Following a career setback, Sydney escapes to Florida to help her grandmother, only to become entangled in a local mystery. While investigating, she rekindles a high school romance and questions her future in Hollywood.

What fun! This women’s fiction has a romance subplot and an intriguing mystery. The book is smart, funny, and fast-paced with likable characters.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Wendy Wax's "Just Beachy" caught me off guard with its sneaky depth hiding behind a breezy romance facade! The witty banter and charming small-town vibes whisked me away, especially when the locals hilariously mistook Sydney for her TV alter ego, "Cassie Everheart." While the sparks with Luke were more like a gentle flicker, the mystery surrounding Sydney's grandma and a vanished painting cranked up the suspense dial. All in all, it was a sun-soaked escape perfect for a beachy day. Big thanks to Berkley for the review copy.

A light cozy (no murders) romance set in Florida that will be welcomed by Wax's fans. Sydney was written off her tv show so she decides to go see her grandmother, as her own mom asked her to do and discovers that there can be happiness beyond Hollywood, especially is an old pal is now a police officer and pretty hunky. Someone has been breaking into residences on Treasure Island and Sydney, despite Luke's discouragement, is determined to find the villain. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read for, well, the beach.

Just Beachy had me laughing from the start! And... it takes place in one of my favorite Florida beach towns so I was all in! It did get a bit muddled in the middle when lots of characters from previous books showed up and, in other places, it felt pretty light, but, overall, the humor and mystery were sweet.

Sydney has just been written off the popular detective show she’s been on for the past five years. (It’s really funny when she reads the script and realizes what’s happening.) She’s being replaced by a younger actress and her character, Cassie, is sent off to rehab, never to return. She decides it’s a good time to visit her best friend, Kyla, in Florida and, at the same time, her mother asks her to help out her grandmother (Grand) who is also in Florida.

When she gets there, she plans to just meet Kyla for a drink but everyone in the bar recognizes her and treats her like she’s Cassie, the character from her TV show. They ask her if she should be drinking (her TV character is in rehab) and there’s a lot of humor throughout the story with people thinking she is the character she plays on TV instead of a real person. While she’s at the bar, she manages to break up a robbery and then she’s surprised when the officer who shows up at the scene is Luke, her high school crush.

She ends up seeing Luke again because after Grand moves into a new townhome on the beach, her home gets broken into several times. Luke wants to protect Sydney and Grand and works to uncover who’s behind the break-ins while Sydney wonders if Grand may know more than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, Grand’s best friend, Myra, is opening a bookstore and Grand and Sydney help her paint and fix it up. Myra offers Sydney a part time job at the bookstore, the bar offers her a part time job as a bouncer, and, as she stays in Florida, things between her and Luke heat up.

I loved the setting of the story. It takes place along St. Petersburg Beach (on the Florida Gulf Coast) from the Don Cesar Hotel in Passe Grille up to Treasure Island. I have been there often over the years and one of the highlights for me was seeing the characters stop into some of my favorite places along the beach and enjoy meals and good times.

The book does suffer from sequelitis. In the middle of the book lots of characters from the author’s previous books showed up and I didn't know--or really care--who they were. I also found the pacing slow although it picks back up as Sydney and Luke began to uncover the mystery of the break-ins.

I think readers who love the beautiful West Florida landscape will enjoy Just Beachy as will those looking for a lighthearted story with romance and a little mystery.

Fans of the author will be thrilled with this book as it is very resonate of her other books in the Ten Beach Road series.

I myself was not a huge fan of this book. I read it, and finished it, but I didn't LOVE it. So much of this story didn't make sense to me, especially the part about the bookstore. It's almost like the author added that in to ensure that Sydney could end up with a job/reason to stay. And in this day and age, are there THAT MANY people who honestly believe actors are the characters they play? That joke seemed to go on and on too many times to be credible.

There were so many things about this book that were over the top, so nothing worked for me.

Also, the art storyline seemed familiar to me - it's very similar to The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan.

