Friday, 12 June 2015

Book Review - Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale

Summer by the Sea
 
Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale
Published: 12th June 2015
Publisher: Bookouture
Available in Paperback and Kindle
 
 
Blurb
They say there’s always one summer that changes you.

For Faith the one summer she can’t forget is when she fell in love as a teenager – only for her sister, Casey, to steal her man. Now, at the request of her beloved ninety-year-old Grandmother, Faith has agreed to a family holiday – at their childhood beach house, where it all began.

Faith hasn’t seen her sister in years but is finally ready to forgive and forget, enjoy the sunshine and relive happy memories. What she’s not ready for is meeting Jake Buchanan – the owner of the beach house – or the long-forgotten feelings he ignites in her.

Can Faith overcome the hurt of the past, rekindle the close bond she had with Casey and make this summer THE ONE to remember?
  
 
Review
My first encounter with a Jenny Hale novel was last year when I read A Christmas to Remember, which I adored and is probably one of my favourite Christmas books ever. So I was super excited when given the chance to review her new book Summer by the Sea.
Summer by the Sea is told from the point of view of the main character Faith. She’s agreed to spend two weeks in the Outer Banks in North Carolina with her family, including estranged sister Casey, to celebrate her Nan’s 90th birthday. Faith is somewhat reluctant about the trip as she has not spent much time with her sister since Casey stole her man away and married him. As the trip wears on and nostalgic memories of previous summers spent having fun with her sister enter Faiths mind she realises it’s time to let go of the past and begin to move on with her life. Something which handsome stranger Jack Buchanan might just be able to help her with.
Like Jenny’s previous novel this is full of emotions, romance and families coming together and mending their rifts. I found this book very heart-felt as Faith has to do a lot of soul-searching in order to forgive her sister. After seeing her sister’s troubles with her husband Scott, Faith begins to realise he was never really hers to lose. The bond between sisters and their mother and Nan was very deep and was obviously far too strong to let any man come between them, which I found just lovely.
The way Jenny has described the Outer Banks makes me long to go there, its sounds like the perfect American hideaway and I can understand why it made Faith so emotional and sentimental.  The descriptive language really made me feel that at times I was with Faith leaning over the balcony looking out at the ocean too, you just can’t beat a sea view can you.
Can we just mention Jake, what a hottie, the perfect guy to help you forget all your problems with, handsome, caring, good with his hands and also just a little bit loaded, it’s no wonder Faith developed a pretty huge crush on him!
This is a lovely summer read and I really enjoyed the escapism and romance which it brought me, it would make the perfect holiday read. I’d like to thank Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to review this book and can’t wait to read Jenny’s next book. I’d rate this book 4/5.
 

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