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 ThoughtsÂ
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.
Would you be so kind to share my book reviews with a friend?Â
If you’d like my book reviews delivered directly to your email box whenever I post (1 – 2 times per month), sign up here.
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram!
@author.robin.shelley
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!
If you’re looking for a novel full of folklore and dark atmosphere, The White Hare by Jane Johnson might fill the order. The author of Sea Gate, The Court of Lions, and The Sultan’s Wife brings us a new novel set in 1954 but filled with that disquieting mood that only comes from a land filled with dark, archaic memories.
A selfish, overbearing mother, Madga causes family drama. She doesn’t show any love to her daughter or granddaughter. Mila does whatever her mother asks, trying to not irritate her. She came along to escape a scandal and make a better life for her young daughter Janey. When they first arrive in Cornwall, Magda drives the car off the road to avoid hitting a white hare that ran across their path. There seems to be something mystical about this hare, and after that, Janey’s stuffed rabbit seems to be more than a toy. As Mila forms relationships with some of the townsfolk, she hears their superstitious beliefs that a mystical white hare is connected with nature and the protection of the valley.