Current-day Jenn is a best-selling author and mother to two distracted and bratty children. She's in the process of divorcing her entitled husband, and mired in a sea of transactional emotional relationships. Childhood Jenni grew up on Pearl Island, where her best friend Timmy mysteriously disappeared in the ocean 30 years ago. (For 10-year-old Jenni, it had been the best summer ever until suddenly it wasn't.) Returning to the island with her children after her mother's death, ostensibly to clear out her mother's house, Jenn inexplicably encounters Timmy. Frozen in time at age 10, he claims he was sent back on a mission to save the world. But from what, exactly? What really happened to Timmy? And what, exactly, is that lurking out in the water?

Holy cow, what a ride. The book sometimes seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to be, it was a mash-up of sci-fi and mid-life existential crisis with a dash of romance. It also had more of a horror story element than I expected, especially as the book went on. There was a lot of underlying tension and a persistent feeling of foreboding, and I was unsure what or who to trust after awhile. (Much like adulthood, I guess.) The wistfulness is strong in this story (especially in the first half), and there's a palpable mournfulness for all things lost. Jenn seemed adrift, and also deeply unhappy. In fact, there's a distinct thread of unhappiness in all of the current-day characters. I'll be honest, I do think that the ennui and emotional listlessness of the first part of the book went on too long. It started to feel like a bit too much, because for a large part of the story there wasn't lot of hopefulness and the narrative and interpersonal detachment among the characters constantly kept me on edge to some degree. This definitely served as a distinct juxtaposition to the final chapters of the book, but I think the author took a risk that she'd lose readers to all of the free-floating emotional misery that hung over a large part of the book. Overall the writing was very well done and the mystery of Timmy's disappearance and return, as well as the looming danger that kept snowballing (and an enduring hope that everything would turn out okay), was enough to keep me reading.

I did not see this story coming and I don't think the book description really does it justice. I haven't read this author before and I am in awe of her imagination, that she created such an off-kilter and fantastical story that blended together such a punch of emotions by the end. I did struggle a bit with the layers of this complex story, which kept shifting my expectations of what it was, especially when things took a dark turn. Events didn't really pick up speed until after the halfway mark so I was glad I kept reading. I did eventually enjoy this book, even though I'm still not 100% sure what I read. My best advice to you is to stick with it and suspend disbelief, you'll be very glad you did. I gave it 4 stars but it was really closer to 4.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this story, this has been my objective review. Publishes January 28, 2025.

Part chick lit, part sci-fi, part family dysfunction, Jenn is a character most of us can relate to. She's become the family bread-winner, but lost touch with the raising of her kids. So when her husband threatens divorce, all she can think is to find some solitude, spend some time with her kids, and to go thru her mom's house to close it and sell it. But what she finds in Pearl Island is her past coming back to haunt her, in a way she never expected-the reappearance of her best friend from years ago, spit back onto land by the sea that took him. Only what took him was a sea monster. An actual sea monster....As she struggles to come to terms with chaos that seems to be swirling around her, odd natural occurences start happening and her kids realize it is up to their family to save the world, only Jenn isn't quite sure about that...Meanwhile her editor's contractor for hire that is supposed to be helping at her mom's house, is proving to be a distraction not a help, but then he suddenly is more than just part of the solution they need to thwart sea monsters. A hysterical read with heart, don't miss this book!

This was the first time I have read a sci-fi romance book. While I think most people will love this book, it personally wasn't my favorite. Jenn is a child growing up on Pearl Island, Her mother is a single mother, so she spends a lot of time by herself. One summer she becomes friends with a boy named Timmy. After a tragic accident that summer, Timmy drowns. 30 years later, Jenn is going through a bitter divorce from her husband, the death of her mother, and coming to terms with her mistakes. She decides to take her children to Pearl Island. Once there, freaky things start happening.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!]

The plot is a little bit absurd, and I have no idea how Emily Jane was able to make everything work together, but this book is fun in this beautifully chaotic way. I mean, there are squidoodles, a tentageddon, and dinosaurs! But no matter how crazy the story gets, it always feels grounded because the characters are so realistic.

As a mom (of two pokemon loving kids), I truly connected with Jenni... though it was easy to feel fondness towards all the characters! Even though there's family drama, it's balanced with moments of sweetness or humor so it never feels too heavy. Often, I found myself highlighting passages - some because they were funny, some because they were deeply relatable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the eARC.

This was a cute story based in magical realism that I enjoyed. I think that maybe it leans a little young adult, but still enjoyed my time with it.

