Review: Mermaid Beach by Shelia Roberts

Today I'm excited to be sharing my thoughts on Mermaid Beach, #7 in Shelia Roberts Moonlight Harbor series.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-0778333548
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 04-25-2023
Length: 384pp
Source: Publisher for Review
Buy It: Publisher/ Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

“Roberts proves again why she is the premier purveyor of small-town, feel-good romance.” —Booklist

USA TODAY bestselling author Sheila Roberts takes readers back to Moonlight Harbor with a story of music, hopes, dreams and family, brimming with Sheila’s trademark humor and heart.

Bonnie Brinks and her all-woman band, The Mermaids, are the pride of Moonlight Harbor. They’re the house band at The Drunken Sailor, and that’s just the right amount of fame for Bonnie. A lifetime ago, she went to Nashville to make it big, but she returned home with a broken heart and broken dreams. Now she’s got a comfortable life and a brilliant daughter, Avril, who plays for The Mermaids alongside Bonnie and Bonnie’s mother, Loretta.

Avril has big dreams of her own. Her life in Moonlight Harbor is good—she loves singing and playing guitar with The Mermaids, and she has the sweetest, most loyal boyfriend a girl could ask for—but it all feels so…small. She can’t help wondering if there’s something more out there for her. And she doesn’t understand why her mom won’t support her going to Nashville to find out.

Meanwhile, Bonnie threw in the towel on her love life long ago, but Loretta sure hasn’t. She’s determined to be swept off her feet, and she wants the same for her daughter. When the hunky new owner of The Drunken Sailor turns the tables on the band and Avril announces she’s leaving Moonlight Harbor, Bonnie’s comfortable life seems to be drifting away. Will these three generations of Mermaids find their happy endings on the Washington coast? Or will the change in the winds leave them all shipwrecked?

My Review:

Mermaid Beach
Moonlight Harbor #7
Shelia Roberts

 

Mermaid Beach, #7 in Shelia Roberts’ Moonlight Harbor series is amazing, it’s a love story, a family drama, a mothers and daughters saga, it’s also about being brave enough to follow your dreams and second chances. There are multiple stars in the book, mostly the three generations of Brinks women, Loretta, Bonnie and Avril but there are some really good costars too, some we’ve met in earlier Moonlight Harbor tales and some are new to us and every one is special. Speaking of the stars these three Brinks women are trailblazers, Loretta the sexagenarian is not afraid to look for love and put her heart out there. Bonnie, the conundrum who’s heart is encased in ice readers will learn more about and love as the author peels away her layers and then there’s Avril who is a beautiful mix of the other two women, brave like Bonnie but with an open heart like Loretta. This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers and even though as in all series its best read in order there is enough of a complete story to read on its own. Fans of this series of Susan Wiggs, Emily Richards or Kristan Higgins will love this novel.

Once upon a time Bonnie Brinks had a dream of making it big in Nashville as a singer/songwriter, but all too quickly that dream turned into a nightmare when instead of writing a country song, her life became one, being betrayed by the man she loved and her best friend. The only thing good to come out of Nashville was her precious daughter Avril and she would do anything to prevent Avril from making the same mistakes she did. Now years later Bonnie has a good life in Moonlight Harbor, Washington splitting her time between working at the local realtor, painting Mermaids for fun and performing with The Mermaids a country girl band along with her mom and her daughter. But lately Avril has been restless and Bonnie recognizes the signs and wonders if she’s about to lose her only daughter to her own Nashville heartbreak or will Avril be one of the lucky ones and make it there.

Avril Brinks loves her mom and her grandma and loves performing with them as The Mermaids, she also loves teaching music at the local high school, but she’s got dreams and she can only realize those dreams in Nashville. She may not know why her mom hates Nashville so much but she knows her mom is only looking out for her best interests by trying to talk her out of going, but Avril’s an adult and she has to live her own life. Then there’s Kenny, the sweetest man ever and she knows she’d have to give him up and break not only his heart but her mother’s heart if she moves to Nashville to try her luck at songwriting. And she’s not sure she’s brave enough to do either.

Loretta Brinks once gave up her dreams of Nashville when she found the man of her dreams and had no problem giving up the bright lights for a happy home. But now she’s a widow and even though she loves performing with her daughter and granddaughter she’s ready to find love again. She also wishes she could make Bonnie see that trying to cut Avril’s wings will only backfire, that she needs to let Avril make her own way whether it’s a mistake or not it’s Avril’s choice to make. She also wishes Bonnie would open up the heart that must have been so badly broken during her Nashville days and let love in. But those are all tall orders.

The Series

About the author:

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. To date, she has seen over three million books sold both at home and abroad. Her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas, was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network and her novel, The Nine Lives of Christmas, was made into a movie for Hallmark . You can hang out with Sheila on Facebook and Instagram (@funwithsheila) or at her website (http://www.sheilasplace.com).