I enjoyed this book, loved the characters and the adventures.

Thank you to Brenda Novak, Net Galley, and the publisher for an advance ARC for review. This is no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own.

This book revolves around three generations of women and the secrets that they keep. I found the writing to be very good and the author does a great job tying all three story lines together. This is the first Brenda Novak novel for me and I look forward to reading more from her.

I thought this was a really good story! The perfect beach read. I found the characters to be very likeable and believable and I definitely want to visit this town! Highly recommended.

The Bookstore on the Beach
by Brenda Novak
Pub Date: April 6, 2021
MIRA

Thanks to MIRA and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this before the release date. I picked this book because of the title. I love Bookstores! I love the Beach! Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment to me.
I found it to be a but melodramatic and I just don't enjoy that much"drama" in my reading.
For me, it wasn't a great fit.
3 star

This book was good on audio! It held my interest and was much more of a mystery than I was expecting. I don't read much by this author, but will definitely add more to my list!

This was not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting light, fun, bookstore on the beach. Not all the family drama that I got in the beginning. This was a DNF for me.

This book is the quintessential Beach Read! What an enjoyable reading experience this had to offer! The small town, quaint and likable characters as well as a thoroughly descriptive plot were just perfect to me! This is the kind of place I would love to go to for a visit or perhaps a bit longer. My experience while reading this was low-key and enjoyable because I didn't have to think too much about everything that was going on and I could purely enjoy the story for its beautiful value!

I couldn’t put this book by Brenda Novak down. “Bookstore on the Beach” is a perfect summer read. Ms Novak’s characters are well developed and relatable. The story takes place in a quaint Virginia Beach town and follows the ups and downs of Mary, her daughter Autumn and her granddaughter Taylor during one very memorable summer. “Bookstore on the Beach” incorporates espionage, kidnapping, young love and rekindled loved all into a nicely written must read novel. I highly recommend adding this to your summer reading list.

We all have those authors whose books are enjoyable every single time, no matter what the subject or theme is and Brenda Novak is that author for me.

This book gripped me from the first few pages. The story being told filled with so many emotions that I couldn’t bear to put it down. After being in a reading funk for a little over a year this was just the book I needed to remind me of why I love reading so much.

If you are a Brenda Novak fan, or even if you’ve never picked up one of her books, I urge you to read this one. You will not be disappointed.

A family grieving the loss of a father with no clear answers to what happened to him. An old high school flame, reignited bringing to life a woman who was just going through the motions. A secret held so tightly and securely it may never come to light. Teens struggling with finding themselves and owning consequences of their mistakes. This book truly has something that will capture the attention of any reader.

Multiple plots and characters to follow. Not as beachy as the cover suggests because of the emotional arc of the characters. Interesting read though it is not a fun beach read with light subjects as the title and cover suggest. Not sure if this is a result of categorizing all women’s fiction as romance chick lit or what but should have more apt cover for the dark subjects.

I think this book tried to tackle too much. The plot was a bit messy trying to follow so many threads, and it ended up leaving a lot of details out. I did like the book-about books angle!

This was a story about Autumn Divac and her two kids, Taylor and Caden. Their father has been missing for almost two years and even with hiring a private investigator, no one seems to know where he is. The family decides to go to visit their grandma, Mary who lives in Sable Beach, who runs a bookstore.

During their visit, Autumn rekindles an old relationship with Quinn but ponders if her husband, Nick will ever return. Taylor finds out that she is pregnant with Caden’s ex-best friend’s baby and doesn’t know what to do about keeping the baby. Taylor is also questioning her sexuality when she meets Sierra at the beach.

The biggest secret is held by Mary who was kidnapped at a young age, had a baby, Autumn, at sixteen and wonders when she should tell the family that she really isn’t who they think she is.

I loved all the twisting situations and deep relationships in the story. My only complaint is that the bookstore really wasn’t a focal point of the story.

The Bookstore on the Beach was more of a mystery and not so much a breezy beach read as I thought. This multigenerational story delves into family secrets and how those secrets could affect all those involved.
This was the first novel I read by Brenda Novak, and unfortunately, I was not impressed. The story was overly dramatic. For one family, the number of problems from a missing husband/father to a family ordeal from the past to a second chance romance, a criminal ex-wife, cancer, an unexpected teen pregnancy, and sexuality questioning they faced was a bit unrealistic. However, all of these issues kept me reading to the end because, of course, I had to know how it was all resolved.

This story held socially relevant topics but there was a lot going on. The multiple story lines get tangled and the story begins to feel a bit superficial instead of substantial. First person narratives from each of the main characters would have also been perfect for this story, making it feel more personal.

This is the first time I have read this author and I did enjoy this story. Everything did come together in the end but it needed more depth. 440 pages was simply too long and the term 'narrow and deep' is exactly what this book needs. I do recommend it to those who read Coming-of-Age and/or Family Fiction and I know this author has quite a dedicated following.

If you're looking for a beach read this summer then Brenda Novak's latest novel could be the perfect escape! The Bookstore on the Beach is a multigenerational story that has a lot going on including romance, some suspense and a lot of family drama.

It has been more than 18 months since Autumn's husband disappeared and she decides that she and her two teenage children need to escape for the summer to stay with her mother, Mary, in the beach town where she grew up. Autumn hopes to enjoy a carefree summer with her kids and to spend time working alongside her mother and aunt in their bookstore. Autumn's first love from high school is back in town as well, however, which leads her to ask herself whether she can move on with her life and find love again without knowing for certain what has happened to her husband.

