Sofie’s life falls apart on her birthday when she discovers her husband cheating—just as the other woman turns up pregnant. Heartbroken, she escapes to Cape May to heal.

Liam, a local woodworker raising his niece after tragedy, is also carrying emotional scars. When these two wounded souls become neighbors, their slow-burn friendship begins to blossom into something more.

This book has everything:
- Mature, relatable characters
- Emotional depth & healing
- Slow-burn, friends-to-lovers
- Coastal summer setting
- Excellent audio narration

Sweet, heartfelt, and full of hope. I adored Sofie and Liam’s journey and can’t wait for book 2!

This was such a cute novel.! As you read you are really rooting for the two main characters. They are both going through some trials and trying to figure out life after big changes. It gave me all the feels and made me feel good. It's a good, feel good novel.

Thanks for the ARC!

4.25 stars

Linny Mack came out with a powerful debut novel! This was a slow burn neighbors to lovers romance with a wonderful grandmother figure to help reign these characters in and give them a bit of grandmotherly advice.

This novel takes you on a journey of self love, self forgiveness, learning your self wroth, and learning to trust others with your heart. I loved the way Linny wove in found family, childhood memories, and a wonderful fun twist at the end.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

This was such a heartwarming debut about finding love again after divorce and loss. Sophie and Liam’s story was really emotional, and I loved that the characters were older—it made it feel more relatable. Watching them fall for each other was so sweet. The ending felt a little rushed, and their back and forth got a bit repetitive, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Content Warning for infertility and fatal car crash.
This book starts with Sophie walking in on her husband of 13 years with another woman. When he tells her his mistress is pregnant, she decides to go Cape May for a fresh start. There she meets Liam who is new caretaker for his niece, Lucy, after his sister passed away. Needless to say, they both have some trauma and baggage to work through.

I feel like the cover matches the vibe of this book really well. Kind of calm and reflective. I loved the setting in the beach town. This is a pretty emotional read. Both characters are at the beginning of their healing process. They have some guilt and shame so they struggle with letting the other in. It was nice to read a book with main characters in or near their 40s and they’re both in therapy! 👏👏
I will say I didn’t super love the epilogue because it was a little too perfect for me but overall this was a sweet read. It felt like a nice book to enjoy during the summer.
Congrats on the author’s debut!

I could not wait to start reading Changing Tides! I grew up spending every summer down at the Jersey shore, and I knew it would be an incredible backdrop to this author’s debut novel and series. It was such a fun and nostalgic read.

At the start of the book, Sophie is at a crossroads. She caught her husband cheating on her, and was dealt an even more devastating blow when she found out that her husband’s new girlfriend is pregnant after years of battling infertility herself. She needs a fresh start in a new place and decides to go back to Cape May where she always felt at home. Sophie rents a room from a sweet and eccentric woman, who currently babysits for her neighbor Liam, who recently gained custody of his baby niece.

Liam and Sophie are both in a really bad place mentally and neither feels open to love. They also don’t hit it off immediately. However, they recognize that they are attracted to each other and eventually grow a close connection that evolves into more. They were so integral to the other’s healing, although each of them recognized that they had to put in the work themselves too. However, I loved how much they supported the other. Both of these characters were also a bit older, which I really liked. They both had a refreshing amount of maturity that we don’t usually see in younger characters.

Changing Tides is the first book in the Cape May series and it was a really solid debut novel. I can’t wait to see what this author decides to write next.
4.5/5

