Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews

Ok, so last week I was on vacation. We (my whole family, my sibs and their families) spent a week in the Black Hills. My brother rented a place big enough for all of us. I thought it was fitting that I read Summer Rental while in a summer rental - get it? 

I also took along 3 other books and a ton of e-books but this is the only one I got read. But I am okay with that, we had a great time and I am glad I got to spend time with everyone instead of being anti-social with my head in a book all week.

I have to admit that as we were driving to the Hills and I started reading this book, I was a little nervous about what kind of place we were going to find when we got there. My brother rented the place from the internet and didn't know much more about it other than the pictures on the web. In the book, the woman that rented the summer rental was somewhat disappointed when she arrived, things were not exactly as they were portrayed to her. I was afraid that was going to happen to us. But no worries, it was fabulous!

Sometimes, when you need a change in your life, the tide just happens to pull you in the right direction….

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life. And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about. 

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity. Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs?

 

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness. Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

Like I said, this was the perfect book to read while on vacation at our summer rental. I also liked it because of the women in the book, 3 of them have been friends for a long time. They come together to spend a month on the beach, girls only, no males allowed. They all have issues they are dealing with or maybe not dealing with so very well. Their friendship and honestly with each other helps each of them work through their issues.

Then you add in the 4th women, whom no one knows, but they invite into their house anyway. After a bumpy start and a lot of resistance on both sides, they all come around and are there for each other when they need to be. 

I love the way that Ms. Andrews writes - it is very smooth and believable. I felt like I was one of the friends in the house and was sorry to see the month end, kind of like I was sorry for our week to be over in the Hills. I very much enjoyed this book, the first one that I have read by this author. She will be added to my list of authors to watch so I can read her next novel. I will also be checking out her previous books too. She has several under her belt already. 

Author website -- http://www.marykayandrews.com