Sometimes genre mash-ups do not work and I think this book fell victim to wanting to be the book for everyone. I kept thinking what a great YA magical realism book this could have been if they had removed the Philipia Bay and the manly man whatever excerpts. They took me out of the story without adding anything. Along the lines of a YA book, the Pokemon references and names the kids made up were awesome! As a Poke-mom, I found this totally charming and, again, a perfect part of the story I wish this book had told. But if you read this thinking it was about a woman dealing with her marriage falling apart and work deadlines, you are in for a surprise! So, final thought, remove the excerpts and maybe tone down the "sexy contractor" parts and this would be a solid 4, maybe 5, star YA book.

I love the cover of this book! Seems like a heart warming read and I’ve seen good reviews but I personally couldn’t get into it.

From the blurb about this book, I was not expecting the sci-fi battles and weirdness that turned me off. Jenn is an author and a mom, reeling from her husband’s request for a divorce. Jenn decided to take her kids to Pearl Island for the summer to escape her husband’s constant emails and questions. When she arrives, a boy who drowned thirty years ago appears. Up until that point, I liked the story and then it turned into a science fiction nightmare. I can’t recommend this book, and all opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Quite an interesting and whimsical mix of romance, sci-fi and horror. The writing is excellent, the characters are likable and well developed. Definitely recommend this book.

Clever, quirky, satire that has some of everything - Sea monsters, time travel, crushes and a bit of romance, tsunamis, and of course male empowerment because they are so subjugated! [Yea, snark inserted there!]. Funny and sometimes not so funny, but quite the off the wall adventure, highly entertaining.

This! Whatever this genre is, I want more of it! A little bit science-fiction, a little bit romance, a little bit chick-lit and pure quirky entertainment.
It starts off a bit morose and "woe is me" then quickly turns into a quirky sea monster adventure story. Generally, I'm not a fan of divorcees with lots of problems. This take on that role is quite different since she's a famous writer who's been more than able to financially support her family. While her husband, discovers "himself" and basically does the guy version of "eat pray love." Yet, all that messy life stuff is a backdrop and setup for the monster story.
Kind of like in Bear, where the story is part fever dream, part to incredible to believe story. You keep wondering while reading if at the end, the MC will "wake up from her dream and realise it was all a metaphor?" I won't ruin anything here for you.
Just when you think you know what's going to come next, the book takes a non-sequitur turn into the deep blue abyss. Enjoy!

This was an interesting, quirky, fantastical story of a summer at the beach for mom Jenni, a romance author, and her two Pokemon obsessed children, as she's trying to deal with her impending divorce. She rents a beach house near her Mom's dilapidated property, with the intent of finally dealing with the family property after her Mom's death.

Thirty years previously, Jenni had been at the same beach on Pearl Island, playing with her 10 year old friend Timmy Caruso, when Timmy disappeared into the ocean. Assumed drowned in a riptide, his body was never found.

Until... a 10 year old boy calling himself Timmy Caruso appears on the beach, and he recognizes Jenni. Jenni's children befriend Timmy, and together they discover magical creatures, the squidoodles, in the tide pools. It soon becomes obvious that Timmy has returned to help the world fight a previously unknown sea monster, with the help of the children and the squidoodles.

While the plot is totally fantastic, and unbelievable, it exposes some deep seated truths and emotions. It highlights the way parents 'evolve' from the children they were, and how they need to grow to into the people they need to become. It questions friendships and what it takes to 'fight' difficult situations. Jenni learns how to deal with the adults around her, and how to handle the job she no longer enjoys.

This book was not what I expected, and was more fantasy that I typically read, but it was enjoyable. For someone who's kids grew up on Pokemon, there was surprisingly a lot I could relate to.

I rarely hate books. I appreciate the work that authors put into their books and if I really do not like it, I just don’t finish it. However, I agreed to read this for a fair and honest review, so here goes.

There was not a single likable character in this book. Even the dog was not particularly likable. Anytime I would start to get into the story at all, it would switch perspectives, give an excerpt from one of her books, or from one of the ridiculous alpha male readings.

The romance was so non existent that it felt like it was thrown in as an afterthought.

I think I side with the evil sea monster.

Thank you to Net Galley and Hyperion Avenue for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

A whimsical Pokemon-fueled sea monster story? I don't know how exactly this book manages to work - I love it, tolerated it, and maybe don't understand it all at the same time.

