Cover detail for Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan showing t women sat in red-striped deckchair

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan

I am becoming quite the fan of Sarah Morgan. I follow her on twitter, Instagram and keep an eye out for the latest releases. Having firmly been a fan of her Christmas novels, I became a convert to her summer novels following last summer's The Summer Seekers.

Read my review of The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan

How would this year's offering fare? Especially against the power house that was Karen Swan's The Summer Without You? Well, as it turns out....very well.

The Plot

A marriage in the spotlight.
Joanna Whitman's high-profile marriage held more secrets than she cares to remember. So when her ex-husband dies, she doesn't know what to feel. But when she discovers he has left behind a pregnant young woman. Joanna is forced to act. She knows exactly how brutal the spotlight of them both will be....unless she can find a way for them to disappear.
Ashley Blake is amazed when Joanna suggests they lie low at her beach house in her sleepy Californian hometown. Joanne should be hating her, not helping her.But alone and pregnant, Ashley needs all the support she can find.

My Thoughts

The perfect summer beach read. Sarah Morgan chooses to avoid the cliched summer romance staple of so many books released at this time of the year, in favour of a novel about Sisterhood and raising women up. But for those of you who are firmly in the romance camp, don't panic, there is a very sweet second chance romance. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Beach House Summer follows the beautiful yet guarded Joanna Whitman. Joanna is recovering from her marriage to Cliff Whitman, a TV Chef and serious philanderer. When he is suddenly killed in a tragic car accident, Joanna and the young woman who was in the car at the time of the crash, Ashley, come under fierce media scrutiny. Knowing the stress this causes, Joanna suggests to Ashley that they take refuge in her home town and gorgeous beach house until Ashley is back on her feet.

The Beach House itself is wonderful, full of light, white and chicness. But it is the calmness that Joanna craves and which comes from the ocean and beach on which the beach house sits. Watching the crashing waves, swimming in the sea and feeling the sun on her skin all contribute to Joanna's repair.

The town is a real community and you know I love a good community! Neighbours look out for Joanna and Ashley and shield them from the inevitable media circus that ensues. The previously mentioned romance is sweet, but never reflects from the book's true message of sisterhood.

This has been an excellent summer read and one I have would have no hesitation in recommending to you dear reader.