"Sometimes, good things fall apart, so better things can fall together." What a page turner! Such an emotional read! That last chapter and the epilogue had me balling. For a debut book, Linny Mack blew it out the park! I’m ready for more books by her. Liam, a carpenter, is reeling from something that happened in the past. Never able to give himself fully to anyone. It’s very tragic and very understandable how he feels. Wait til you find out what happened! Now, something else has happened and he’s raising his niece, Lucy. Sophie, a marriage and family therapist, is going through her own problems. From her husband cheating on her to his unexpected surprise, it seems Sophie’s once happy life is shattered. Just imagine wanting and trying to have a baby and life doesn’t allow it. Sophie heads to Cape May. Her family took vacations there when she was younger, til they didn’t. Wait til you find out why. It’s definitely sad. Also, keep this in mind something about a necklace and some diamonds will swing back around about a connection no one thought about til going through some mementos later on in the story. I just loved Ellie! She was so welcoming of Sophie. Liam, at first was such a grumpy neighbor. He was so protective of Lucy, but it seemed as time went on, he had no problem leaving her with Sophie. Seeing Lucy with Sophie had my heart. I felt it helped Sophie heal some. As time goes on, it looked like Liam and Sophie could possibly heal each other. Their chemistry was definitely there, but it was like neither could fully go all in. What will happen in the end? Is it meant to be for Sophie and Liam? When life gives you lemons make lemonade. We all deserve happiness no matter what the circumstances. I’m sorry for the long review, but I couldn’t say enough amazing things about this book.

Cape May had always been one of her favorite places since her childhood and now Sophie Bennett hopes it will be her place of healing. As a family therapist, she thought that suffering through infertility, would be the worst that could happen to her. That was before she found out that her husband had been cheating on her. Now she is back in Cape May, hoping to heal and move on with her new life. She has wonderful friends and her new friend Ellie, at the B&B, has made her feel welcome. Ellie’s neighbor, Liam Harper and his young niece, Lucy, soon become part of her daily life. Is it too soon to get involved in a new relationship, especially with a man who is still dealing with his own past memories? Sophie has always been the one to guide her patients through healing, but now it is her turn to seek help with her feelings of abandonment and betrayal. Sophie has always wanted to be a mother, and the time she spends with Lucy makes her realize how much love she has to give to a child. With time and patience, will she have that chance with Liam and Lucy? A heart aching and heartwarming story of second chances. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Changing Tides is a contemporary romance centered around Sophie, a therapist whose seemingly perfect marriage unravels when she discovers her husband cheating on her—on her birthday. Seeking solace, she retreats to the quiet town of Cape May, where she meets a man also grappling with personal tragedy. Their paths cross, and the story unfolds from there.

While the premise had great potential and I was genuinely looking forward to this book, it ultimately fell short for me. For characters portrayed as being in their 40s, both the female and male leads often lacked emotional maturity. The story was filled with misunderstandings between the FMC and MMC, and the recurring lack of communication felt frustrating—especially considering both characters had experienced trauma. One would expect more openness and depth from individuals with such complex emotional histories.

Unfortunately, the characters felt underdeveloped and emotionally stagnant. Much of the book is spent dwelling in internal monologue and sadness, without meaningful plot progression.

One moment that particularly stood out was when the MMC left his sister’s baby alone during a thunderstorm to chase after the FMC—a woman he had only known for a short time. As a parent, this decision felt not only implausible but irresponsible, making it difficult to empathize with him.

Additionally, the romantic scenes felt forced, lacking the emotional buildup or narrative flow needed to make them feel organic. Dialogue throughout the book often came across as unnatural and overly scripted, detracting from the story’s realism. There was little to no character development, and internal reflections became repetitive, circling the same thoughts without significant growth.

I truly wanted to enjoy Changing Tides, especially given how excited I was to read it. Unfortunately, the lack of character depth, repetitive storytelling, and unrealistic behaviour made it difficult to connect with the narrative.

If you are a fan of Susan Mallory you will LOVE this debut novel from Linny Mack!

Thank you to Netgalley, Linny and Page and Vine for the eARC! It was beautiful!

What to Expect:

⭐ Neighbors to lovers Trope
⭐ Close Proximity
⭐ Finding yourself at the beach
⭐ Hallmark with spice!
⭐ Romantic Cape Cod Beach Read
⭐ A story of healing after trauma

TW: Discussions of anxiety + panic attacks by main characters, infidelity, PTSD, Infertility and death of young woman in a car crash and the trauma that comes with these topics.