All in all I am glad I did not purchase this book, but fans of the author and those looking for a quick vacation read will probably enjoy.

Sydney Ryan was living in Hollywood with a steady job as a detective on a TV series. Except they just wrote her off the series. Her mother is calling wanting her to come to Florida to help get her grandmother to pick out a retirement community.
It seems everyone in town thinks that Sydney is really the drunk character she was playing when her detective career on TV ended. Now Sydney runs into Luke a former friend from Atlanta now living in Treasure Island, Florida as a local police officer. When Sydney starts running into trouble in town Luke is always showing up at the scene. When it seems that her grandmother has been keeping secrets and has already bought a condo in town and someone needs to stay and keep an eye on her. When someone breaks into her Grands condo, she puts her detective skills she learned acting to work to find the criminals.

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of Just Beachy by Wendy Wax. I adored the Ten Beach Road series so was excited for a new book by Wendy Wax.

Just Beachy is a standalone, but mostly set on Treasure Island, where we see some of our favorites from the Ten Beach Road series.

This is a cute summer book with a little mystery.

I have been a fan of Wendy Wax since she started 10 Beach Rd series. I was excited for this new installment and getting back with "old friends". I have never been disappointed in her stories or characters and that continues. I especially enjoyed Grand and that just because you are older does not mean that you don't have a good story.
This will be a great read for a weekend or beach. My only disappointment is that the end left me wanting to know how the romance and lose ends turned out but I am hoping that might mean another book is coming please.

And perfect summer read, a good escapist novel. Well done
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you NetGalley for this fun ARC for my honest review. This is my first book by Wendy Wax and I enjoyed it. Sydney is an actress who is being written off of her long standing character where she is being sent off to rehab to end her run on the show. She decides to move to Florida with her grandmother who has decided to move.there. It seems no matter where she goes no one can separate her from her character. In other words, they think for real she has just come from rehab and no one will sell her anything to drink. While living with her grandmother strange break ins continue to happen at her new place. Finally, her grandmother reveals a big secret that causes a wrong to be righted. This book has suspense and some romance. It’s a fun Summer read.

This fun cute 'cozy romance mystery" will be the ticket to while away on a beach somewhere. It had some really funny moments and you can't help but fall in love with the area and the characters. There were some loose ends that didn't make sense, but I had not read any of the books that did have to do with some of the characters in this book.

I did like the love interest and the 'scary scenes' were a bit over the top for amateurs, but I still enjoyed it for the pleasure of reading.

After losing her acting job on a hit show, Mystery 101. Sydney Ryan decides she needs to get away from Hollywood. She heads to Florida to stay with her grandmother.. It turns out that her grandmother is very active. she has a busy social life, she has bought a home and is helping a neighbor open a bookstore. But when her grandmother's home is repeatedly broken into, Sydney realizes her grandmother is keeping a secret from her. She enlist the help of her old crush Luke, now a police officer. She puts her Tv crime solving skills to works. Sparks fly between them. Perhaps this is where she is meant to be.. Read and find out.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. This is a book about Sydney Ryan , who is an actress playing a character named Cassie Everhart , on a TV show called Murder 101. As the book opens, she is being written of the show as her character is sent to rehab for her alcoholism after a break up with her policeman boyfriend. Sydney cannot get a job, because of a previous run in with an "A-Lister", who is blaming her for Sydney's friends affair with the A-listers husband. ( I am still a bit confused by this, but it is a major plot point). Sydney goes to Florida where she spends time with her grandmother. Her grandmother is moving from Atlanta to Florida( her old home town). and Sydney will stay with her for a while. A couple of major things to know- one- everyone keeps calling Sydney "Cassie", and telling her not to fall off the wagon again.( even though she keeps yelling them she is an actress, not an alcoholic police woman).Second, her Grandmother,who is a painter, has some major secrets, including one that might prove dangerous to both Sydney and her grandmother. Third, Sydney's ex crush Luke, is a policeman in town. There is a lot more plot, with a bookstore, and a bar that wants to hire "Cassie " as a bouncer, and Sydney's desire to go back to work as an actress.It is a fun read. I am still not too sure that today people would so confuse an actress with a character, but my sister who watches General Hospital assures me that yes , some do:).

