Romance

This is the second book in the series. I finished it rather quickly. It was really everything you would expect from a Sheila Roberts novel, it's like reading a Hallmark movie. My only complaint would be the sections from the point of view of the visitors to the Driftwood Inn. I really could have done without those parts and just have learned their backstory from what happens after the storm and people are getting to know each other. I had a difficult time remembering who was who and what their story was.

All in all, a quick little cozy feel-good story. You can't go wrong with something that gives you the warm and fuzzies. ( )

Winter at the Beach (Moonlight Harbor #2) by Sheila Roberts

October 23, 2018
MIRA
Beach read, fiction
Rating: 3.5/5

This is the second book in the Moonlight Harbor Series. In Welcome to Moonlight Harbor, we meet Jenna Jones, a 40 yo divorced Massage Therapist who moves to Moonlight Harbor with her daughter, Sabrina. The resistant 14 year old would prefer to live with her father but he is living in his parents’ basement with his girlfriend, Aurora. Damien Petit, the ex-husband, barely makes a living as an artist and content to live off of support payments from Jenna.

The move to Moonlight Harbor was encouraged by Jenna’s Aunt Edie Patterson, who has been struggling to keep the family owned Driftwood Inn afloat. Since her husband Ralph passed away, it’s just been her and Jolly Roger, the parrot and Pete Long, the lazy handyman.

With hard work and help from the community, they are able to save the Driftwood Inn from being sold. Jenna has an idea to bring in revenue for the tourist town during the slow winter months. In spite of the naysayers, she convinces a group from the town council to support her mission.

The ever optimistic Jenna enlists the help of Seth Waters who is still living at the Inn as he builds his mold treatment business. Sabrina begins to feel more comfortable and eventually develops a relationship with Tristan, a senior at her high school. Meanwhile, the 84 year old Edie Patterson can usually be found in the kitchen making delicious dinners and baked goods for everyone.
There are many challenges facing Jenna and the town as they prepare for the first Seaside with Santa event. They advertise through Groupon and eventually fill the reservations for the holiday weekend. There are many characters introduced which complicate the story somewhat with their amusing, interesting histories. It almost felt distracting and squeezed in between the holiday event.
Things don’t go quite as planned for Jenna. Sometimes, there’s some good that can come after the storm clears. You just have to have faith.

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https://www.bookbub.com/books/winter-at-the-beach-by-sheila-roberts
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As the off season approaches, there are new worries for the Jenna, the new owner of her great aunt's Driftwood Inn. Now a part of the town's business community, she suggests as winter festival at the beach, to be held right before Christmas. The groupon deals and activities are planned, but Mother Nature has her own way of leaving a stamp on these events. I liked how the town came together to help house people during the storm. And the very idea of the Inn helps bring new faces to Moonlight Harbor to add drama and depth to the story. ( )

Christmas is approaching in Sheila Roberts’ Winter at the Beach, making it a perfect read for the season, with its enticing blend of sand and sea with winter snow. If you haven’t always wondered what happens at the seaside when the season’s done, you’ll still be delighted to learn. Though whether you’ll want to visit Santa on a snowy beach may still be in doubt.

Characters from this and other series’ weave naturally into this tale, and their very human concerns blend smoothly with the community spirit of a Christmas vacation. Life is not perfect here, or in any of the families involved. But life is never perfectly broken either, and the author, through her characters, offers haunting touches of wisdom, the gentle persuasion of situation and need, and the promise of true love.

Not quite romance, not quite adventure, not quite road-trip, Winter at the Beach weaves several stories into one warm tapestry, the perfect reading blanket for a cold winter’s day. It leaves me wanting to read more, but perfectly satisfied with a conclusion well reached. Like a vacation at a good seaside B&B, it introduces me to strangers, lets me share their lives, and promises all will be okay, even if all might never quite be well. Heartwarming, honestly soul-searching, and vividly real.

Disclosure: I was given a copy and I offer my honest review. ( )