My Thoughts:
Congratulations to Lenny Mack for her debut novel. It is a beautifully written story of healing and finding love again. It is definitely a quick read but the characters are deeply developed and you will fall in love with them all! You will want to pack your bag and head to the beach to read this one. I fell in love with Sophie. Her journey is full of such heartbreak and loss. It makes you so sad for how hard life is to her on this journey. Even as she connects with Liam and his baby daughter there are moments you really just want someone to hug her. To celebrate life and loss with her. It’s a deep story of healing from trauma, healing from loss and figuring out who you are after you move forward. We find that journey in so many of the sub characters too which is so lovely. Also I really want Ellie to be my Grandma lol she’s spunky and full of life! Even as she is on her own journey! You just want to sit in her kitchen and enjoy a cup of coffee while she shares about life with you!

Synopsis:
After thirteen years of marriage and seven years of infertility with her supposed soulmate, Sophie Bennett’s life is turned upside down. Not only does she discover her husband is having a sordid affair, on her birthday, but his mistress is also pregnant with his baby. Seeking solace, Sophie flees to Cape May, New Jersey, a quiet coastal town where she spent many summers as a child. There she encounters Liam Harper, a brooding carpenter who seems intent to keep everyone at a distance. Despite his best efforts, Sophie recognizes the vulnerability under his prickly exterior, sparking a curiosity about him that she can’t ignore.

Liam Harper is walking around with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Haunted by a tragedy from his past that changed him forever, Liam doesn’t believe he deserves love or happiness. After being unexpectedly awarded permanent custody of his one-year-old niece, Liam’s script flips yet again. He doesn’t know the first thing about parenthood, and his gruff exterior makes it hard for him to ask for help. When the beautiful and heartbroken Sophie becomes his new neighbor, Liam never expects her to be the one to chip away his defenses.

As the two navigate their attraction and work to heal old wounds, emotions run high. If they want to change the tides of their futures, they must decide whether love is worth the risk. Will they walk away forever, or will fate step in and see them through?

Changing Tides was such and easy and heartwarming story that drew me in from the beginning.

Sophie has had it rough, on her birthday she walked into their house to find her husband of thirteen years having an affair. She decided to traveled from Scranton, Pa to Cape May, NJ to find her center again, but when she meets the neighbor to her rental it might not be 100% the center she was expecting. Liam has also had it rough lately when his sister tragically passed away in a helicopter training accident and he has to be strong for his late sister's baby. Luckily Cape May being a small coastal town, the neighbors are kind and caring so Liam and Sophie are able to lean on others around them when it is needed.
The bond between the characters and the talk about taking care of their mental health really struck me, in the best way possible. Loved being able to follow Sophie and Liam through their struggles, journeys and experiences in therapy.

One of my favorite lines: "Do not watch him go, Sophie, I scold myself. And then I watch him go."

What you can expect in this book: Found family, slow burn, mental health representation

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀɢᴇ & ᴠɪɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴘʀᴏᴠɪᴅɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴀɴ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙᴏᴏk

Sophie Bennet's life is turned upside down after she discovers her husband is cheating on her...on her birthday. She decides to head to Cape May to find solace and to figure out what she will do with her life. Liam Harper, haunted by a tragedy as a teenager, doesn't believe he deserves happiness or even love. When Sophie moves in next door, he never thought he'd feel the need to lower his guard. Can these two broken souls be each other's soul mates...? 🌊

Oh...my goodness. I absolutely ADORED this book! Cape May is my favorite vacation spot (and also where my husband and I got engaged 🥰) so it's an extremely sentimental place. This was such a cute and heartwarming story!

What I liked:
• The setting! I loved how the author reference real places, like Sunset Beach and the Rusty Nail! (highly recommend going to both!)
• Everyone needs a friend like Clare in their corner. I loved her!
• Liam... *swoon*
• Ellie is the grandmotherly character that we all wish we had 🥹
• The author described panic attacks PERFECTLY. She does an amazing job depicting mental health and how it affects those on a daily basis.
• The small amount of spice! 🌶
• The ending!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹

What I didn't like:
• I did notice some grammatical errors ie. a period would be missing and I would get confused reading the certain scenes.
• It can be slow at certain points.
• I just didn't like how Liam was so wishy washy. I get it, he is suffering from PTSD, but his feelings kept giving me whiplash 🥴
• I did like the dual POV but sometimes it was hard to decipher who's chapter it was; both Sophie and Liam almost sounded the same throughout the book.

