

You’re going to want to read Jamie Brenner’s other wonderful novels. She has three others  that take place in Provincetown: THE FOREVER SUMMER; DRAWING HOME; and THE HUSBAND HOUR.  I’m always happy to find out a new favorite author has more books…..

Jamie Brenner

I read my review copy of SUMMER LONGING digitally. My copy was provided by Little, Brown and Company via Edelweiss.

Copperfish Books

We at Copperfish, hope you’ll consider ordering your copy through our online store.  It’s discounted 20% and we can ship it straight to your door.