The narrative shifts between the three generations of women in the family - Mary, Autumn and 17 year-old Taylor - and it soon becomes apparent that all three have secrets they are keeping and some very serious challenges that they need to face.

This is the second book that I have read by Brenda Novak (after reading One Perfect Summer last year) and she is very good at drawing readers into a compelling story. The Bookstore on the Beach is a page-turner and at close to 450 pages it should keep you going for a few days whether you're on the beach, lounging by the pool or just curled up in a cozy chair with a cup of tea.

Recommended on my website in 29 of the Best Summer Beach Reads in 2021 - https://www.gonewiththefamily.com/2021/06/best-summer-reads.html

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

WOW! Great book. Loved the storyline with 3 different ones going at the same time. I was waiting impatiently to find out what Autumn would do. I liked all the characters. Would have liked a bit more about Caden and maybe some from Nick as well. But I realize this was from women's point of view. Just all around good, and I will definitely recommend to friends and colleagues at the library!

Autumn Divac loved spending summers with her mother and aunt, and enjoyed spending time working in their bookstore. However, the previous summer they did not go. The reason Autumn couldn't bring herself to make the yearly trip is that her husband has gone missing. Autumn spent time, money and energy desperately looking for clues as to his disappearance, including hiring private investigators.

It has now been eighteen months and her teens are getting older, so Autumn and the kids head to visit their mother. Autumn really feels at home at the bookstore, and is quite close to her mother. However, during this trip, Autumn's life takes on even more changes. For one thing, she starts to uncover a secret that he mother has held onto for decades. Even more is that a love interest enters her life, and she is not sure that she can move on.

When Autumn discovers that her boyfriend from high school, Quinn, is in town, her heart becomes torn. They end up spending a lot of time together, and Autumn must decide if she will indeed let Quinn into her life, or whether or not she will keep searching for and hoping for her husband's return.

What a compelling, emotional read! I love that this book dealt with Autumn learning to listing to her heart despite being in limbo. Also, what was going on with her mother was quite an interesting and touching story and that was developed quite well. Then there is the side story involving Autumn's daughter Taylor and the changes that the seventeen-year-old is facing and the choices she makes. Also, the setting was terrific as I am an avid reader and enjoy any book in bookstore settings. All of these threads came together to deliver a fabulous story, one which made me feel for the characters and stay invested in this wonderful story by Brenda Novak from beginning to end.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Okay, I have to rant about this book. I have mixed feelings after finishing it. And I have some things to say. Like how the hell do you move on when your husband is missing. Like how. Please explain to me. I just would be in an in-between state, not talking to someone else. I just could not understand how Autumn could. I just could not. I know it may be hard since he is missing but that's messy whenever the husband does show up again. And he does in The Bookstore on the Shore. Messy situation. Autumn should have known that this was going to happen. I blame the messy situation on her. She caused, well both of them did.

I had a lot of fun reading on the beach last week even though it was cloudy most days. I decided to read what I thought was a cute beach book, the Bookstore on the Beach by @authorbrendanovak. 🏖

It was so much more! I love reading about a family with secrets, but the Divac family might take the cake. Autumn’s husband went missing 18 months ago and has never been seen again. Her mom and daughter each of secrets of their own. Autumn decides to take her family to Sable Beach, Virginia for the summer to get away from their old lives in Tampa.

Autumn grew up in Sable Beach and quickly runs into her first love, Quinn. She still has feelings for him, but hasn’t properly dealt with her feelings for her missing husband. Is he dead? Should she be mourning him? Her mother Mary is dealing with a major trauma and how to tell her grown daughter about it. Autumn’s daughter has her own secret- she was drunk at a party and slept with the enemy of her brother. She’s concerned she could be pregnant, but she prefers to just ignore the situation and focus on a budding relationship with someone unexpected.

I love the family and all their secrets. In typical fashion, everyone is hiding their dirty laundry from one another and confessing at inappropriate times. The bookstore was a very minor part in this story as the family secrets was definitely the main plot. I will say this is book is a little long, but it was a great book to read on vacation and I recommend it!

Written by Brenda Novak, The Bookstore on the Beach is one of those books that immediately screamed 'summer read' to me. It's one part romance, one part chick lit, and one part women's fiction, which will make it perfect in the minds of many readers.

What do you do when you're seeking closure and comfort? If you're Autumn Divac, you pack up your stuff and your children and head back to your beachside hometown for the summer. Here she has family and comforting memories to help her cope with the reality of her situation.

That reality is a missing husband with no idea how to move on without him. Not that she has much choice. Life must go on, as they say, and her children need her.

“And the thought of revealing the past, seeing it all through her daughter's eyes, made Mary feel ill.”

The Bookstore on the Beach is a novel that will tug on the heartstrings of its readers, forcing us to feel for Autumn as she deals with the unthinkable. While we'd all like to imagine that we would never find ourselves in her footsteps (missing husband and all), there was something so natural and so human about the way she struggled and fought to cope with it all.

I was surprised by the number of different storylines that ran through The Bookstore on the Beach. I went into this read expecting an easy and smooth read. I was very much surprised by what I got – and not in a bad way.

This novel handles trauma and loss beautifully, portraying a family dealing with a tragedy – and worse, a disaster that comes with no real sense of closure. It felt so raw and honest, almost too real in some places.

The inclusion of the bookstore scenes added a touch of nostalgia for me, a sense that was likely picked up by the way it was portrayed. This store is part of Autumn's past, and it could easily have been any bookstore that any reader had visited while they were younger.