
Member Reviews

I’m a huge fan of all of Sarah Morgan’s books and this one is another cracker.
Joanna and Ashley’s lives become entangled through no fault of their own and I loved how the relationship between them grew as they started to open up and trust eachother.
A story about second chances and learning to trust again, Beach House Summer is a great summer read. Full of interesting characters and a beautiful sounding beach side setting, this is one read to recommend.

The thing with Sarah Morgan is that she never disappoints me.
Once again a tempestuous, thought provoking story has been told through well presented, likable (and some unlikable) characters. The balance of drama, romance and fun is perfect. Alongside her usual romantic, stunning settings, I was lost in the pages and embraced it.
In more detail: Morgan represents a lifestyle that many see with rose tinted glasses - celebrity- and emphasises how hard and tragic this status can be. She delves into different life paths, the ways they can change in a moment; potentially earth shattering changes but nothing means the end of a journey but perhaps an alternative, slower route. For me, the most poignant is her representation of the beauty in normality, community, family and good morals.
I loved every moment. The perfect book for summer escapism.

The death of celebrity chef and serial cheater Cliff draws two unlikely women together in an unexpected friendship. When his ex-wife Joanna decides to help pregnant Ashley, escaping to Joanna's beach house to avoid the media means she has to face her past and the friends she left behind.
I love the emotion and the vivid characterisation in the multilayered story. Past loves and secrets all have to be faced, and friendship endures. The Californian coastal setting and the glamour of the beach house give the story vibrant, sensual imagery, adding authenticity.
This story has believably flawed characters, a great holiday setting and a complex set of relationships that deliver an engaging story.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

An absolute dream of a read, a gorgeous story set in a beautiful place, the charecters were great, very easy to get to know, thought about the book when I was at work and couldn't wait to get home and pick it up again, really did love it

When celebrity chef Cliff Whitburn dies in a car accident, the media is hungry for answers to what happened. Who is the girl in the car with him? What does his ex wife Joanne think about it? Joanne hides from the media by returning to her coastal hometown that she left two decades ago with Cliff. She left behind her boyfriend Nate and her best friend Mel without explanation or ever contacting them again.
This is a tale of family relationships. The characters are engaging and you want to hear their story. It's a tale of small þown communities looking out for each other. Just right for a holiday read.

Intense emotional roller coaster right from the start, the fabulous new Summer read from Sarah Morgan. For all ages, around some extreme poignant situations and relationships, dealing with fame, celebrity, family, friends, home, life and death.
Joanna finds herself thrown into a maelstrom when her husband of twenty years is in a car accident. She returns to her home town of Silver Point, a gorgeous Californian seaside town.
Written around conversations and relationships, this book is beautifully drawn out to include so many directions we can all go in our relationships.
Charmingly written, a book that absolutely gets you thinking!!
A fantastic summer read, great escapism, and fun!! Loved it! Highly recommended!!!
Thank you NetGalley for the early read!

I was disappointed with this one, I usually love Morgan's books.
It is a light easy read & I was rooting for the characters but I predicted how all the ends would tie up from halfway & found it dragged in the middle for me.
It also really bugged me that a character called Cliff, died driving off a cliff ...why give him that name? Why?

Sarah Morgan is a wonderful story teller. Her books never disappoint. Beach house summer has a more serious tone at the beginning than you might expect for her books, but it really works.
I was so invested in the characters, especially Joanna and Ashley. I loved the flaws in them all and how the characters balance each other out.
Joanna is the ex wife of a celebrity chef who is renowned for his womanising. Despite being his ex when Cliff dies he brings the press back to Joanna’s door.
Joanna finds herself back facing her childhood home and her first love and best friend who she left 20 years ago.
A story of strong women and the importance of building each other up. A story that shows sometimes you can go back while still going forward and that facing your past can be healing.

When this book started I didn't think it was going to be a feel good read but as we learned the true story and the relationships between the characters developed, it turned out that it really was. A lovely well written story.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the “Summer Seekers” and did a little happy dance when I was given the opportunity to read an ARC of the author’s new book “Beach House Summer”. The story is based around the characters Joanna and Ashley whose lives become entwined as a result of a car accident which kills Joanna’s husband, a celebrity chef Cliff. Joanna and Ashley escape to Joanna’s childhood home ( where she hasn’t visited for 20 years) in an attempt to get some space from the reporters. It is a lovely light-hearted easy read full of lovely, likeable characters.

I have read quite a lot of Sarah Morgan's books and always enjoy them. I think this one though is one of her best. The storyline and characters really drew me in.. It was a book that I both raced through but did not want to leave. So thank you to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for giving me access to an early copy of the novel. I really hope the author returns to the town for other characters stories.

I really enjoyed this feel good tale about the power of female friendships and the need for community. When Joanna is thrust back into the limelight when her ex husband dies in an unexplained car crash. Jo immediately recognises the identity of the young woman found with him and starts a chain of events I wasn't expecting.
Silver Point sounds like just the kind of place I'd like to visit and I enjoyed getting to know why Joanna left so suddenly in her youth. A romantic novel perfect to read on a summer holiday or if you want to feel like you are. Sarah Morgan gave me exactly what I needed to read.

