I struggled with this book. It started enjoyable. It seemed to lose me along the way.

Sarah, Kristin, and Jack are a week away from their twentieth high school reunion and the reunion just won't be complete without their long lost friend Roxanne. Roxanne hasn't been seen nor heard from since the final weeks of their senior year of high school and the gang has no idea where she is. They set off on an adventure in a classic El Camino named Elvira in the hopes of finding answers...and forgiveness. The story flip-flops between the "now" and the "then" so we hear and see why Roxanne left and how sometimes friendships can get complicated, but ultimately work out in beautiful ways.

Here's one thing that I really enjoyed about this book: the nostalgia. I loved the description of Sarah and Kristen buying and road tripping in the El Camino. "I had forgotten what cars were like in the 70's and 80's, wide stretches of bench-like seats that felt like couches....Didn't even use seat belts, and you could slide back and forth on the leather whenever you made a hard turn." Yeah!!! It was just so fun to me! On the not-my-favorite-part-side, the MC Sarah could be SO dense and self-absorbed and just about every other character in the book brought it up to her face. She was fine in the beginning--great even!--and then two-thirds of the way through she went off her rocker and everything was her fault and in her world and her drama and her blindness and her, her, her! Blah!! Another plus: this was definitely a warm and fuzzy, feel good, easy to read book. If you need a good summer read, pick this up. Plus, I was very impressed that this was a debut for Amanda Callendrier, so hats off, and congratulations!

Maybe because I'm staring down the barrel of my own 20 year high school reunion, but I really enjoyed this little book! Camino Beach is the story of Sarah, a Nashville book seller. She's nearing 40, divorced with no new prospects. Her best friend, Kristen, is married with three children. With their high school reunion a week away, the girls set out to find their long lost friend, Roxanne.

Spliced in between chapters are little flashbacks to the last week of high school, and the moments that defined who the girls became. The choices that they make then and their choices now. Are the friendships that we cherished so much in our teens the same friendships that we value as we age?

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Amanda Callendrier for the book in exchange for this review.

I truly loved this debut novel, Camino Beach, by Amanda Callendrier. This story has a fun, upbeat feel to it.

Main character Sarah is approaching middle age, and she's not all that excited about it. She hasn't accomplished any of the things on her list when she graduated from high school nearly 20 years ago. Now, with her 20 year class reunion quickly approaching, Sarah and her best friend Kristen decide to track down their other best friend Roxanne, who vanished just before their high school graduation. There is an overload of nostalgia as the duo, along with Sarah's best man Jack, make their way to Myrtle Beach hoping to track down Roxanne and solve their lives' greatest mystery.

High school friend Sarah, Jack and Kristen embark on a journey to find and reconnect their old friend Roxanne. She was the kind of girl who got into loads of trouble back in the day, and disappeared right before graduation. Sarah isn't so sure she wants to track Roxanne down, however, because she betrayed Roxanne, and she fears that is what ultimately lead to her disappearance.

At first glance simple school reunion and road trip novel. There is some magic at work with the narrative because I felt I was drawn along through the story, impatient to know what was going to happen next.
A satisfying and enjoyable read.

Camino Beach was well written, but I feel like it would've been better served with a 10-year gap between story lines rather than a 20. I don't know anyone who would still be fixated on a lost friendship from high school that long after the fact. That part was a bit too far fetched for me. I've had close friends from high school and college disappear in the years since, but I don't chase after them. Facebook exists, and even if not, friendships just fizzle out sometimes -- even the strongest ones. People change and move on. You can't cling onto every friendship forever or you'll just make yourself sick. This novel made me glad that I didn't peak in high school, so I don't feel the need to think about those years all too often!

Sarah and Kristen, BFFs from high school are fast approaching their 20 year reunion. But the reunion won't be complete without Roxanne, their wild-child friend who disappeared abruptly during their senior year. CAMINO BEACH tells the story of their search and what they find. It also give Sarah a chance to reexamine her past deeds and how they have haunted her and find a way to change her future. This was a quick read with fun, endearing characters.

The author hits all the right notes about girlfriends. Especially about girlfriends who have known one another most of their lives. I'm buying copies of this for all the wonen I'm lucky enough to have in my life who have been there since we really were just girls.