In this charming book, we return to Primrose Cottage on Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
Cara, still grieving the death of her husband, brings her newly-adopted daughter back to the cabin left to her by her mother.
Needing to work, but wanting to be with Hope, her daughter, Cara hires her niece to be a nanny, and they all settle in to a pleasant routine.
Cara meets a man who could be a large part of her life, if she can find the courage.
That courage becomes vital as the island prepares for Hurricane Irma and her brother's family implodes.
With information about sea turtles to start each chapter, the vivid descriptions of the Lowcountry, taut family drama and familiar characters you love to re-visit, this is a perfect addition to the series.

Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe is a great read featuring family, relationships, commitment, and love. A family torn by traditions and new beginnings is found inside these pages. A daughter who went to college, earned her degree, and is home looking for a job. Her father is pushing her to work for him. Her brother is forced to go to the same college as his dad and to work for the family business. This caused a tidal wave that is felt by the whole family. The mother is wanting her daughter to uphold the same principles she holds for the family. Then, there's an aunt who lost her love, adopted a baby, and is tackling on a new relationship. In the background, are the sea turtles that come back every 2-3 years to build a nest and lay new eggs. I loved how an older sea turtle came back to the beach and was found to have survived a shark atrack. The aunt in the family is finally returning back home to her beach house to stay. Her niece helps with babysitting while finding her own way in life. The plot was engaging, realistic, and steady. There was action, romance, and a destructive family force to be dealt with...but it was dragged out a little too much for me. Choices are presented and will be made. Where the characters and future of the sea turtles lie, is a journey for readers to find out...overall, it was a good story.

This is a great relaxing beach read! I love her Beach House series and catching up with Cara and the family. Mary Alice Monroe has a way with family stories. They are always emotional and tug on the heartstrings. I really love all the sea turtle information too, I've learned a lot!

Mary Alice Monroe has give us another great book in continuing the story of the Rutledge family and friends. The turtle information at the beginning of each chapter is informative and fun.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of Beach House Reunion. Really lucky because I read, and loved the other 4 Beach House books as well as many others by Mary Alice Munroe. The fifth and last book in the series begins with Cara Rutlege returning to Primrose Cottage three years after she left after her beloved husband's death. This time she is accompanied by her new baby daughter, Hope. Best friends Emmi and Flo are there as are characters that were introduced in the previous four books. Cara's niece, Linnea, joins the family on the island as nanny to Hope. She meets Emmi's son John who teaches Linnea how to surf as well a help her narrow down her job search. The stories are interspersed with facts about sea turtles, and conservation and rescue efforts as well as vivid descriptions of life on a coastal island. Cara and Linnea face life-changing circumstances good and bad and have to make some tough decisions about life and love. Munroe does not disappoint. Beach House Reunion maintains the high quality you expect from her novels - you can almost feel the ocean breeze and smell the beach as you read. A great story and an excellent vacation.
You could probably get through the book if you pick this one up first, but do yourself a favor and read the entire series!!!

I am so happy that Cara is back home on Isle of Palms. And she brought a pretty great surprise with her! Facing memories of her late husband and the special bond they had, as well as wishing her mother, Lovie, was still here to give her advice, she plows forward much like her beloved Loggerhead Turtles.

While she settles back into life at Primrose Cottage, her niece, Linnea, has graduated from college and is at loose ends. Feeling stifled in her family's Charleston mansion, she heads to the beach. Home to Cara and Primrose. With no expectations to be anything other than happy.

With new love a possibility and her mother to guide her, Cara will pull her family together and break a long cycle of bad behavior, freeing them all to be who they are and live their best lives.

This series is so loving and beautiful. While the bad habits in a family can be broken, the strong bonds of these women can not. Very well done!