I highly recommend this book! I may need to grab a physical copy of my own! This comes out May 6th, 2025! 😁🌊

Wow. I am absolutely blown away by this book. I would've never guess this was a debut book! I devoured it in less than 24 hours. Linny's writing literally just pulled me in and didn't let go. I wish I could describe just how much I absolutely LOVED this book.

Sophie is getting a divorce from someone she thought she would spend her entire life with. Liam is haunted by a tragedy and hasn't ever been able to get past it. And now, he unexpectedly has custody of his 1 year old niece. Put these two broken souls together and it's a heartbreaking journey to love. There was so much heartache, trauma, and pain both of them had to work through. The TENSION, man! It was definitely a slow burn but absolutely worth the wait.

Oh my gosh, I adored Ellie. I loved how nurturing and welcoming she was to Sophie when she was just trying to find her way again. I think we all need an Ellie in our lives.

I had butterflies all throughout it and the ending really had me all up in my feels. Also, I'd like to move to Cape May now. The way it's described seriously just makes it feel like home. I could absolutely picture it in my mind.

What to expect:
🌊Neighbors to Lovers
💙Later In Life (38/40)
🌊Single Dad
💙Newly Divorced FMC
🌊Mental Health Reps

"Sometimes, good things fall apart, so better things can fall together."

This one does deal with divorce, infidelity and infertility so check your triggers.

Changing Tides releases May 6. Huge thanks to Page & Vine for this ARC!

“Take all your worries to the beach and wave them goodbye…”

All the feels for this emotional, heartfelt, found family story. I loved the small town charm and beach vibes in this book. There is something so magical and healing being at the ocean.

Sophie is leaving her past life behind after her husband cheated on her. She decided to go to Cape May where she always went as a kid. The memories of summer by the shore and the ocean are calling to her. Sophie and Liam are both overcoming a traumatic past. Together they complete one another and helped each other heal and find love again.

Perfect read if you love small charming beach towns and two people finding love.

This was a sweet second chance romance. Both characters were stubborn in their own ways, but it was heartwarming to see their bond grow and how they helped heal each other. It was charming seeing how protective everyone was over Sophie, and how much Liam cared for her. This was cosy and uplifting.

4.25⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Linny Mack and her publisher Page & Vine. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the May 2025 release of CHANGING TIDES in exchange for my honest review.

This is a debut novel, with a small town feel in a cozy beach setting. The characters were easy to fall in love with and I found myself lol’ing at their witty banter. You quickly will be rooting for them and a happily ever after.

This is a wonderful slow burn romance novel that you’ll just fall into the pages and fully escape. It’s just so picturesque and charming. I really enjoyed it.

And Grandma Ellie… oh I just loved her. We all need one in our circle.

Wonderful debut release!

Changing Tides was a cozy, emotional read with a beautifully drawn setting—I requested this one because I grew up in Cape May County and was excited to read something set in my hometown. The scenery was beautiful and familiar, but I found the romance a bit too fast-tracked to fully believe in. Sophie and Liam each had compelling backstories, and I appreciated the themes of grief and reinvention, but their chemistry didn’t quite land for me. Still, it’s a solid debut, and I’m curious to see how Linny Mack grows as a storyteller in her next novel.

I love books with older MCs. I’ve been trying to read more books with characters over 30. This book left me with so many emotions. MCs, Sophie and Liam, felt very real like with their emotions,talents, and insecurities. They are both so strong and vulnerable.

After experiencing heartbreak, Sophie goes back to her favorite Summer Vacation place, Cape May. She wants to start over and heal in a place that she loves. She stays at the cottage of a local middle-age woman, called Ellie. She is kind and does everything in her power to make Sophie feel at home.

We also meet Liam and his baby niece Lucy. He recently got custody of his baby niece after his sister, Leah, dies in a tragic accident. Ellie takes care of Lucy while Liam is working. She’s also his caring neighbor and mother figure.

At first Liam and Sophie have a rocky start. We get both of their POVs, their feelings, what happened in their pasts, their thoughts, and their struggles. Both POVs were amazing. The author does a great job making you feel what both characters are feeling.

