Seabreeze Inn (Summer Beach Book 1)

I got this book not really expecting much but it was really a surprise! Now I am going to get the next book and I can't read it soon enough! The story is great and well written. I instantly fell in love with Ivy and Shelly but once I really got into the book I just couldn't put it down. The characters are wonderful, and the magic of the story just draws you in, I almost cried when I finished it and there is another book mentioned, I was not ready for this to end. I especially loved how Ivy endears herself to her new neighbors by jumping in to help when they face crisis. It was a wild ride from start to finish after everything that Ivy goes through and I love how amazing her family and new friends turn out to be.

I loved this book! Ivy discovered after her husband passed away that he spent their life savings on a beach house on Summer Beach. Her sister Shelly had just broken up with her boyfriend so they decide to go to Summer Beach and recreate there lives.They are older women and it was exciting to see that even older women can recreate their lives. Recreate it they did. When they went there it was to sell the beach house but when they got there Ivy said no I decided to live here. She had no idea where that came from. She didn't have much money so their family got together for a fix it up party. Their parents did this when they were young. I liked this idea. As they were fixing it up, they discovered a secret room and wow the things in the secret room. They notified the Sheriff on their finding and it brought in the FBI. The original owner had hidden journals and she wrote I think I have written before but I can't find them. There is a lot of mystery going on but one thing kept with me was what is the owner had drawn Ivy to this beach house so she would discover the things.This book has older women, their children, family, neighbors and their parents seemed I don't know why I think this, a throwback to yesterday because they just seemed to bring the past to their future. It was just so unique. This is a book I think each person that reads it is going to take away different things. It is an amazing story and I have bought #2 and preordered #3.

The idea of a woman and her sister opening an historic old house as an inn could have been interesting, but the characters are dull and their interactions fall flat. The author can write grammatically correct sentences, but that's about it. After reading about a third, I skimmed the rest to see if anything interesting happened. The answer is no. Yawn.

"Maybe there's something else in store for you. Another life than the one you'd planned"When Bay family "issues", force Ivy Bay Marin and her sister Shelly come back the West Coast after decades away, they are planning on finishing the settlement of Ivy's late husband Jeremy's estate with the sale of an abandoned white elephant of a house. Little does anyone know what Summer Beach will do to keep them there. Las Brisas del Mar soon has them in it's spell, bring the past to the present in resplendent style.How authors like Jan Moran can keep things interesting amazes me! From historic France to America; to Italy; from the world of perfume and chocolate to the California beauty scene, each of Moran's books is captivating, and reflects her love of the written word as well as her insatiable curiosity. I can hardly wait to dive into a second and then third helping of the adventures that await Ivy and Shelly! Highly Recommended. 5/5

Well written and surprising story line. Unexpected twist made for a very interesting ending. Recommended read. I've already led ordered the sequel.

I'm giving this 3 stars as it is at least gramatically correct. I started off with high hopes of the story: a widow inheriting an old beach house and deciding to move across the country and start a new life. However, the characters are flat and one dimensional. Many of them, the main character included, are completely unlikeable. Ivy rushes to incorrect conclusions about most people and situations, and is incredibly rude to them, and when she discovers she is wrong she doesn't apologise but tells herself it was their fault.We don't see much of her daughters but from the occasional phone interactions we see her daughters as spoilt, self-absorbed individuals. Although they are adults Ivy doesn't explain her dire circumstances caused by her husband's reckless disregard for her financial security, and the fact that he was having an affair, and had previous affairs through their marriage.The author introduces a cast of thousands (at least that's how it felt) with five married siblings, and each couple having numerous children. Part way through there is a page of names at a party but most of them don't appear again.This ended up feeling shallow with some storylines that faded away and were then brought back with a sentence about how Ivy was worried e.g. about her parents, and yet, she was too busy to visit them, and finally turns out to be nothing at all.This could have been so much more with stronger, well-developed characters; better, realistic dialogue; and less plot points. This felt as though the author threw in as many ideas as possible and then tried to tie it up at the end and deciding she couldn't left many things hanging.

Lovely story. A bit of heartache(will we ever know about Ivys husband?)Will Ivy and her daughter's connect?Will Shelly find happiness?I'm anxious for the next book and some answers!

A nice enjoyable read for a change of pace. It makes you feel like you are there or wish you were there. Will be reading the next one by this author.

Thoroughly enjoyed this quick read. Nice story line. Looking forwards to book two. Could be reading it right but I have to write this comment.

A summer 's novel ....interesting and fun