Netgalley/SimonandSchuster May 22, 2018

The Rutledges were born and bred on the Isle of Palms. Palmer Rutledge and his wife and two grown children live at one of the beach houses, and Cara is moving back to the other one. Cara is still grieving the loss of the love of her life and trying to adjust to being a mom to her adopted daughter Hope. Linnea, Palmer's daughter, is fresh out of college and unable to find a job in the field of her dreams. They do what families should do when they are at a crossroads in life....band together. Linnea becomes Hope's nanny and Cara works to get her footing back.
This had a great storyline, the characters are all someone you want to root for, and to top it off there is a bit of romance. This should definitely be on everyone's beach read list for this summer!

Mary Alice Monroe has done it yet again ! I am sitting here crying at my desk. I read this book today. Have been waiting patiently for this next one in the series. Such a lovely, touching story ! So pure of heart ! I love all of these characters. I can only imagine the research she puts into these books as well, hurricanes, turtles, birds etc. This truly is a wonderful book. If you have not read this series, do yourself a favor start at the beginning and read them all. Hours well spent.

My book club had just finished reading Beach House for Rent for its April book choice, so I was delighted to see Beach House Reunion as a Net Galley title. Mary Alice Monroe wrote a beautiful ending to her Beach House series with this title.. Cara and her niece, Linnea return to the cottage at Isle of Palms and resume the turtle team expeditions while their lives are renewed with purpose, fulfillment and restoration of family ties. The novel lends romance, mystery and family togetherness in a great read.

This is a great book to relax with. The story line is interesting and doesn't involve murder. The characters are interesting and likable. It does have a few twists and turns that make you wonder what will happen next. If you live on or near a shore line you will be able to relate to the book even more.

I received an ARC for an honest review. Thank you for introducing me to a new author. I will be reading more of her works.

I was so happy to see this book! I felt like after the last Beach House book we were left a little up in the air with Cara's brother pushing her to sell the beach house and all the other things that occurred. This book takes all those loose ends and ties them up beautifully.

I've loved Mary Alice Monroe's Beach House series from the first book with its discussion of the loggerhead turtles, their eggs and nests and lengthy travels to lay their eggs. I've learned so much about those turtles from these books, which is wonderful! I know I've reading an MAM book when I read about pluff mud, the turtle team and seafood freshly caught and cooked.

It's sad to see this series end, but what a lot of enjoyment these books brought to many readers. If you've read anything by Mary Alice Monroe, this should be a definite read for you and if you've never read one of her books, what are you waiting for?

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for an early copy.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2343253627. Reviewed in Goodreads and Facebook.

The best thing about Mary Alice Monroe's novels are the depiction of such warm families and friends We should all be so lucky to have such close ties to long time friends and family.

Cara comes back to her cottage after a successful career. This time something new has been added to the 53 year old's life - an adopted daughter, Hope. Her niece Linnea also arrives home after graduation from college. While deciding what she wants to do next, Linnea becomes a nanny to Hope while Cara begins a new business, Cara is pleased to run into an old friend, David, while Linnea meets a handsome surfer.

Readers will learn a lot about the turtles that return to the island to lay their eggs. The reunion of family and friends will warm reader's hearts. Yes, there are some disagreements among family members that can hopefully be resolved but Ms Monroe tells a lively tale of new beginnings, new hope, and new loves.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ARC of Beach House Reunion.

Monroe never fails to take me with her to the beach and the saga of the Rutledge family. More secrets are unearthed as the reader is connected with Lovie and the decisions she made. Although a perfect read for those who are familiar with the family from previous books, this book can stand alone as a first read.

CAPTIVATING!!

Beach House Reunion (The Beach House Book 5) is completely captivating from start to finish! Though it is part of a series, I believe it can be read as a stand alone since the author gives plenty of background information so you won’t feel confused by characters or situations. Monroe is masterful in her imagery of creating a beautifully, realistic, peaceful island setting. It is so realistic that it invites readers to want to be there and participate in the story. The plot continues to circle around the historic Rutledge family of Charleston, SC. Cara Rutledge is returning to her beloved Isle of Palms Beach House. It’s the one place where she’s always found solace, just like it did for her mother Lovie. This is a story of broken hearts, broken families, familial love through all things, oldest friends who are closer than family, buried secrets, new beginnings, new relationships and new life. It is about the full circle of life and each experience building upon the next. It is rich and it is wonderful! I was provided an ARC of this book by the Publisher and NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.