Sophie is suffering from the aftermath of her divorce because her husband was cheating on her after years of dealing with infertility and IVF treatments. While Liam is struggling because of the tragedies in his past and present, and his new role as a father of Lucy. They both think they are broken and that they need healing. They often try to rationalize why it is a bad idea to start a new relationship. They have such good chemistry and the tension is undeniable. Even though they are drawn to each other, they have doubts on what they want and they often make mistakes because of it. Fate seems to want them together. It was building and building, giving us moments of tension, but not yet getting there until it does.

I like the way mental health was handled. Sophie is a marriage and family therapist that understands the importance of seeking help. And Liam had benefitted from his therapy sessions in his youth and throughout the years. They both know when to ask professional help. The sessions with Dr. Stevens play a big part in their path at healing.

I was so emotionally invested in this book from start to finish. I constantly had my ups and downs. My family would ask me if I was ok because I was screaming, laughing, and crying. I loved the ending. The message it leaves for me is that it’s never too late to find the right person. We never know what a person is going through or the reasons that made them who they are, sometimes we need guidance to heal, that we can start over at any point of life, and that everyone deserves love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Page & Vine for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

This book was honestly so incredible, and for a debut novel, it really hits hard and sets the foundation for the rest of the series. Linny Mack did such an amazing job writing a book that not only shows the journey of overcoming grief but also how good things can still come from terrible situations.
This book is about overcoming loss (not just the loss of a person but of romantic relationships as well), re-learning how to love not only others but yourself, it’s about self-forgiveness, and that family comes in more than one form. It shows readers that even the people who are technically supposed to have the answers (in Sophie’s case, being a family and marriage counselor) have a difficult time coping and working through difficult life-altering situations. Through Liam, it shows readers that grief's timeline is not always linear, and it can take time for individuals to truly accept and move forward after an earth-shattering event. Sophie and Liam are a couple that has altered part of my brain chemistry because they truly are made for each other. Both went through life events that easily could have made them hard, cold people, and they remained mostly open. Did they change absolutely, no one could go through what they did and be untouched, but they didn’t turn hateful. I loved watching their walls slowly begin to come down to one another. They may not have been dealt the best of cards, but they made the best of what they had, and it just so happened to lead them to each other *well, sort of, but you’ll need to read the book to figure out what I mean, tee hee*
I loved how Linny Mack created this entire book’s atmosphere. I have always found comfort in the ocean, the water, the crashing of the waves, and the feeling of the open air on my face. There has always been something about the ocean that has felt so calm and centering, even when my personal life was a chaotic mess of crazy. As a reader who loves the ocean, it helped me relate more to the characters because when they talked about how walking on the beach just made everything feel better, I was able to completely understand where they were coming from
The friendships in this book hold a special place in my heart. In my opinion, the love of a best friend is one of the most amazing gifts anyone can have in their lifetime. They see the best and worst of a person and then choose to stay even when they don’t have to, which is genuinely the purest version of unconditional love. The relationships between all the characters were just as important as the relationship between Sophie and Liam, which I just loved. I love when authors don’t solely focus on the relationship between the two love interests because it makes the story feel more real, relatable and in my opinion friend group banter is THE BEST kind of banter (let me say the boys group chat was too funny) Found family is such an amazing concept in books because it reinforces that blood family is not the only family you can have in your life, there is also the family you choose for yourself.
Honestly, this book was amazing. I’m so incredibly grateful and honored that I was chosen to read this book early. It’s honestly mind-blowing that this book is a debut because it is so beautifully written. I know so many readers are going to love this book, its meaning, the characters, and the entire vibe of the book. It truly was fabulous, so I give my biggest thanks to Linny Mack for writing this book and Page & Vine and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to its release.

This was a book that I picked because I love reading books that are set in Cape towns! There is just something about the vibe that is created in these books that is just hard for me not to LOVE! This book was bo different.This was a great book that pulls two broken hearts together in such a way that still has me thinking about Sophie and Liam even after I finished the last page! I thought I knew where this books was going and the last 50 pages took me completely by SURPRISE! I love a book that has some unpredictability to it! 100% a Linny Mack fan after this book!