If you like women’s fiction, you’ll definitely want to read this lovely book! It’s the perfect book to take to the beach or read by the pool! It’s very light hearted and entertaining with some drama as well! I really loved how the book focused on four women (two moms who are dear friends and their daughters) and I feel like they became my friends as I was reading along! It’s like you get 4 stories in one as you get to read about what’s going on in each of their lives and how they’re connected. Follow along with them as they spend the summer in the beautiful Cape Cod. They’re navigating life changes, fresh starts, career paths, and their love lives.

Absolutely adored this charming book.
A truly endearing story about lifelong friends, the trials of growing up, and figuring out what you want from your life.
It is the perfect beach read.

Overall I loved this story. Who doesn’t want to own a bookstore/coffee shop? I am conflicted because I loved the plot, but I didn’t love the execution.

The dialogue really bothered me. So many conversations with different characters felt like the exact same conversation over and over. And it just didn’t sound like how people talk. A perfect example of that was this quote: “It’s Monday of the Labor Day weekend.” Who would word it this way instead of just saying Labor Day?

A couple other gripes were that I felt like the characters didn’t act their age, and it was surprising the sheer amount of people who were all fresh out of relationships. There were so many eligible bachelors to choose from.

I still found the story to be fun and heartwarming. This would make a perfect, light beach read.

Thank you NetGalley, Pamela Kelley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Bookshop by the Bay. This is my personal review.
This book had such a wonderful combination of stories that it was one that I found hard to put down. When there are mothers and daughters along with friendships, life changes, romance and starting over. I knew it was going to be good.
This is a beach read for sure that I know you will enjoy. I like a book that has be wondering what the characters are doing after I have finished the book.

This is a good summer read, with depth of characters and multiple points of view to keep up with. While for me this book took a while to finish and had a slower start, its worth the finish.

This book was really good. I will certainly be reading more books by Pamela Kelley. Once you start reading this book you will find it hard to put down.

The cast of characters are great and I loved the story line. I love the way Jess keeps a cool head when things go wrong with her marriage. Her and her daughter Caitlin decide to go home and stay with Jess's Mom for a little while.

Living by the beach and sometimes just having a change of scenery will help give you the peace and answers you are looking for.

This was a great read and I would highly recommend this book.

A sweet book about relationships; mother/daughter/family/friend and finding your path. Easy to read, light. A good beach book.

This was the perfect book to read on my spring break vacation! It was easy to read, yet held my attention throughout- with themes of romance, starting over, and finding your place to belong. I particularly loved the themes of finding out what truly makes you happy, instead of how others think you should live your life. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy!

The Bookshop By The Bay, by Pamela Kelley, is a perfect summer read. As soon as she mentioned a favorite author, Fiona Davis, I knew I was hooked. It's a story of love and loss, of friendships and new beginnings. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I love Pamela Kelley books and this book is no different. The characters are fun and relatable. I think this would have been a great series although there are a few people that could be added to another book.

Allison and Jessica are in their mid-50’s and have been friends since growing up in Chatham, Massachusetts, on the Cape. Allison moved to Charleston and Jessica has stayed put. Their friendship has remained strong over the years. Their marriages…not so much.
The Bookshop By The Bay has some of my favorite themes: mother/daughter relationships, Charleston, island life. There’s a little drama, a little love, and stories of second chances that all come together nicely. It’s also great (and somewhat unusual) to read a book where the main characters are in their 50’s! This was my first Pamela Kelley book and I’m looking forward to exploring her backlist. A perfect read for fans of Nancy Thayer and Elinor’s Hilderbrand!
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read The Bookshop By The Bay in exchange for an honest review.

A perfect beach read by an author I’ve wanted to read for a long time. The fictional story is what I would consider ‘clean’ reading, no bad language or graphic descriptions, just a feel good story of mothers, friends and daughters taking chances, starting over, following your dreams, making hard choices.
Lifelong friends Jessica and Alison have kept in touch since Jess moved to Charleston. Alison stayed in a village close to Cape Cod and near Ex-husband Chris, her other best friend. Jess’s marriage is rocky and about to become an avalanche. Both women have adult daughters, Caitlin and Julia.
The story follows along as Jess and Caitlin take a month to return to the Cape for a much needed vacation and visit with Jess’s Mom. There are mouth-watering food scenes described with regional bounty. Jess made some choices and decisions I found a bit questionable. Still an overall a good set of characters and a wonderful women’s fictional story. Perfect for those romantics in the younger generation and for all the young at heart who still believe in love and second chances. While parts of the plot are predictable, sometimes it’s good to have a happy ending.
“The Bookshop by the Bay” by Pamela M. Kelley, published by St. Martin’s Griffin, is due to be published June 6, 2023. NetGalley provided a digital advance reader copy to me. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

This is a book about two old friends who grew up on Cape Cod. Alison stayed on the Cape while Jess relocated to Charleston. They still managed to keep their friendship strong, talking every day. Now, in their fifties, they are each having to deal some difficult life situations. Time for reinvention, Jess returns to the Cape where she and Alison figure out their next steps. This is a nice tail of women supporting each other and reconnecting with their younger selves.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this title.

