Thank you to #NetGalley, the publisher and the author.

I tried to read this book but couldn't get into it. Not sure if it was the plot or the characters so it was a DNF for me.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

I looked foward to this books o much because it felt like the scandals in Palm Beach.
I wanted to be a fly on the wall.
It was a very slow read until the end it picked up.
If your willing to invest the time in reading this book then give it a try.
ortunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

OMG! This book reads like a soap opera set on luxurious and dramatic beach club full of drama and secrets. Although I caould not relate to the super-rch and their snobbery, I could relate to Julia. Julia is the MC in this book and goes through a lot when she decides to change careers. From lawyer to fundraiser manager, Julia deals with many obstacles. Some of these obstacles make her question her decision, especially when someone tries to sabatoge her job.

I t hought this was a great book read even if many of the characters are unrelatable and unlikable. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley, Diane Bergner and Meryl Moss Media Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available.

This book took me forever to read! I don't know what it was about but I really didn't like it. 2 stars is generous for me. I think the number one thing I had a hard time with was how much jumping around there was with things. One minute we are hearing about some lost check and the next the main character is sleeping with her husband. It just felt like too much rambling. I was excited in the beginning when we got to hear some juicy work place drama but then it just fizzled out for me. Not sure this is one I would recommend to others. I received this book to reivew.

This was a great beach read. In the story we are taken to the world of the glamorous non profits and clothes matter a lot. There is mystery involved and that was a nice touch.
Many thanks to Meryl Moss Media Group and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Royal Coconut Beach Lunch Club is the perfect easy read for summer! The light-hearted mystery had the perfect amount of suspense and alluring characters. I will definitely be recommending this beach read to everyone!

Thank you Diane Bergner, Meryl Moss Media Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The cover and blurb should have tipped me off that is was probably a chick lit beach read type of book - unfortunately it was just too light and frothy for my taste. DNF.

Gorgeous, beautiful written and catchy!!

This was a surprising reading! 100% love it!

For anyone who likes a curious and dense story this is your book

The Royal Coconut Beach Lunch Club synopsis and premise of “Scandal meets Real Housewives of Palm Beach” really held a lot of promise for me. I was super intrigued and then found myself wondering where the Scandal part of it came up. It definitely featured the housewife drama, though I wish there was a bit more focus on the Lunch Club aspect of the story. Julia’s life became a bit repetitive through the middle of the story. The last 25% of the book was where all of the drama and intrigue was.
The story was a clever one, with lots of characters’ lives intertwining in a rich neighborhood in Florida. I can see that this one would be a hit for a lot of people but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Meryl Moss Media for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a very easy summer reading book. So much so, I read this sat out in the garden in the sun drinking a bottle of cider. This is the first book I have read by this author, after reading this. I will absolutely be checking more of her work out.

This is an entertaining beach read mystery type of story. The characters where very well adapted and thought about. Not to deep but it was easy to understand and follow.
I was entertained. I will be recommending this book to others!

Thanks to Meryl Moss Media Group, Meridian Editions and Netgalley for his free ARC in return for my honest review.

At age 69, I am probably not the target audience for this book, but having not really read any "chick-lit" in my life and few summer beach reads, I felt I should give it a try. While a lot of people are offended by the term "chick-lit" this book sort of hits all the marks for that genre. By that I mean that this is a story about a performance venue called the Addison Center, and is located in the fictitious city of Royal Coconut Beach, Florida. It is a story about 4 ladies who are in charge of Donor relations for the center and what goes on behind the scenes in their lives, their work and their donors lives! Quite a lot to be honest and each chapter is short and specifically on point for the Chapter titles (yes, that is a bit plus for the book, because I love chapter titles!). We basically follow Julia Wild, formerly a New York attorney, who moved to Florida with her husband who was transferred there by his law firm. Julia applies for and gets the job at the Addison Center and quickly finds out that it is more glamorous and scandalous than she expected. Lots of loving, gossip, cattiness and backstabbing going on throughout this book, as we find out someone took a huge donation check from her desk, how someone appears to be setting her up for a fall, and finding out that clothes are so essential in this job! We also have a lot of speculation as to love lives, and affairs (including Julie's husband??), but the book ends with a satisfactory ending for one and all, most especially Julie who has had to navigate this minefield.
All in all it is not a bad effort by debut novelist Diane Bergner, however the plot gets bogged down with a huge over emphasis on describing the clothing everyone wears, almost every other chapter. We get it after about 4 chapters, and there was no need for this continued emphasis from my personal point of view. But a good job by Diane and hope she has another one planned for next beach season!

