I am obsessed with Nantucket so I enjoyed the scenery of the book but the character development was only OK.

Give me a book set in Nantucket and I’m there. A book about women and their friendship. Sold. Put the two together and they make for the perfect beach read. Yet, I really struggled to connect with the characters. The book’s premise sounded promising, but the characters didn’t feel well developed, and there seemed to be too much going on to seem believable or keeping me turning pages. I really wanted to like this book, and maybe I would have in a different headspace, but this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Ainsley Keating for an advance copy of this book.

I tried to like this book. I really did. I was attracted to the novel because its protagonist is a female attorney, and so am I. So I thought I could relate. I couldn't.

The plot just isn't believable. There's no way on earth an attorney -- a high-powered, experienced female tax attorney, like this character -- would let her husband withdraw all her life savings from a joint bank account when he leaves her and then do nothing. That's just not believable. But our protagonist, Ava, just resigns herself to it.

There's also no way a professional, experienced attorney would tell off an important firm client, even if she did have a death wish to get fired. It just doesn't happen. And why wasn't she a partner after she spent so many years at her firm anyway?

In addition to the unbelievable plot line, the book is filled with grammatical errors, spelling errors (magick instead of magic/Sidney, Australia instead of Sydney) and cliches ("Denial wasn't just a river in Egypt," really?). Plus there are way too many references to TV shows and to Sex and the City in particular. Don't compare characters to Carrie and Miranda; show, don't tell.

I know a lot of people read this book and seems to have given it good reviews, but it just didn't work for me -- although it did convince me that if this author can write a book and sell it, so can I.

This book had potential as I normally enjoy storylines about friendship. However, this didn't quite work for me. There was a lot going on and it felt very disjointed. Bringing in Willow's storyline was super random.

2.5-3 stars

THE NANTUCKET BEACHFRONT INN by Ainsley Keaton was a perfect book for me to end my “summer reading”. It fulfills beach read for me.
Ava, fired from her job of 23 years after her husband stole her savings and left her for another woman. Ava is estranged from a daughter she does not understand and grapples with her relationship with a strong domineering mother.
When a client leaves Ava a beach house on Nantucket Island she embraces the gift and moves to Nantucket with her close friends to start life anew.
I really enjoyed mature women (50’s) navigating life with the support and love of their friends.

This is a strong contender if you enjoy a beach read and a strong portrayal of women and women’s friendships.

Talk about a great book for the beach! This was a quick, easy read that made me yearn for the ocean and a nice beach vacation! The first book in a series, I’ll definitely be giving more of them a try!

The premise for this book is a good one, but I felt as if the story did not pan out. The story starts out with a rant against billionaires who evade taxes and lack support of social institutions. Ava works at a law firm that defends these people, and she has been there for 30 years and has not made partner. Why would someone work at a firm that takes her for granted, does not promote her, and conducts business with which she morally disagrees? Then she accepts a house as an inheritance from one of the clients whom she helped to evade taxes. This seemed like a cognitive disconnect. There were too many characters to keep straight and too much going on. I wish the author had stuck with the original premise and left out the magic and new age stuff. Probably a fun beach read if someone likes this kind of story, but it's just not my cup of tea.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I'm a sucker for all things Nantucket, and the description of this book about three women friends sounded right up my alley. But it fell flat for me. I wish I could give it a better review, but I found the writing to be amateurish and the characters unrelatable. I think if the author had stuck to her original storyline it would have been a good book, but she went in too many directions with too many characters and too many storylines. None of which was every fully developed. There was simply too much going on and most of it seemed unlikely, especially the relationships among the characters. Two of the women had been best friends hfor 36, yet didn't tell each other anything of importance in their lives. A young couple got married with plans to explore the world, but the wife secretly doesn't like the outdoors. And then she introduces a character who is a witch! Also, aside from a few mentions of different parts of the island you wouldn't even know it took place in Nantucket. It was no surprise that everything ended up perfectly. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC of this book,

The Nantucket Beachfront Inn has loads of possibilities but left me wanting more. I feel like there were so many characters that were not fully fleshed out. Sometimes I forgot who they were. At the end, I found out that this book is the jumpstart to a series but I still think this book could have been more focused on Ava and the inn and less on the new age healing storyline.

A truly enjoyable read, yes it's sad at points, uplifting at others. The feel of everyday life is something Ainsley Keaton has created. With a chance to escape into someone else's life and worries, fears, love, and disappointments is what this book has created. An enjoyable read.

Is it possible for life to truly begin at 50? Yes, according to author Ainsley Keaton. Ava is a burned out attorney at a white shoe law firm whose ex-husband has stolen every dime she had saved. Quinn is an interior designer and Hallie owns a successful PR firm. All live in cramped NYC condos, are in their fifties, have been friends forever, and all are questioning their life choices. When Ava refuses to represent her firm’s biggest client, gets fired, and then inherits an older Nantucket beachfront mansion from one of the clients she cared about, her life has an infusion of …. life. In a Cinderella-style metamorphosis, the beachfront mansion becomes an Inn, as Ava’s life, and the lives of her dearest friends and family also blossom, proving that a happy, fulfilled life can begin at any age. This is a wonderful summer (or any season) read.

In return for an honest review, I was provided an ARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

There is a lot going on in this book. Breast cancer, a sudden loss of a job and marital strain.

Ava is working at a high power law firm in NYC when she decides she is tired of dealing with people trying to evade paying taxes and tells off a client she is supposed to be representing. She finds herself without a job as well as a tarnished reputation.
She receives a call from a lawyer that tells her that she inherited a property from a previous client. There are stipulations to keeping this property. She can not sell it or mortgage it in order keep the property.

Ava's best girlfriends Mila and Luna are thrilled to be part of Ava's plan to change her inherited house into a B&B and want to help every step of the way. Luna is an interior designer that is looking to get out of the city.

Mila has a big secret that she has been keeping from her friends: she has breast cancer. She can't come to terms with needing help from others and refuses to let people feel sorry for her.

While Ava is working to get her B&B started, she starts speaking to her estranged daughter Charlotte again because they are living on the same small island of Nantucket. Ava learns that Charlotte and her husband are thinking of ending their marriage because of the strain of having a young child.

Ava hires her son-in-law to be the chef for her B&B to try to force improvement in her daughter's marriage.

There are many bumps along the way to get the B&B going.

This book had so much to unpack and things were overly dramatic at times.

This review is based on an ARC.

I wish I were able to give this book a better review. But I can't. It's unusual that I start a book and don't finish it, but reading this book was painful. The writing was immature and pedestrian, the storyline was less than believable, and about 100 pages in, I realized that I couldn't care less about the characters.

New York attorney Ava Flynn finds herself at odds with a high-paying client and as a result she loses her job. At 54, she loses her job and worries about her future. She learns that one of her favorite clients wills her a large beachfront home in Nantucket. She can't believe this twist of fate. When she visits the home, she decides to turn the home into an inn. She talks her two best friends into moving with her, Quinn who is an interior decorator and Hallie who is in public relations, and both can help her with the inn. Ava's estranged daughter Charlotte also lives in Nantucket with her husband and newborn baby. As the story moves along and renovations begin on the home, more is learned about Charlotte and her marriage and about Hallie and what she's been hiding from her friends. Ave begins to feel a sense of purpose again. A near tragic illness brings everyone together and helps to put one another's lives in perspective. The Nantucket Beachfront Inn is a story of the importance of family and friends and how a bit of magic can also help. Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cute beach read! Great story about friendship and finding oneself. I look forward to reading about the other characters. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and Debra Moore through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Fun beach read that you could put down and pick up! Overall it was a fun book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

This author is new to me. I love cozy beach reads, and this one did not disappoint. I'm looking forward to more books by this author. Highly recommend!

Fun beach read story for those who like a house renovation theme. A story of friendship, family and second chances.

The Nantucket Beachfront Inn would have worked out really well for me if this book had stuck with concentrating only on the storylines of Ava, Mila and Luna, three middle aged best friends, who decide to start afresh in Nantucket after Ava, a high powered attorney who loses her job and her savings stolen by her second husband, gets bequeathed an expensive beachfront house by an ex-client. However, the author decides to mix in storylines of other characters as well into this main plot. These characters are somehow connected to the three main protagonists but I felt that their stories could have been dealt with separately in later books considering this is just the first book in the series. It just felt like too much was happening with all the different story arcs and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. Also, at one point in the book a character named Willow who is supposed to be a witch takes a dig at conventional religions while explaining what witchcraft is all about... I found that irksome.

I received an e-Arc of the book from the author and publisher via NetGalley.

Rating: ⭐⭐✨💫