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Summary: Sunsets over the East Coast!
Review: A wonderful book and true to the last detail of "Low Country" living. Yes, Florida reader, the sun does set over the Atlantic Ocean if you are lucky enough to be on a "Barrier Island". The movie "Baggar Vance" which was filmed on Kiawah Island, SC has a fabulous sunset scene over the Atlantic Ocean. Some of our barrier islands run East-West and magnificient sunsets can been seen most nights. I loved the book and love being lucky enough to live on a barrier island until the next hurricane.
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Summary: THE BEACH HOUSE
Review: ABSOULTELY FABULOUS READ - I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK - MUST READ
Rating:
Summary: THE BEACH HOUSE
Review: ABSOULTELY FABULOUS READ - I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK - MUST READ
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Summary: passionate and compassionate tale
Review: Cara Rutledge may start believing bad things do come in threes. She lost her job; her boy friend knew she was unemployed before she did but failed to tell her making her wonder about their relationship; and her mother, needing to see her, asks Cara to return to South Carolina. Reluctantly, Cara decides to visit her mom Lovie, a card-carrying member of the Turtle Ladies.In Isle of Palms, South Carolina Cara learns that her mom is dying. Still, the pending mortality fails to ease the acrimonious estrangement between mother and daughter that grew over the years faster than the cancer destroying Lovie's body. Time is running out and if this pair cannot reconcile their differences through their love for one another, both will go to their graves filled with regret. THE BEACH HOUSE is a poignant contemporary tale that provides a deep message of the importance of forgiving in relationships before it is too late. The story line is loaded with angst and plenty of tears because the two women not only seem authentic, but also they feel like you and me as many readers have held grudges for years. Mary Alice Monroe turns up the passion and compassion with this plea of not to wait until its too late to reconciliate tale that requires a crate of tissues nearby. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Extended Vacation
Review: During my visit to Isle of Palms I heard about this book and ordered it from Amazon.com. The book captures the spirit of the island with the "turtle team", eco-tours (Caper Island does exist and is as beautiful as described in the book) and island goings. I read this after my vacation and I felt like I was back on the island. Read the book in one sitting. There's a good love story that bought tears to my eyes!
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Summary: A wonderful story with chick-flick potential!
Review: I am not a fan of sentimental fiction, but I found this book to be honestly moving and quite geniuine in its emotions. Most of the characters are finely drawn and very interesting. They are three-dimensional, with inner beauty, good points and faults. Most of all, I appreciated Lovie, mother to Caretta, the main character. She was a not-so-old woman living out her final days, hoping to put right some of the mistakes of her past. She had many regrets, most of all the rift created between her daughter and the rest of her family. She sets out to mend this wound for the sake of her daughter, but finds peace for herself as well. Toy, Lovie's live-in companion, is another well-crafted character. She has had so little in her life, she's awed by the care and love she receives from Lovie, and is, at first, jealous and suspicious of Caretta's arrival into "her" home. Eventually, however, these things have a way of working out. Perhaps the only character who is not finely defined is Caretta herself. But don't let that deter you. Caretta has lost her definition of herself. She was a high-power executive. Now she's unemployed. She was the lone wolf, living alone in Chicago. Now she's back home, compelled to spend time with her mother during her last few months of life. Caretta is a woman in transition, and it is somehow fitting that the author never truly nails her personality down to one thing or another. She IS wishy-washy, it's not just the way she's portrayed. Overall, a very good book. A little sappy at places, and for a book dealing with the death of a loved one, perhaps a bit too upbeat, but well worth the time.
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Summary: Good Story!
Review: I don't have the patience to read books very often but this one really kept me turning pages. The way author added factual information in with the story was nice, it kept me interested.
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Summary: Fantastic summer reading
Review: I don't usually take time to write reviews. I just tell all my friends when I find a great book - but in this case, I'm doing both! This is a well-balanced book with strong characters and a well-written, believable story. Its the kind of book you just won't want to put down after you get into it. And, if you're interested in sea turtles, there is lots of well-researched information about the loggerheads and their place in our world. As a turtle watcher in Florida, I appreciated the author's ability to weave information about the turtles and their struggle to survive into the storyline - and to make me realize how interwoven our lives are with nature.
If the book has a flaw, its that Brett, the protagonist's love interest, is just too good to be true. Fortunately, this doesn't interfere with the basic story line and may actually make the book even more enjoyable. After all, it is nice to dream about the "perfect" man even when we know he doesn't exist (or maybe he does on the South Carolina coast!)
Overall, thoroughly enjoyable reading for a summer weekend at the beach or a rainy day in the mountains. Just don't plan on doing anything else once you get started!
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Summary: A beautiful summer story
Review: I have just finished this book and I loved it! I bought it because of the beautiful artwork on the cover and semi-interesting preview. I was happily surprised at what a nice summer read it was. I plan on ordering her other books. It was beautifully written and though it's not full of suspense, I couldn't wait to read each page(especially when you start to bond with those turtles). Give it a try.
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Summary: A beautiful, heart-felt look at love of family and home
Review: I just finished reading this book today. It is one of those books I did not want to put down and I did not want it to end. Mary Alice Monroe painted a beautiful picture of this family with her words. Based on true facts of the efforts of dedicated people to preserve an endangered species, she weaves the lives and loves of the main character into an intricate tapestry that is a vivid,true portrayal of life in that part of the South. This is the story of Caretta Rutledge, who doesn't truly "come of age" until she is forty years old. She returns to her childhood,home on the coast of South Carolina to care for her estranged, ailing mother. She has spent most of her life as a loner climbing the ladder of sucess with little time for family, friends or herself. She has put her entire self into "making it" and when she unexpectedly loses her job, she realizes what all she has neglected in order to acheive this success that has vanished overnight. She returns to South Carolina at her mother's request, entending to stay for one week. She remains for the summer, finding the relationship with her mother that she felt she never had, finding true love, and most of all, finding herself.
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