Beach Read Archives

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but what I got was a pleasant read with likable characters and a mystery that wove itself through the plot.

That makes it sound more serious than it was. This book was actually a lot of fun.

I expected to dislike Dana. She’s a New York City actress and she sells merchandise on a shopping channel, the first job she has apparently been able to hold down in quite a long time.

But instead of hating her, I found myself wanting to know her. I could see her being fun to be around. Could have had to do with her quips and reactions to what others said to her.

That reminded me of…well, me.

Frankly, she reminded me a lot of me. I moved to NYC, auditioned a couple of place, and ended up bartending (no home shopping channels for me). I even dated an NYC officer.

Spoiler: I married mine 😊

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Anyway, back to Dana. While I thought her life was entertaining (and would have been a great story on its own), the mystery that popped up was woven seamlessly into the narrative.

Honestly, there’s not a lot to unpack here, because it was a light, fun story.

Anyone who has ever watched even five minutes of a home shopping channel will appreciate Dana’s talents onscreen. Even I was impressed with her capabilities. Those were very entertaining scenes.

I will say that there were more than a few times that I found “Friends” references. Not only were there over mentions (Ross and Rachel) but there were also some clever points that only a die-hard fan might recognize.

Dana’s play, her relationship with Ari, even a boot heel…I counted at least ten events/plot points where I could reference Friends.

Now, that might just be because Friends was that universal. Regardless, it provided additional enjoyment to me.

This is a perfect beach read and one of my favorites of the year.

Twitter: @EllenMeister
Facebook: @EllenMeister
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Author Bio: Ellen Meister is the author of several novels including LOVE SOLD SEPARATELY, DOROTHY PARKER DRANK HERE; FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER; THE OTHER LIFE and others. Ellen is also an editor, book coach, ghostwriter, and frequent contributor to Long Island Woman Magazine. She teaches creative writing at Long Island University Hutton House Lectures and previously at Hofstra University. Her latest novel is THE ROOFTOP PARTY. For more info visit ellenmeister.com.

Part commentary on relationships part mystery, this book had quite a bit going for it. It did keep me interested, even as some of the aspects fell a bit short for me.

One of the things I did like about the way the author created the plot was how each of the partnerships (Riley and Tom, Marie and Jean Paul, Gwen and Jason, Claire and ???) were at a different stage.

The author introduced each of these in the first four chapters and then the action jumped back and forth between the different couples as well as in time.

The switches in time were a little bit jarring, but if you pay attention to the date at the beginning of the story and then the dates that head each chapter, you shouldn’t have any problems.

I thought that each of the couples were interesting in their own way. I kept expecting them to weave together and meet in the middle somewhere. I guess in a way they did, but not in the manner that I expected.

It really seemed as if each of them had their own story line and then the “main event” is something that touches each of them differently.

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I did feel like the author held back pertinent parts of information for a bit too long in a couple of cases. They did make for some surprise twists, but it also felt a bit forced in a few places.

For example, I thought Jason’s background and the subsequent twists that it provided kind of came out of nowhere. It’s not that the detail wasn’t plentiful, it just seemed to escalate rather quickly.

The same with Claire. She was my least favorite character (maybe that was by design?) and even though I did feel sorry for her at times, she was an ugly enough person in her opinions that I wasn’t upset by the big reveal about her.

(And by the way, those opinions only made sense to her character when I took into account where she was from and what she did for a living. Otherwise, they seemed like cheap attempts at political points, which I really hate).

I did expect more out of Riley and Tom, but I liked the end result of their relationship. The same with Jean Paul and Marie. I think I related to Riley (she reminded me a bit of me when I was younger) and to Jean Paul and Marie as a couple now.

In fact, I think any couple who has had their fun “couple times” usurped by a kid of any age would be able to relate to them.

As I mentioned, there were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming and one plot point involving Claire was especially effective, given why she had left home for a bit. That was nicely done.

I did enjoy this book, and the author did a good job of keeping me guessing right up to the last pages. I think if you go into it expecting the different perspectives on relationships with the touch of mystery, you’ll like it too.

Twitter: @wendyfrancis4
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Author Bio:

Wendy Francis is a former book editor and the author of the novels The Summer Sail, The Summer of Good Intentions, Three Good Things, and Best Behavior. Her essays have appeared in Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, Yahoo Parenting, The Huffington Post, and WBUR’s Cognoscenti. A proud stepmom of two grown-up children, she lives outside Boston with her husband and eleven-year-old son.