Wow!
This is my favourite Sarah Morgan book, I am overwhelmed with the emotions this story created. I was there watching the relationship between Ashley and Joanna begin. The tears as they opened up about the past. The smiles when they discussed dating rules. This book delivers a warm sensation of love and compassion every reader longs for. It's here you found it.
Sarah Morgan has brought it with this pure diamond of a story. It has major feels, think goosebumps and giggles. It's 5 star perfection.
Summer 2022 is a Beach House Summer
#BeachHouseSummer #SarahMorgan #Netgalley #5StarBooks #BookReviews #summerreads2022

Sarah Morgan is one of my very favourite authors. Ever since I discovered her books, I have looked forward to each and every new title. They are always filled with solid storylines, well-developed characters and amazing locations. This one is no exception; I was hooked from the beginning and charmed by the principal characters and stunning Californian setting.
The story concerns two women, whose lives are brought together by one man. Forty-year-old Joanna was once married to celebrity chef Cliff Whitmore, who cheated on her regularly during their marriage. When he dies in a car crash, the press are at Joanna’s gates hounding her and speculating on the identity of pregnant teenager Ashley Blake, who was also in the car when it crashed. However, Joanna knows from first sight exactly who the girl is and finds herself compelled to help her. They make their way to the charming small coastal town of Silver Point, Joanna’s childhood home, and attempt to hide from the press in her secluded beach front house. Having left the town and cut all ties suddenly twenty years previously, Joanna is surprised to find the community offering acceptance and support for her and Ashley. Ashley is surprised by Joanna’s offer of friendship and protection, but shares her desire to be left be left in peace to build a new life. In Joanna’s case, she finds her old life, and particularly an old boyfriend, Nate, is something she can’t escape, but with Ashley’s encouragement can she rekindle lost relationships?
I absolutely loved this new novel from Sarah Morgan. The storyline was so compelling that I found myself completely immersed in the characters’ world every time I sat down to read. Joanna is an amazing woman, first to have put up with an awful husband for so long and then to have taken a lost, pregnant teenager under her wing without question. I’m sure not many women in her position would have done that. It was great to see Ashley blossom as time goes by and she realises that Joanna really does want to help her, and what’s more that she can help Joanna as well. As for Joanna’s house - I could almost see Ashley’s eyes growing bigger and bigger as she toured inside and outside the property; mine were as well. I loved that every room has a reading nook! A private beach and the ocean on your doorstep; what more could anyone want? Then there was the town of Silver Point - what marvellous community spirit there was amongst its inhabitants. Although all is explained in the text, I’m not sure how Joanna could bring herself to leave in the first place, never mind stay away for twenty years. This story is a real rollercoaster of a read. There is drama, tragedy, emotion and the very best romance. A really heart-warming story for any reader.

Lovely book as always from Sarah. I really enjoyed this and did not want to put this down. I really liked Joanne, Ashley and Mel, Greg and nate. They were all an important part of the story. It was about your present meeting your past and future and it was amazing. Can not wait for the next book.

I liked Joanna Whitman from the very start, I felt her vulnerability and was hoping that she would find her way through the mess that her departed husband left behind. Ashley took a while longer and I was puzzled by Joanna’s determination to protect her from the paparazzi. Of course, I should have known better and trusted in this terrific storyteller to steadily provide the missing pieces of information.
I do enjoy a second chance story and Beach House Summer certainly delivered. Joanna has returned to the town where she grew up. Technically, her childhood home but the actual home has long been razed to the ground and a new, luxury beach house now stands in its stead. Despite this, there are elements of the location that continue to remind her of her childhood summers at the beach. More importantly, she remembers spending time with twins Mel and Nate, her best friend and one time boyfriend.
Silver Point, California and Otter’s Nest were easily imaginable. I have a love for small town America and adored the idea of having a luxury home as a bolt hole - maybe in another life! The residents of Silver Point were wonderful, and the way they stood up to the journalists, protecting Joanna and Ashley, was enough to make me grin with delight.
Of course, to reach a happy ending, it has to be worked for and boy was the terrain tough when it came to discovering more about Joanna’s past, including her stepmother. Although there is a happy ending, it’s hard to predict what that may look like, but I was left happily contented.
This is a great story and another one that helps confirm Sarah Morgan as a preferred author. Escape to California, it’s a wonderful trip.

Beach House Summer was not at all like I expected, in a good way! What could have been a frothy 'beach read' actually turned out to be a story about character, friendship, and finding your path however old you are.
Joanna and Ashley are thrown together, when pregnant Ashley is found in Joanna's ex-husband's car after an accident. What follows is not what it seems, and the narrative goes off on a different, more engaging path.
Joanna invites Ashley to recuperate at her hideaway beach house, and they become firm friends, learning a lot from each other.
Beach House Summer is an excellent read, you really feel for the characters as they learn about their pasts and themselves.

Joanna left her hometown 20 years ago. she returns on the death of her ex-husband to get away from paparazzi, taking with her a pregnant young girl who was with him when he died. There are lots of issues connected to her upbringing and teenage years, will she be able to overcome them? A good holiday/ wet day read..

Sarah Morgan is a masterful writer who always manages to connect the reader to her character’s angst. Once I started this book I was hooked and didn’t put it down until I finished (well after midnight!). A good read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love Sarah Morgan and this is just as perfect as her other books. I really enjoyed the story about Joanna and Ashley. I would love to read more about what happens after because I’m sure it will be a very good story.