Return to the Beach House

By Georgia Bockoven

ISBN#  9780062195241

Author’s Website:  http://www.georgiabockoven.net/georgiabockoven.net/Welcome.html

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Synopsis:

Over the course of one year, in a charming cottage by the sea, eight people will discover love and remembrance, reconciliation and reunion, beginnings and endings in this unforgettable sequel to Georgia Bockoven’s The Beach House and Another Summer.

Alison arrives at the beach house in June to spend a month with her restless grandson before he leaves for his freshman year in college. Over a decade before, Alison lost her beloved husband, and has faced life alone ever since. Now she discovers a new life, and possible new love.

August brings together four college friends facing a milestone. Across summer’s final days, they share laughter, tears, and love—revealing long-held secrets and creating new and even more powerful bonds.

World-class wildlife photographer, Matthew, and award-winning war photographer, Lindsey, arrive at the beach house in January, each harboring the very real fear that it will mark the end of their decade-long love affair. Alone in the house’s warm peace, they will be forced to truly look at who they are and what they want, discovering surprising truths that will change their lives forever.

Review:

The first story was just a delight.  As I frequently am when a story about 9/11 survivors unfold, I was drawn into the rebirth, if you will, of Alison (the grandmother) and Christopher (the grandson) as the reader travelled through the summer before Christopher is off to college.  Both Alison and Christopher must break the bonds that bind them as a result of losing husband/grandfather and son/father when the twin towers fell.  As the reader is carried through this journey, one sees that there is life after tragedy while still respecting the life they had with fallen loved ones.   Alison was a very relatable grandmother…I enjoyed her re-entry into dating life….very well told.

The second story was enjoyable.  I felt like I was on a vacation with three of my best girlfriend’s from college.  The life history of each unfolded smoothly and it was easy to follow the dynamics of the four women.   One group adventure that was retold when they were younger definitely lead to a HUGE chuckle by this reader.  I won’t give more details, so as to not spoil the moment for you!  The only negative thing I have to say is that the story just ended…..and I wanted it to continue!

The third story was excellent.  This story in particular, I felt, had more depth in the character development, which was refreshing and added to the complexity of the story.  The telling of long-term, long distance love affairs I believe, would be difficult to portray convincingly, but it was.  Right from the get go, I got a knot in my stomach, hoping that Matthew and Lindsey could and would work it out.  Once I began reading this last segment of the book, I was unable to put the book down…which lead to one tired reader the next day.  The complexity of Lindsey’s story was both compelling and thought provoking.  It is amazing what journalists and photographers must endure (physically and emotionally) when following stories to war torn countries.  This provided the backdrop for a very poignant story.

I will now put on Bockoven’s The Beach House and Another Summer on my to-be-read list as her storytelling is captivating.

*OBS would like to thank the author and TLC Book Tours for supplying us with a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*