These three beach reads will keep your attention right to the end of both the book and summer!
It’s never too early to enjoy now before the end of August!
Beach reads. Two little words that signal summer and endless days soaking up the sunshine and heat, hopefully, while laying in the hot sand overlooking the water.
Haven Point: the Ultimate Beach Read!
Haven Point, on the Maine coast, is where for generations, women and children would come for the summer to participate in clam bakes, sing-a-longs, sailing races and golf. The children were allowed to roam free, and rules were a bit relaxed as the same families came to the point year after year.
Maren Larsen, a nurse helping in the war effort, meets Dr. Oliver Demarest in 1944 and comes to Haven Point, spending summers there with her growing family until 1970, when tragedy strikes the family and Annie, their 17-year-old daughter, vows never to return to Haven Point. The story flips between Maren in 1944, her family in the 1970s and her granddaughter, Skye, in 2008, who has come to Haven Point to spread her mom’s ashes.
“Maren knows that her granddaughter inherited
Virgina Hume from her novel Haven Point
Annie’s view of Haven Point…But Maren also knows
that Annie never told Skye the whole truth about what
happened during that fateful summer.”
Haven Point by Virginia Hume is a quick read with compelling characters. You can’t help but agree with Annie’s point of view about Haven Point, a place that is afraid of change and people who are “snobbish and petty.” But it’s the characters that also make it a great beach read – you are able to put the book down, but quickly pick it back up, continuing where you left off.
Maren is the key character who pulls all three time periods together. This character is interesting, smart, funny and has willingly shared her wisdom.
Haven Point is from Raincoast Books and retails for $37.99.
Hurricane Summer
Leaving Toronto during the summer to go to a hot country doesn’t appeal to me (hot countries are perfect for escaping long Canadian winters), and it doesn’t really appeal to Tilla, the main character in Hurricane Summer, either, who, along with her younger sister, leaves her mom in Ontario’s capital to spend the summer in Jamaica with her dad. Every six months, their dad leaves his family to return to Jamaica, where his heart truly belongs.
“A powerful coming-of-age story that deals with colorism, classism, young love, the father-daughter dynamic and what it means to discover your own voice in the centre of complete destruction.”
The book was wonderful and a perfect beach pick: it offered a great that made you want to keep reading, but you were able to put it down, take a swim break, and pick up right where you left off.
Toronto author Asha Bromfield created great characters – some, like Tilla, were kind and good, where others such as her uncle and a number of cousins were terrible. The scenery was beautiful, the descriptions were powerful and Tilla rose to the top despite the number of people trying to pull her down.
“In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise – all in the midst of an impending hurricane.”
Hurricane Summer is from Raincoast Books and retails for $25.99.
The Promise
Lucy Diamond’s latest book, The Promise, is another great beach read, for much the same reasons as the others – great characters, including the secondary ones, and a story that is interesting but can’t be described for the fear of giving something away.
A quick read, The Promise tells the story of Dan, who decides after the death of his brother, Patrick, that he will do whatever he can to support his grieving sister-in-law Zoe and their young children – it is, after all, the least he can do.
When Dan takes over Patrick’s finances, he realizes his brother has been keeping a secret.
“Should he tell the truth and risk his family’s fragile happiness, or will his brother’s secrets end up becoming his own?”
The Promise by Lucy Diamond
There were some great moments in this book, but one that has stuck with me is when Dan’s mother comments about how in death, people often talk about how wonderful a person is without touching on their flaws, leaving the people behind to question their thoughts on the person and themselves.
The Promise is from PGC Books and retails for $18.99.
These books are from PGC Books and Raincoast Books for an honest review. The opinions are my own.
Lisa Day has a passion for books – owning them, reading them, writing about them and talking about them. She carries at least one, maybe two or three, books with her at all times and when she isn't reading, she is writing about them. You can also find her on Twitter at @LisaMDayC; Instagram at @LisaMDayReads, Facebook at www.facebook.com/BookTime584 and GoodReads at http://bit.ly/ldgoodreads
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