“There’s nothing like browsing a bookstore. Smelling all those books, flipping through the pages and choosing the perfect one for your mood at that moment.”

The thing about an opportunity is that it doesn’t often come gift-wrapped - we need to take a risk. Nobody knows that better than the two women in this novel. Jess Coleman and Alison Page, besties from childhood, learn that the greatest joy and lessons came when they shifted their focus and got out of their comfort zone. It would have been easy for them both to remain negative and stuck in a rut, but they grabbed the opportunity and were the better for it! The best part? Their daughters had a front row to personal growth. Strong, independent women become that way when they’ve been forged in the fire and/or when they’ve watched others come through an experience and want the end result for themselves.

Chatham, Cape Cod is the perfect place to make a change and with love and support, these women show that it’s never too late for second chances.

You’ll want to put this beach read on your tbr list! Looking to make a change? Need direction? Like mother-daughter stories? If the strong, supportive female characters don’t sway your choice, then you may want to know that there’s a bookstore and a coffee shop featured. Kelley explores friendship, trust, second chances and the angst of making important decisions.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M. Kelley, a multigenerational saga that captures the essence of Cape Cod on every page, centers around two best friends and their adult daughters all of whom are at a turning point in their lives. The relationships are complex with a central theme of discovering what makes you happy and not living life based on the expectations of others. (I reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.). This is the book to have in your beach bag, especially if you are escaping to the Cape this summer.

The Bookshop by the Bay by Pamela M. Kelley, an author I haven't read books by in the past. A heart-warming sweet story about family, friends, and taking chances. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

As with all of Pamela Kelley's books I really loved this one. Jess and Parker were having some problems so Jess and her daughter Caitlyn who was having a hard time too so they decided to go to Chatham for a month to try to figure things out. Jess would be near her best friend Alison. They ended up staying until October. Jess bought a book shop with her friend and they expanded to the next store and opened a coffee shop. Jess and Alison worked at the Bookshop and Caitlyn managed the coffee shop. . See how everything falls into place. Do they move back to Charleston,SC or stay there!! A VERY GOOD READ.

WOW. I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as a did. I loved every page. The characters were real, relatable, and had such great rapport with each other. The plot, while predictable, flowed smoothly from scene to scene and captivated me from the start. Highly recommend for those looking for a feel good, second chance story.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Bookshop by the Bay is the book equivalent of a Hallmark movie about mothers and daughters. For those wanting a story with a little bit of romance and no steamy scenes, and where there’s little conflict that’s easily resolved, this is the book for you. The writing is on the simplistic side; there really isn’t a tremendous amount of depth to the characters or the storyline, and as mentioned in the previous sentence, there really isn’t much conflict that could lead to a climax point in the story. It basically revolves around Jess finding out her husband Parker has been cheating on her, and her and her adult daughter Caitlin returning to Jess’ childhood home in Chatham, far away from their problems in Charleston. Jess’ lifelong best friend, Alison, still lives in Chatham, and is looking for a new start of her own as the magazine she works for continues to lose business in the digital age. Jess decides to buy out the local bookstore owner, and she, Alison and Caitlin turn it into a joint store with a cafe and then proceed to do everything to make the bookstore a success that anyone with a marketing degree (and many people without one) could come up with, including book signings, reading hour, a rewards program, and all of the social media accounts people are increasingly getting tired of - with Alison’s daughter Julia chiming in to help after running her own jewelry store. Naturally all four of the women have love interests, and Jess and Caitlin both question if they really want to go back to Charleston. Kelley tends to a weird fascination with describing food and locations that feels overly descriptive instead of adding ambiance, and the plot line is underwhelming to me, but if a reader is looking for an easy, sunshiny beach read that doesn’t require a lot of mental commitment, this is one to throw in your bag and take along. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think this book could be right for some, but I was not the target audience. If you like an easy, slice-of-life type of read this will be right up your alley. I found it to be repetitive and boring at times. It seemed like every chapter the main characters were having the same conversation about whether to return to Charleston or stay in Chatham. This happened over and over again.

There were a lot of characters, and at times it could get confusing. I would have to take a moment at the beginning of a chapter to place which character was who. The writing didn’t seem to flow well for me either. It felt more like someone was standing in a room and just describing everything they were seeing. The descriptions were very detailed too. Every single meal, drink, and room was described in complete detail. It felt almost like the author had a word count she was trying to reach, and it didn’t really help to advance the story.