June 11, 2019
Blurb: She came to the beach to write…
But she’s getting distracted by the surfer next door.
Jenna, a single mom and successful author, has five weeks to deliver her next young adult novel to the publisher. This year’s summer getaway with her kids will be a working vacation.
The only problem? Lucas, the devil-may-care surfer in the beach rental next to hers. He cranks up his music at night, hosts loud volleyball matches, and allows his dog to run around at will.
Jenna often blames him for her writer’s block. But before long, she begins to see a new side of her neighbor at the shore. Maybe opposites do attract…but will that attraction fade like a sunset once summer is gone?
SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW
So Teri Wilson’s Love at the Shore almost became one of those dreaded abbreviations in a book blogger’s vocabulary: a DNF. While the writing was good and the story pleasant enough, the main character, Jenna Turner was like fingernails-on-a-blackboard to me. She was controlling with a blame-it-on-everyone else kind of attitude that continued for around 70% of the novel.
I am your beach bum wannabe so I can’t even imagine someone coming onto a public beach and yelling because beach-goers were playing their music too loudly during the day. After 10 pm, that’s another thing, but during the day, you’ve got to expect to be laughed off the beach because it’s seriously live and let live. But Jenna is not a live and let live kind of person. Also, I can’t imagine expecting peace-and-quiet on your oceanfront deck at the beach. If you want to write a novel, go indoors where the air conditioner is humming and making white noise that will blank out the sound of all of those people on vacation having a good time. On their vacation.
I don’t know how this became a romance because if I had been Lucas I would have migrated to another part of the island while this woman was vacationing next door. His falling in love with her was totally unbelievable. I could see him falling for the kids; her, not so much.
I will stop the rant about her whiny, judgmental character now.
There were some fun parts of the novel, especially when Jenna stopped being Jenna for a while and almost became a person who enjoyed life.
I know that I’m supposed to find some fault with Lucas’ character, but I didn’t really see that much.
To sum up: dog – excellent; kids – cute; Lucas – charming but short-sighted (he fell for Jenna); Jenna – ugh. The story is good. The writing is good.
For the heckuva it, we’ll call this a YMMV review because the majority of reviewers gave it 4-5 stars.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
2 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies