Cute book. The best part of this one is the characterizations. The people seem very real. The plot, not so much but that’s ok. I’ll still read her novels!

I always enjoy time spent with the author's books during warm weather. She writes of beautiful coastal settings and strong friendships in this new release. Three women happen across each other while the three are searching for shops for their individual businesses. What is unique about this story is they become good friends and all open their shops in one store sharing space. Over time they grow in friendship and confidence in each other as their businesses thrive and the friendships are strong. . This is a unique summer story set on the beautiful California beach near Redondo Beach. A enjoyable read. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley . My review opinions are my own.

Three friends decide to share a oceanfront retail space, but what they really find is friendship in each other. Bree is broken from a rough childhood, Ashley is dating a guy who will never marry her, and Mikki can’t decide if she still loves her ex husband or wants to move on. When they come together, not only do they find family in each other, they also overcome all the obstacles life throws their way.

This book centers around three women, at difference stages of their lives but they happen upon each other at the moment that they need to be a unit. It was very interesting to see how the women become business partners, sounding boards and finally close friends. I think women of all ages will find something in common with one of these strong women. The fact that they do not think they are strong is also something I think many women will identify with. I enjoyed being on the journey of their developing friendship and them building a solid fountain for the future.

I am a fan of Susan Mallery, and have read almost all her books. Since I have read so many, I do see similar speech patterns, phrases used and personality traits in her characters from book to book. I do wish that the characters were more unique, but I suppose they are what is needed for the plot. They do seem like cookie cutouts of previous characters.

Susan Mallery’s book released prior to this one, The Summer Getaway, is definitely one of my favorites of hers. I am sad to say this book was a bit disappointing. It was just an okay Susan Mallery book, which is still better than many other books I read.

I want to thank Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity of reading the advance reader copy. My review is my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

three women share a business location and become unlikely friends. Each is struggling to find their true self and figure out their love life. A story of friendship

Seems like a typical Susan Mallery book - which isn't bad, it just is another. It's an easy, fast read.

Three business owners meet while looking at a new building location - on a whim, they decide to join together. Making it a bookstore, gift shop and bakery. They're pretty much strangers in the beginning, but after Friday nights of wine on the beach after work, become closer friends. And they've all got their own problems they try to help each other out with.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

There is much happening in this newest book by Susan Mallery. We meet three partners and by the end of the story, close friends, which is typical of this author. So much drama and angst, each of these main characters could have had their own book. This is a great read, with an abrupt ending, but still an excellent vacation read. A definite addition to your Summer TBR list.

The Boardwalk Bookshop
by Susan Mallery
Pub Date: May 31, 2022
Mira
Thanks to Susan Mallery, Mira, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Susan Mallery is very popular at our library so we always buy her books. This one, however, was not a hit for me. The characters were disjointed and the plot was a mess. I will not be recommending this book but it was an ok read.
3 stars

Three women looking for a new spot for their small businesses join forces to lease a large beach front building housing a bookstore, gift shop, and bakery. While business is booming, their personal lives are a wreck. Bree, Ashley, and Mikki all have relationship issues but commit to a weekly Friday night beach get together to support each other.

The story covers commitment, exes, families and disabilities as well as business issues. As always, Susan Mallery tells a good story that hooks the reader right away. There are discussion questions and recipes for book groups.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Susan Mallery never disappoints! If you are a SM fan, you already know this. If you haven't read one of Susan's books, you are about to become a fan for life. Susan's characters in The Boardwalk Bookshop are unique, and not the likeliest of friends. Until they need to enlarge their business spaces, and all show up, at the same time, to look at a new space. A space too large for any of them individually, so they decide to rent the space together and that's when a new friendship blossoms. Each woman is challenged by their personal relationships, and they find a way to support each other to grow in ways they never imagined. Happy reading!

Three friends. Love relationships with undeniably problems and unknown solutions. Bree, Miki, and Ashley advise, console, and tackle the problems as their friendship grows and thrives. A very engaging and captivating novel about the different sides of love and relationships.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mallery seems to have success with her recipe; 3 women, strangers to each other, form a bond and discuss their less than perfect marriages. It’s repeated in this book, too, but she’s thrown in a rather enormous helping of sex and discussions surrounding it. I felt like I was viewing an odd section of life in a fishbowl. Are there truly people out there who act like this and enjoy reading about it?! It was all too petty and dramatic for me. I felt it overshadowed Mallory’s intent to explore friendship, sisterhood and the transformative power of love.

I was pulled in by the gorgeous cover and the idea of a bookshop pulling people together. The story had so much potential; a shared retail space with a gift shop and a bakery. I could see myself frequenting it often. I could even trudge through the endless arguments and discussions about their marriage problems, but I was repulsed with putting that alongside bedroom escapades and discussions of women naming their vibrators! Come on! Ugh.

Please check out other reviews as this author seems to have a following of 5-star reviewers. I wish someone had warned me prior to opening this book.

I was gifted this advance copy by Susan Mallery, Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

While I always enjoy Susan Mallery books, "The Boardwalk Bookshop" is one that I related to on several levels, especially the character who wanted to be married--that same thing happened to me many years ago and Mallery's excellent writing and her ability to tap into the deep emotions surrounding feeling such a rejection brought it all back. Highly recommended.

3 strangers meet, rent a store and become friends. Now they are intertwined in each other's lives. for some that is not easy, but sometimes family isn't easy.

This is the story about 3 women, Bree, Ashley and. Mikki, who rent out a store front. Each has their own business, a bookstore, bakery and a gift shop. All 3 face challenges in their romantic relationships. This book shows their journeys to find happiness. It is a feel good story about friendship and love. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Susan Mallery never fails to deliver an engaging contemporary story that focuses on romance and friendship. In this book, she tells the stories of three women who first meet as small business owners, individually looking for new retail space to expand. They find the perfect retail space right on the beach in Southern California, but none of them can afford it. In a genius move, they decide to go in on it together, with all three of their businesses sharing the space. There is a bookstore, a gift shop, and a muffin shop. The women start as strangers but end up with their lives very much intertwined, and each one has her own romance. A great book with relatable middle-aged characters who are looking for the next big step in their lives. I look forward to recommending it.

Three women find themselves fawning over an open store-front, one much too large for each of them individually, but the perfect size for the three of them together. They combine forces, open their shop on the boardwalk, and new friendships are formed between Bree, Mikki, and Ashley.
All three women have challenges in their romantic lives, from a partner who won't agree to commitment, to being afraid of commitment, to recovering from a divorce. The book went into quite a lot of detail in each of these lives and challenges, and got a bit dry for me .

I liked this book but I predicted the ending early on in the story. Bree was tough but she had room for her business associates. Mikki was every Mom. Ashley was young but she knew what she wanted. I’d have liked Brees parents to get what was coming to them but Perry’s parents made up for that disappointment. Rita was a hoot. I’m glad Bree knew how to handle her. All in all it was a good book to pass the time while I was home sick.

This was a heartwarming story. Three strangers take a gamble in sharing rent on a building and moving their businesses there. This is a story of women becoming friends and being there for each other. It’s about walking the minefield of relationships while dealing with personal baggage. It’s truly about the complexities of relationships. The writing is wonderful as always. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I’ve willingly read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.

I’ve read a ton of books written by Susan Mallery and THE BOARDWALK BOOKSHOP will definitely please her loyal readers.

I loved the three storylines: Bree is a widowed bookstore owner (the titular Boardwalk Bookshop) who shares a retail space with divorced Mikki who runs a gift shop, and Ashley, a bakery owner in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend. The friendship between the three women, though new, was one of my favorite parts of the book!

While the book was interesting and kept my attention, I wish it had been split up into a three-book series. It felt as if the relationships these three women found themselves in and their respective challenges were never explored deeply enough for me to feel any sort of connection between the love interests or to get a grasp on who the characters really were.

Also, and perhaps I’m not the book’s normal demographic, but the characters are around my age range (late twenties to early forties) and they all acted and spoke as if they were 20-30 years older. Even their parents who would be around my parents’ ages seemed aged up.

So, while the bones of the story were definitely there and enjoyable, I wish they had been fleshed out more to give a better picture of these characters.