I didn't enjoy the story as much as I hoped. The story felt just surface level to me and while it had the opportunity to really dig deep into the characters and their relationships and show great character development, it left me wanting more. Some of the characters in the book were characters from the author's Ten Beach Road series that I haven't read. The backstories there were relatively complicated and their relationships to each other and the characters from Just Beachy were glossed over and I was left with a feeling of not knowing what was going on. Sydney and Luke's relationship felt very superficial, which it shouldn't have been since they have known each other since they were children. My favorite parts were all of the scenes that were related to the bookstore. Sydney's grandmother, Grand, was my favorite character.

I have read other books by Wendy Wax that I have enjoyed and I'm not going to hesitate to go back and read her Ten Beach Road series. If you like a light, fluffy, frothy beach read with family drama, mystery and romance thrown in there, Just Beachy might be for you.

A sweet, cozy beach read with romance, suspense and some humor. It’s a fast read set in a beautiful Florida beach town.

I loved the relationship between Sydney and Grand, her spunky 83 year old grandmother.

Some of the scenes are completely unrealistic but just go with it and enjoy a delightfully sweet beach read. Escapism is not a crime!

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys Mary Kay Andrews. It’s a book you can finish in a day, in a beach chair with a cold beverage. Can’t think of a better way to spend a day.

Sydney Ryan has lost her acting gig as Cassie Everheart on Murder 101 because she has run afoul of an A-List actress. She decides to visit her grandmother in Florida while she tries to decide what to do with the rest of her life. The A-Lister has made it impossible for Sydney to get another job in LA, but she's opening that her reach doesn't extend to Florida.

Sydney is also glad to spend time with her Grand in Florida and reconnect with a high school crush who is now a police officer. And it is lucky that she has met Luke again since Grand's house has become the target of a number of break-ins and searches. Grand has a secret that she is trying to keep from Sydney.

Meanwhile, Grand, Sydney and another friend are getting ready to open a beachside bookstore with space for Sydney to conduct story hours and give acting lessons while Grand offers art lessons. Sydney is able to put the skills she learned as a television detective to use when she is able to protect her grandmother from the villains who want a painting that she has kept hidden for many years.

Sydney also has time to wonder if she really wants to go back to acting or if she wants to build a new life with Luke and her Grand in Florida.

This was an engaging romance with more than a touch of mystery.

Entertaining page turner. Second-chance romance along with danger and laughs. I don't read for reality. I am reading to be entertained. Just as movie action is usually over the top, so is the action in this story. The older ladies in the tale do make me feel like a slacker for my age. I did skip over the intimate scenes. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Goodness, this was an action-packed beach read - and that's a sentence I rarely type! Sydney has lost her starring role on Murder 101, and she heads to Treasure Island, Florida where her grandma (Grand) has decide to move. While there, there are issues with intruders in Grand's home, and it turns out there's another layer of this story. Oh, and while there, Sydney also connects with Luke, a local police officer, for both the investigation and romance. I haven't read a cozy mystery of the beach variety before, and this was a quick, enjoyable one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early look at this June 2025 release.

I have read and loved Wendy’s books. This one unfortunately didn’t do it for me. Sydney plays a detective on tv named Cassie. She gets written off the show and goes to stay with her grandmother in her new condo. Everyone thinks that she is Cassie which was just so far fetched and ridiculous. She is auditioning for new jobs and even the casting director thinks she is Cassie?! I mean, they work in the industry. I just couldn’t get past that. The storyline had a lot of holes in it and just didn’t make sense. So bummed but I would still read any new books

This one is super quick, light read full of funny moments, yet has a lot going on. There is romance, mystery, friendships crossing generations, and of course the Ten Beach Road character appearances. This book reminded me just how much I missed reading Wendy Wax books and I'm glad she's back with a new one. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a chance to read this one early in exchange for an honest review.