Julia Wild trades in her legal career for a job as a high society fundraiser at the Addison Performing Arts Center in glitzy Royal Coconut Beach. The deeper Julia dives into her job, the more she can’t resist the glamorous pull of the high society life style. But Julia had to be careful—her marriage is on shaky grounds, and someone at work seems to be sabotaging her. Good thing she has a close-knit group of friends to keep her grounded.

Thank you so much @netgalley for the advance copy! The premise of this book was exciting, but I really wasn’t all that impressed by it. It felt like nothing happened, and the one exciting plot point lasted about five minutes and was resolved way too quickly. Julia’s character was super difficult to sympathize with for me; she spent so much time complaining about her husband’s lack of attention to her while not ever trying to truly talk to him about anything or stop working for five seconds to realize that she was also part of the problem. The women’s friendships were a nice touch, but overall this one just wasn’t it for me.

A nice easy summer reading, I would recommend to friends and will definitely read more by the author!

why was this so slow 😭 i really could not get into this book and it took me soooo long to pick it up sporadically and immense willpower to continue reading. everyone in this book is just unlikeable and there wasn't any humor i could relate to :/ too bad because i was looking forward to enjoying this book bc mysteries are my jam

The description of this book and the early reviews I read made me excited to read it, too, however, I do not think this book is the one for me. The author’s storytelling style did not grab me and I found the narrative disjointed and hard to follow. I could not finish it.

Name: Royal Coconut Beach Lunch Club
Genre: Drama/Fiction
Author: @dianebergner
Pages: 382
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐


The book starts with Julia Wild, a lawyer who changed fields and joined Addison, a high-profile NGO to help them with their fundraising. There she meets new people and enters a whole new world. Her work involves meeting the rich, talking to them and of course, raising some donations. But as we all know, the lives of socialite elites aren't as beautiful as they show. Will Julia keep up with Chrissy, Maya and Poppy at the Addisons? Meanwhile, there is trouble brewing at her husband and another attorney, Mark's firm.

I would categorise this book as domestic fiction than crime or thriller. The story deals with people, relationships and competition. Reading this book felt like following the Page 3 parties and the stories of people in those. It is very entertaining to read about the high society and their ways.

The writing style is brilliant. Each character and incident is so beautifully written. The language is very simple so the book is suitable for beginners. Though the story wasn't any surprising or engaging, the writing made sure I finished the book.

I gave it 3 stars because though I love some drama and gossip and secrets, I can't take ~400 pages of it. I feel this book is suitable for those who are really into relationship drama but not for those looking for a great story. The length did get to me, at times.

I would say it is a one-time read.

I received a review copy from Netgalley.

This book was a bit of a ride! This is Bergner's debut novel and I'll say that I liked it enough. Personally, I feel like so many things happened at the same time but it did kept me entertained.

It is a really fast paced book and I started it and finished it in a day and a half. I'll also say it was a really easy read which I liked. The writing was okay too, I can't say I loved it but it got me hooked which is important for me. The story was good, it was nice to read about Julia a 40 year old attorney who changes her career completely. There was some mistery also involved, it was a fun read. I also liked the characters. A thing that surprised me was how many references there were about my beautiful country Argentina, since one of the Characters is Argentinian and not gonna lie that made me really happy.

Overall it was an okay book and i enjoyed it.

I'm not sure that this book knew what it wanted to be and at times the lack of focus and direction was frustrating but the this was never meant to be a ground breaking book. Entertaining and light hearted it sure was and got me through a long car journey.

I have never read anything by this author before and, after having read this one, I will absolutely be checking more of her work out! Was this an earth-shattering, thought-provoking read? Of course not! It was not meant to be. I took it as an entertaining, beach-read mystery type of story and enjoyed it throughout. The characters were surface level, not too deep, but it was relaxing and easy to understand and follow, and, bonus...I was entertained! I recommend this for your reading list as it is overall, very worth reading!

Let me start off by saying, this isn’t my usual type of read but I still enjoyed it very much.
Also coming from a smallish city in Michigan I have never really meet any billionaire or famous person! So getting to read about Julia’s career change and seeing how she navigated a new “Rich” world was pretty interesting.

Of course starting a new job is stressful in its self but learning how to work with people who have never heard a “no” would definitely cause a little panic.

Julia also unfortunately has to deal with bump in her marriage and a possible infidelity. Had me impatiently waiting to see if it was happening or not! It was interesting seeing her thought process through out the situation.

But of course she had her amazing friends of the lunch club helping her through everything!

I enjoyed the book very much,