Bookshop By the Sea

 

I was a bookseller for fifteen years, and therefore, I will pick up any book that has to do with books, bookshops, and reading.  Reading has been a habit of mine since I was six years old.  The only reason I went to school was to learn to read, and I came home in tears when I didn't learn it on the first day of school.  

Bookshop by the Sea opens with Sophie being maid of honor for her sister's wedding.  But maid of honor is not the only role she filled, she was wedding planner, peacemaker, mother of the bride, and general factotum for the event.  The only monkey-wrench in the plans was that the best man was a man who had run out on her years before.  While Sophie is helping her sister, Jenny, have the wedding of her dreams, she is also trying to open her bookshop in Piper's Cove.  When a hurricane comes in on the heels of the wedding and puts Sophie behind schedule, best man Aiden, stays and helps Sophie get the shop ready to open.  

Sophie has been mother and father to her twin brother, Seth, and her sister, Jenny, since their mother died and their father skipped out on them a few years earlier. Now Seth, Jenny, and their father look to Sophie to solve their problems while forgetting that Sophie wants a life of her own.  Sophie had to grow up early and fast, giving up many of her dreams so that her siblings have the opportunities they deserve.  

In the meantime, Aiden has never forgotten Sophie and still loves her even after leaving years ago, but he has let fear control his ability to connect with her. 

Denise Hunter wrote a great series called Bluebell Inn and it figures into this story in a small way, but this is a stand-alone book that will give the reader a few hours of enjoyment.  It is a quick read and thoroughly delightful.  The setting of a small seaside town that comes together to help out its residents is charming.  The main characters are believable, and for the most part, likable.  The supporting cast is fantastic.  Four Strong Stars. 

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.