Rating: 
Summary: Rich family loyalty and deep understanding.
Review: Caroline Renwick has been the strength that held her family together. The oldest of three daughters of a famous artist whose life was riddled by sadness and alcoholism, Caroline has been the foundation her mother could never be.As a very young girl, a terrible tragedy has changed the direction of her life, and the person at the center of it is back on the scene. Will it spell trouble by dredging up old hate and angers not yet faced by those that have carried them for years like an old skin, uneasily shed? Will tragedy bring all of these characters closer? This is a well written book that flows easily leaving you with likable characters that you can't help but wish the best for. I did enjoy the read though it is predictable. I already have another Rice book waiting in the eves to be read, titled BLUE MOON. Kelsana 4/29/02
Rating: 
Summary: Good In Spite of Itself
Review: Describing the plot of this book, it's hard not to be sarcastic. The coincidences rival some of the plots of Unsolved Mysteries. Nothing happens only once. Caroline watches two strangers die of gunshot wounds in two unrelated incidents 10 years apart. Later, two characters get the exact same injury on the exact same day, also in unrelated incidents. What are the chances? And don't get me started on the chichihua/rat mixup story. Urban mythologists say it never really happened, but it does here. Still, despite the credibility-straining plot, the book eventually won me over. Luanne Rice is a good writer, and the characters were, for the most part, three dimensional and likable. Their actions were usually well-motivated--no one was an alcoholic or a neglectful mother without explanation. There was a bit too much symbolism given to little objects (snake bones, black pearls, etc.) and Rice should never try to write in the voice of a child--the letters between two young characters and a young girl's diary did not ring true. But in the end, I was really hoping for a happy ending for this family, which means that overall, the book worked for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Don't waste your time and certainly don't waste your money. If you're looking for a book to relax with and read on your summer vacation this is NOT the book. The characters have no depth and no personality. The story line is nothing but surface fluff and the author makes no attemp to explore the crisis her characters face. By the 24th chapter I thought surely this book would have an exciting climax - NO!...instead the author inserts unrealistic epitaths to wrap up her story in a hurried and inconclusive way. Don't waste your time. Read the Three Sisters Trilogy instead.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Don't waste your time and certainly don't waste your money. If you're looking for a book to relax with and read on your summer vacation this is NOT the book. The characters have no depth and no personality. The story line is nothing but surface fluff and the author makes no attemp to explore the crisis her characters face. By the 24th chapter I thought surely this book would have an exciting climax - NO!...instead the author inserts unrealistic epitaths to wrap up her story in a hurried and inconclusive way. Don't waste your time. Read the Three Sisters Trilogy instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great love story!
Review: Firefly Beach by Luanne Rice is one of her best books yet. I have read all but three of her books, and with each new book I read, I come to endear Rice as one of my favorite authors. Her books are incredibly sensitive, the characters are so real and believable, and she writes from her heart. Her writings seem to center on family issues that one can relate to at one time or another. Rice lets us know that love can heal, prevail and make things right. Caroline Renwick knows the secret of Joe Connor's father's untimely death when he was only six. Yet Caroline befriends him at a young age and their relationship grows deeper through their letters to each other. That is, until Joe discovers the truth of his father's death, and at seventeen and blames Caroline for not telling him the truth, and cuts her out of his life. Years later, Joe comes back into Caroline's life, back to Firefly beach to see for himself where the death occurred, and to find some more answers. Now a grown woman, Caroline, remains the main support for her mother and two sisters, as they all must confront those demons and deal with them, as well as the arrival of Joe Connor. With grace and style, Luanne Rice portrays a dysfunctional family whose yearnings to heal are marred by more challenges and confrontations. With Joe's help, Caroline is able to listen to her heart and to her longings and in the process helps her own family to find the strength to heal and to love again. This was another could not put down book, and Ms. Rice writes with the same sensitivity that I have come to admire in her previous books. A very endearing love story - I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Firefly Beach is a romantic novel written by Luanne Rice about two young lovers who have grown up and gone their separate ways. However, when they reunite in their hometown sparks fly and of course the past is remembered. Caroline and Joe shared some good times together but ever since Joe found out about the truth of his father's suicide and Caroline's connection to the tragedy, he has despised Caroline and the Renwick family. I though Rice's characters were realistic and plausible, however, part of the plot was not. The plot was pretty predictable and followed the regular formula of boy meets girl, confrontation to keep the two apart, and finally all is well in the end. The theme was not very developed, and I found it hard to truly decipher what the theme was. The only thing I finally decided on was that true love will persevere in the end.
Aside from my criticisms I did like the book. However, with these romance novels it does not take much to get me hooked. It was a good book though and I found myself reading it at every chance I got, trying to find out if the two young lovers would get back together. Sure, it might not have had real suspense and hidden meaning that classic novels do, but it kept you interested and was a pleasant book. If you are going on vacation and just want to get a good read in, I would suggest this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very well written
Review: Firefly Beach is one of the best books I've read. The author is truly gifted in her ability to convey depth of emotion simply but powerfully. Looking forward to her next novel.
Rating:
Summary: Was this book not edited???
Review: I am a hardcore Luanne Rice fan. Home Fires is my favorite, but Summer Light was excellent, too! First of all, why is this book a paperback? Why was it not released as a hardback? Could it be because it was poorly edited? Pages 15 and 16, for example, make no sense. I was on my lunch hour reading, and I must have read that passage six times! You are led to believe that it is Caroline talking, but then the narrator says she failed a test "even though Caroline had helped her with her homework." Huh??? Next paragraph says, "no matter that she was her sister". Her who???? What the heck is Luanne talking about. Then, still thinking the person narrating is Caroline, it talks about how it feels to kill another human. In the next chapter, the reader discovers that it was Skye who killed someone. Did the reader miss something here? Was something left out? Did NO ONE proofread this book?
Rating:
Summary: Nice read
Review: I enjoyed it, but really couldn't get into it. Kept putting it down and forgetting to pick it back up again. I would recommend it as a nice read, but nothing spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Melodrama
Review: I have been hearing people rave about Luanne Rice's books for some time now, so I thought I would give this book a try. I found the premise of the story very interesting. Two families brought together by tragedy, who go their separate ways, and are drawn back together thirty years later. The Renwick family is well drawn. The emotionally uninvolved Augusta Renwick, matriarch to the three Renwick girls, Caroline, cool and sophisticated, Clea the happily married earth mother and Skye the alcoholic mess. The problems stem from the overwhelming tragedies that seem to permeate the entire storyline. From the opening chapter scene of impending murder, to the accidental death of a young man caused by a young girl, the doom and gloom dragged the tone of the whole book down. The formulistic love story between Caroline and Joe was very predictable. What does save the book is the chemistry of the three sisters, whose story is heart warming, and believable. We all want to believe that love and loyalty can be the answer to a lot of unhappiness, and in this particular instance that is true. I have one other Luanne Rice book on my never ending To Be Read pile, so I will give this author one more try at winning my loyalty.
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