Robin’s Rave Reviews 2025

BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey should be in your beach bag this summer! Grab it before the summer slips away.

Book Summary

Charlotte Sitterly has been going through life’s normal routines until she is blindsided by her husband’s arrest for securities fraud. She finds herself without a home, without access to their bank accounts, and without a job. How will she support herself and her teenage daughter Ivy?

Alice, a local, overhears Charlotte’s meltdown in the bank. She invites Charlotte and her daughter to live with her until they can get back on their feet. Alice owns a house that was once a B&B, but now she lives there with two other women and their children. They have room for Charlotte and Ivy to join them until they can get back on their feet. The B&B is often referred to as the “mommune,” lovingly by those who live there and disdainfully by community members who don’t understand the unusual arrangement. But this is the same community that whispers about Alice’s three dead husbands and calls her the “Black Widow.”

BEACH HOUSE RULES focuses mainly on three characters: Charlotte—balancing her doubts about her husband’s innocence or guilt, struggling to stand on her own two feet, and trying to consider her daughter’s needs; Ivy—struggling with the realization that her father may not be coming back home, wondering how she can help prove his innocence, dealing with teenage drama, and falling for the older, popular teen who also lives in the mommune; and Alice—feeling the pressure of the community’s opinion of her, knowing she had nothing to do with her husbands’ deaths but still feeling cursed, and denying herself to protect the man she loves.

My Thoughts

This coastal North Carolina story is one of women supporting women. It’s such a great book about friendship and building that proverbial village to raise a child. Here, four women live together and help with each other’s kids and household responsibilities all while being each other’s support and encouragement. It’s a twist on the found-family trope. We live in a world today that is all about women having agency. Strong as women are, this book reminds us that from time to time, we may need a little help from our friends.

Throughout the novel, the reader will wonder, along with Charlotte, if her husband is innocent or guilty. And if he’s innocent, who did the crime and why? It’s also about love and romance. Charlotte has been married for years. Whether her husband is guilty or innocent, will her love of this man survive such an event? And Alice’s romance is rekindled for a man she pushed away once before. Dare she allow herself to fall in love when she feels cursed with her past husbands’ deaths? We also experience a coming-of-age story with Ivy as she navigates school, friends and teenage love all while her father is the talk of the town. Throughout the story, @JuniperShoresSocialite is spilling all the gossip on social media. Who’s behind the posts?

The ending was a surprise. It always amazes me when an author sets up so many situations in a book and magically ties them all together in a nice bow at the end! BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey is about loss, heartbreak, women and children in tough circumstances, forgiveness, loyalty, female friendships, forgiveness, second chances (or fourth chances, in Alice’s case), and new beginnings. BEACH HOUSE RULES is a wonderful choice to slip in your beach bag this summer! The summer isn’t over yet!

Consider purchasing BEACH HOUSE RULES through this link on Bookshop.org to help support independent mom and pop bookstores. (Personally, I like to support MacIntosh Books on Sanibel Island with their recovery after Hurricane Ian. I don’t receive any commission from this. I simply want to help independent bookstores.)

About the Author

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a New York Times Bestselling author. She is also a co-founder and co-anchor on the Friends and Fiction weekly podcast with Mary Kay Andrews, Patti Callahan Henry, and Kristin Harmel.

Every Wednesday at 7 PM ET these ladies talk about their books and interview other authors with recent releases. It’s a great way to discover new titles and authors! Join in the fun by joining the Friends and Fiction Facebook group or go to their YouTube channel where you can watch live and catch up on older episodes.

If You Like…

If BEACH HOUSE RULES appeals to you, check out these Kristy Woodson Harvey books I’ve previously reviewed and recommend: A Happier Life, The Summer of Songbirds, The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, Feels Like Falling, and the Peachtree Bluff series.

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Robin’s Rave Reviews 2024

Yes! Another perfect book for your beach bag this summer! A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey, part historical fiction, part mystery, part women’s fiction, part romance, is told in a dual timeline: present day with Keaton Smith, and in 1976 with her grandparents Rebecca “Becks” and Townsend St. James.

Summary

Keaton, a young professional in NYC, has lost her job and her condo. While she figures out her next move, her mother asks her to clear out Keaton’s grandparents’ house in Beaufort so it can be sold. Keaton knew they died in a car accident before she was born, but this is the first she’s heard of the historic house on the North Carolina seaside. Her mother and uncle have held onto the house for nearly fifty years. Keaton agrees and takes her dog Salt along for the trip. (Who doesn’t love a story with a dog? And this dog is based on Kristy’s own dog named Salt!)

Keaton isn’t prepared to walk into a 1970s time-warp. It looks like Becks and Townsend just stepped away, including dishes left on the dining room table from one of Becks’ famous dinner parties. As Keaton is adjusting to the shock, Anderson, a ten-year-old, boy pops in. He lives next door with his divorced, grumpy, hot dad, Bowen.

While Keaton struggles with the enormous cleaning job, she connects more deeply with the locals. Keaton learns that everyone knows everything in a small town, so different from NYC. She becomes friends with the Dockside Dames, a group of older women who get together every morning for coffee and gossip. Their stories of her grandparents help Keaton connect with family she never knew. Keaton sees what life could be like here. She’s faced with comparing her fast-paced, workaholic life in NYC to what small town life on the ocean with Bowen and his son could be like.

The story of her grandparents dying in a car accident begins to have some holes. Although her grandparents’ car was found submerged in the water, their bodies were never recovered. When Keaton discovers her mother and uncle have suspicions that their parents were actually murdered, Keaton better understands why they never returned to the house. But what really happened to Becks and Townsend?

We go back in time for Becks to tell her love story. Becks was disowned by her parents for marrying Townsend, the love of her life. She focuses on making life easier for others and throwing her famous dinner parties while Townsend starts his doctor practice in Beaufort. Although Becks journals all her entertaining tips for her daughter, her granddaughter Keaton is the one to find it nearly fifty years later. It helps her connect with the grandmother she never knew.

Trying to decide what to keep and what to discard from her grandparents’ life and mother’s childhood is more difficult than Keaton expected. Keaton finally convinces her mother and uncle to come look through some things and get closure. Becks and Townsend left multiple clues behind, leading the family to learn the truth of what happened to them.

My Thoughts

There’s a lot here for readers of several genres including romance, women’s fiction, and mystery. It’s a multi-generational story of family relationships and how we deal with damage done in the past. It’s about forgiveness and reconciliation, about valuing the past and the family who came before us, and about romantic love and second chances. It reinforces that we shouldn’t judge the happiness of someone else’s life because people define happiness differently. What’s right for one isn’t for another. Perhaps when you determine you’ve lived a life worth living, you’ve found true happiness.

I loved A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey. May I suggest you purchase A HAPPIER LIFE here at Bookshop.org? This online bookstore supports mom and pop bookstores nationwide!

Kristy Woodson Harvey, author

If you like…

If this book appeals to you, check out these Kristy Woodson Harvey books I’ve previously reviewed and recommend: The Summer of Songbirds, The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, Feels Like Falling, and the whole Peachtree Bluff series.

Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!