This was the first book I read from Mary Alice Monroe. This book is about Carra who is returning to her beach house outside of Charleston, SC after being gone for a few years. This place holds many memories for her both painful and happy. Her niece Linnea is returning from graduating college and spends the summer with her aunt at the beach house while searching for a job in her chosen field. These two women come together to overcome challenges they are faced with and prove that at the beach anything is possible.

Prior to reading this book I found out it was the fifth book in the series. Normally I would not enjoy reading a book in the middle of a series due to my OCD nature. This book was written in such a way that any reader could step right into the story and not feel like they missed a thing.

This book contained many things I love. Charleston, the beach, and each chapter had a little tidbit about sea turtles. It was a very easy and pleasurable read. I felt like I was truly stepping into the beach house named Primrose Cottage with friends. I truly feel like I want to go back and read the rest of the series so I will be ready for the next one. Because, there has to be a next one. This is a story you won't want to end.

“Beach House Reunion” by Mary Alice Monroe, is an entertaining, captivating, emotional and heartwarming novel. “Beach House Reunion” is the fifth book in the Beach House Series, but it can be read by itself. The Genres for this book are Fiction, Women’s Giveaway, with an essence of ghost-like feeling. The timeline of this story is set in the present, unless it goes to the past where it pertains to the characters or events. The story takes place in Charleston, South Carolina and the southern family beach-house on the Isle of Palms.

The author describes her characters as complex, and complicated. Most of the characters have problems of their own. Cara Rutledge, a 53-year-old widow with a young baby returns to her Grandmother’s Beach- House. Cara is leaving a professional life but wants to give her daughter a better life. She has to revisit connections with friends and neighbors, and yet work at some type of job. Since her husband’s death, Cara has not moved forward until now. What lies in store for her?

Cara’s niece, Linnea, has just graduated from college and goes to the Beach House as well, to try to figure out what she is going to do with her life. She becomes a babysitter-nanny for Cara. Linnea has left her dysfunctional family at home, and looks forward to the beach and the ocean. Linnea loves being part of “the Turtle Team”.

I appreciate that Mary Alice Monroe describes the importance of family, emotional support, friends, neighbors, love, faith and hope. Is it possible to break the toxic problems of the past? The author discusses growth, strength and courage for her characters to make better choices. I would recommend this novel to those reader of Women’s Fiction. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion and review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this advanced copy of Beach House Reunion. Mary Alice Monroe is a favorite of mine and I have fallen in love with the characters in this series. Although this is a series it would be a great stand alone book if you have just found Mary Alice Monroe and her Beach House series. I have always loved the low country of South Carolina and every time I read another of her books it has me trying to figure out how to buy a house on Isle of Palms or Sullivan's Island. Whatever you do, put this in your beach bag this summer. You won't regret it!

I always love when a new Mary Alice Monroe novel releases. It is always full of strong southern women taking on the world and making it better. What would be better than a return to the beach house series with Beach House Reunion? Cara returns home with a new baby to the beach house where she can reconnect to her family both blood and chosen. This time she gets to know her niece Linnea better. Linnea is a recent college graduate trying to escape her family’s expectations and discover what she truly wants to do with her life. You will also be reacquainted with the sea turtles and the healing power of the beach house. After reading this book, you must read the entire series starting with The Beach House, which was filmed as a Hallmark movie.

Another Beach House book that everyone should read!!
Beach House Book #5
Excited to return to Isle of Palms with the Rutledge Family at Primrose Cottage.

Rejoin the turtle team
New members are added to the family

Each chapter has Loggerheads facts

ESCAPE to the beach with a tall drink and this book!