Let's get to the positives first. There is a real love and understanding of kids here as well as the world of a beach town (particularly one on a barrier island). Kids on vacation (both in the past and today) are a particular breed and I feld that the author really captured what it is like to make friends on vacation and the peculiar alchemy that happens then. She also seems to capture the feel of mother and kids - something I could only guess at (being a dude/dad), but it felt real. And the whole "Pokemon-ness" of modern kids certainly is captured very very well. That's a world I barely understand, but I know enough to have had a feel for where things were going with all of that. It worked well for me. So did the Philipia Bay excerpts - mostly. There were times where I could have used less, but they mostly worked.

What didn't work? The whole thing with Chuck made a certain amount of sense, but the part of the "underminstances" just...didn't. I felt like it could have worked, but it wasn't really explored. The exceprts from Danz Landry REALLY didn't work for me. They took you out of the story and they might have worked better if that aspect had been explored more, but it was thrown in as a sort of nudge-nudge male rights nonsense that just wasn't explored enough to justify it in the book. Likewise, the romance REALLY didn't work for me. The two people barely know each other, have almost nothing in common with one another but suddenly they're into each other? It was unnecessary and a distraction. I ended the book thinking it would have been better if it had been hinted at as a future possibility rather than the more direct thing that happened.

The plot...just...don't look too close. It doesn't make a ton of sense. Then again, as Dax says late in the book: "But life is absurd. We have to revel in the absurdity." The alchemy shouldn't work here. You'd think from the above paragraph that I didn't like this - I truly did. But maybe I just didn't understand it. But I don't have to understand everything to enjoy it.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Title:  Here Beside the Rising Tide  
Author:  Emily Jane        
Genre: Fantasy, fiction        
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

As a lonely ten-year-old resident of Pearl Island, Jenni Farrow befriends Timmy Caruso and together they enjoy a glorious summer of swimming, fireworks, and carnival rides. (Not to mention rescuing a strange sea creature from a tidepool). Then, one late summer day, Timmy disappears.

Thirty years later, Jenni—now Jenn Lanaro, bestselling author of the Philipia Bay action-romance series—is desperate to escape the fatigue of her career and her soon-to-be-ex-husband. With her Pokémon-obsessed children in tow, Jenn rents a summer house on Pearl Island. But shortly after she arrives, a boy emerges from the nighttime sea. His name, he says, is Timmy Caruso. He’s ten years old. And he’s on a mission to save the world.

In the days that follow, Jenn grapples with work deadlines, her own spirited children, the mysterious boy-from-the-sea, and her burgeoning interest in a very sexy contractor. But when alarming events unfold along the coast—shark attacks, tidal waves, a proliferation of sugar-addicted sea creatures, and a terror out in the deeper water—she wonders if just maybe the young boy knows what he’s doing after all?

I’m not quite sure what to say about this. Jenni seems completely incapable of making any rational decisions, not even to save her life. She lets her kids run the show—even lets them blatantly manipulate her. She’s reactive to her almost-ex-husband. I don’t think I realized until just now how much she got on my nerves! The rest of the novel was somewhere between farce and bad B-rate movie. I didn’t get a sense of wonder or awe or anything but disbelief.

Emily Jane lives in Ohio. Here Beside the Rising Tide is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Hyperion Avenue in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 1/31/25).

Here beside the rising tide starts with a serious family challenge with a bit of hiding from issues to childlike drama. Who wouldn't want a fun trip to the beach with some squishy friends to keep you company? Bring on the sweets not to mention the contractor to keep you in line! Thank you NetGalley for the party.

This book almost put me in a slump. Something about this felt so uneven and, as excited as I was for this plot, I could not get into it. I’m not sure if it was the book or just my mood, but this just really dragged and didn’t work for me.

Here Beside the Rising Tide" is a genre bending story filled with romance, serious Sci-Fi creatures, mysticism, and family dysfunction. Does it work? Absolutely! Emily Jane defied all of my presumptions about what I thought this story is about and opened my imagination to a world where anything can happen and there can be a happy ending.

I hadn’t read this author before but this seemed an interesting read so I requested it. I will admit that at first I didn’t think I was going to like this. Jenn made me a little upset at the way she was treating her kids and her soon-to-be-ex husband. However, I stuck with it and it improved quite a bit. This is a whimsical, funny, and interesting read that is more about relationships and growth more that anything else, which really isn’t my thing, but I did enjoy myself. This is an interesting read, and it’s sure to please fans who like the above. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. This was an interesting book, not my usual. It was well written and I did have a desire to read it quickly to find out what happens next. However I didn't care for the main adult character and the constant reference of gaining points, even the oldest girl child mentions she has to gain points, it left a kind of sour taste in my reading. The good sea monsters were interesting and I liked them.