Sandcastle Beach | ARC Review

Synopsis

From the USA Today bestselling “master of witty banter” (Entertainment Weekly) comes a hilarious and heartwarming romance about two enemies whose feud turns red-hot.
Maya Mehta will do anything to save her tiny, beloved community theater. Put on musicals she hates? Check. Hire an arrogant former-pop-star-turned-actor? Done. But what Maya really needs to save her theater is Matchmaker Bay’s new business grant. She’s got some serious competition, though: Benjamin “Law” Lawson, local bar owner, Jerk Extraordinaire, and Maya’s annoyingly hot arch nemesis. Let the games begin.

Law loves nothing more than getting under Maya’s skin, and making those gorgeous eyes dance with irritation. But when he discovers the ex-pop star has a thing for Maya, too, Law decides he’s done waiting in the wings-starting with a scorching-hot kiss. Turns out there’s a thin line between hate and irresistible desire, and Maya and Law are really good at crossing it. But when things heat up, will they allow their long-standing feud to get in the way of their growing feelings?

Review

My opinion is somewhere in the middle for this book. I didn’t like the first half of the book, but somewhat enjoyed the second. It was an enemies to lovers romance (which is always fun) and also had a bit of a “second chances” theme which was kinda nice. I think this book would be most enjoyable for those who have already read the first two.

I read this book without reading the previous two in the series. While there were some references to the previous stories and the characters in those were also present in this one, I didn’t feel confused or like I was missing out by not reading them first. I’m sure I would have appreciated getting to catch up with those familiar characters, but I didn’t feel a loss by reading this book before the other two.

There were some really funny moments in this book, mostly having to do with matchmaking, that had me really wanting to read the first two. The older folks living in beach town like to meddle in people love lives and do some matchmaking. It was so funny to see how they went about bringing our two enemies together. The towns people had me laughing as they tried to pretend like they weren’t meddling, but clearly were. This was probably the thing I loved most about this book.

To be honest, the first half of this book wasn’t great. It was slow and didn’t seem to be leading me anywhere. I was almost ready to DNF this book by the time the second half started. Thank goodness the second half picked up in pace and seemed to have a point to it. I can see where the first half was setting things up so that way things could take off in the second half, but it really could have done so in a more efficient manner. The only reason I didn’t DNF this book was because of the second half.

In the second half, we’re finally able to explore more of the two main characters’ emotions about each other and see their thoughts on their lives moving forward. As well, we get some lovely romantic gestures and “aww” moments. I still wasn’t in love with the book even through the second half, but I didn’t hate it.

Overall, this book wasn’t my favorite, but it might be enjoyable for those who are already fans of this series and the characters in it.

Big thanks goes to Forever Books for sending me a gifted copy of this book!

Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Jenny Holiday, go to her Goodreads profile or visit her website.

Recommendation

If you liked this book, be sure to check out:

• MR RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET by Kathryn Freeman
• MOOSESPRINGS, ALASKA series by Sarah Morgenthaler