Beach House Book #2 – Perfect Summer by Luanne Rice

For Beach House Book #2, I reached deep into the back of my closet where my book shelf is and pulled out this little forgotten gem…an old, classic, paperback, printed well before they changed what paperbacks looked and felt like. This paperback, indeed, was reminiscent of one I would find in a beach house. Albeit, this version was in better shape…not battered by ocean water, wind, salt and sand. Any Luanne Rice book that is held in my hands comes from my mother, loved by her before it is passed along to me. I’ve known this book has been with me for awhile; however, I didn’t recall that it has been sitting on my shelf for 14 years…in multiple homes, in multiple states and even different countries. This book has mileage. It was time I read it. After I all it did meet my beach house book blog criteria. I dusted it off and looked at the cover…”Perfect Summer” with its idyllic, peaceful setting of a house sitting on the coast. Just by looking at the cover, I can feel the breeze that would blow through the windows of this house on a summer evening. I can hear the laughter of children run outside to play after dinner before bath time as people sip ice tea or lemonade from a porch. I can feel simple times.

Situations like this prove that I am guilty of judging a book by its cover and being wrong! Perhaps you can imagine my shock and delight as I curled up on my couch, delved into this book, expecting to begin a story just about old friends or an old flame and, instead, I became immersed in a mystery…some unexpected suspense, which ensured I did not put this book down. I devoured the first half of this book one morning over a few cups of coffee. The title of this book is definitely misleading to one that judges a book by its cover, but I promise that you will enjoy losing yourself in this story. The Perfect Summer is set on the coast off Connecticut, and it is about what I originally suspected…old friends and an old flame, but it is also about deception, betrayal, lies, forgiveness, hope, and love. It is a story of a family torn apart by greed, competitiveness and the desire to win at all costs. It is the story of “what if” and the one that got away. It is a story of hope, renewal and happy endings.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. You won’t put it down.

And yes, thank you Amazon...it is still available for purchase as a perfect beach house paperback.

I will Judge a Book by its Cover

Beach House Book #1 – Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer

Beach House Book #3 – Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Beach House Book #4 – All the Missing Girls by Megan Mirana

Beach House Book #5 – In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch