Beach Rental [NOOK Book]

A must read

Highly recommended. I would read during my lunch at work & couldn't wait to get home to continue reading. Great story. Do yourself a favor & read this book. You won't me disappointed.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Wonderful Beach Story

Beach Rental took me back to the sands and shops of the Outer Banks, a perfect setting for Grace Greene's story of love, compassion, and hope. Juli's life takes an interesting turn when she agrees to Ben's proposition, but it isn't as easy as either of them anticipated, as the obstacles, in the form of Luke and Ben's family, threaten to trip up Juli's original plan. Thank you for a wonderful story.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Even the cover is like a vacation!

This cover is absolutely gorgeous. I'm a native of Virginia so I've spent lots of summers and off-seasons on the banks of North Carolina. Grace Greene has a wonderful way of stringing the right words together to sweep you away like the tide and make you feel like you're right there with Juli and Ben. You'll smell the salt in the air, feel the spray on your face, and swear you just heard the sound of a distant gull. A beautifully written story, perfect for your vacation escape.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Beach Rental by Grace Greene grabbed my attention right away! I

Beach Rental by Grace Greene grabbed my attention right away! I love that Grace Greene wasted no time in beginning the story and introducing the characters. I loved Juli, Ben and yes, even Luke. Maia was so sweet and endearing! The characters were developed well and felt like real people to me. When I had to set aside my reading, I found myself thinking about the story. Why would Juli decide to take such a leap of faith with a practical stranger? Why was Ben so taken with Juli? All of these questions had me itching to pick the book back up! I did and finished it in a day!

Grace Greene weaves a story of second chances, friendship, love and faith. A wonderful inspirational love story, Beach Rental will have you crying, cheering, and smiling! It is set in the beautiful Crystal Coast of North Carolina and is so well written that you will feel like you are right there with them! Join Juli, Ben and Luke as they find out where they should turn when things get tough. Find a cozy chair and get comfortable, because when you start Beach Rental, you won't be able to stop!

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Engrossing

To Ben Bradshaw, who is terminally ill, Juli is like a diamond--brilliant, beautiful, and strong. But Juli tells him she is more like a "junkyard dog". She stands against all odds to protect Ben as they share life at Sea Green Glory, their beach home. They strive for the ordinary life, not allowing his illness rule their world.

Juli, the foster child who felt invisible even in adulthood, finds a gentle happiness with Ben, a caring and giving companionship, but death will not be denied.

Juli, with her stubborn independence, has always known everything is temporary and plans to move on "alone again" after Ben's death. The surprise in his will leaves her financial secure but entangled with his family and friends. She is no longer the "invisible help".

Luke, Ben's cousin, saw Juli before she met Ben. It wasn't a positive meeting, as the instant forceful awareness each felt triggered a panic attack in Juli that sent her running into the garden. There she met Ben. He sees and pursues the woman he feels would make his last days meaningful and full of good, ordinary living. His family and friends are already grieving for him and he does not want his last days to be full of sadness.

Luke disapproves of what he sees as a mercenary arrangement, but he stays in touch, determined to protect Ben. The ensuing conflicts take the reader along on a vicarious experience with a compelling group of characters.

The antagonists, Frankie, the sleazy, sneaky acquaintance from Juli's past and Adele, Ben's hateful, unreasonable sister cause Juli a heap of grief creating an undercurrent of tension that surfaces periodically throughout the story.

Maia, who works at the art gallery, and Anna Barbour, the artist, prove to be real friends to Juli through the good and the bad-something Juli never experienced before. Pastor Herrin is a new experience for Juli also. He nurtures her spiritual awakening with a gentle touch.

Beach Rental is about two very different kinds of love. Yet both are genuine and rewarding. Each of these loves shepherds Juli into a place where she blooms with each of her accomplishments. As the hard, protective shell she'd built around herself to survive in an unconcerned world, melts away, Juli flourishes and gives the reader a lovely surprise.

Grace Greene, with a captivating style, writes a compelling story about coping with the worst and enjoying the best of life, making it easy for the reader to empathize with the characters. Ms. Greene's descriptions and her ability to create vibrant characters makes Beach Rental a book one wants to read non-stop. The strong heroine and the two very different but truly remarkable heroes lift one's spirit and showcases the depth of caring that reinforces the reality of how valuable faith, hope, and love are in life.

Originally posted at the Long and Short of It Romance Reviews

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great read about faith and love!

I really enjoyed this book - as my first by this author. (I just purchased two others on NOOK) and look forward to reading more. I enjoyed the setting on the NC coast--a lovely story about faith, friendship, and love. You never know what the future may bring. On the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, in the small town of Emerald Isle. Juli, a hard-working and getting nowhere fast, marries a dying man, Ben, for a financial settlement, not expecting he will set her on a journey of hope and love. The journey brings her to Luke Winters, a local art dealer, but Luke resents the woman who married his sick friend and warns her not to hurt Ben—and he’s watching to make sure she doesn't. Lots of good things learned along the way!

Magnificent

Posted on Romancing the Book's blog
Reviewed by Angie
Review Copy Provided by the Publisher

Right from the get go I was intrigued by this book. A marriage based on a business arrangement? Interesting!

Juli is a great female lead character as she’s very strong and very independent. That may seem weird considering that she married for money, but don’t let that fool you – she knew exactly what she was doing and what she was doing it for; to provide a better life for herself.

Ben is a sweet male lead, something I very, very much appreciated. He doesn’t try to push himself on Juli, but he very much feels compelled to want to be with her, to provide a better life for her.

Ben’s family are the quintessential overprotective busybodies who want to chase away the supposed gold digger. But as I said above, Juli doesn’t scare easily.

You can guess where the story is going, but it takes a few unique turns that I enjoyed. There is some suspense in the form of a former coworker of Juli’s kind of stalking her, but it’s pretty tame.

I definitely recommend this book if you have an afternoon free with no kids, no husband, nothing to do but read ’til your heart is content curled up on the couch.

Know this lady! She's good

Looks grace may be one of the new writers worth watching, for a debut novel she has done a great job.
Bud & Armeda

My Review of Beach Rental

Juli Cooke was abandoned by her mother as a young child and grew up in one foster home after another. She learned to become a survivor and lean on her own two feet. Working several jobs at once just to make ends meet, she never expected the sudden turn her life was about to take. One day, while working at her catering job, she meets Ben Bradshaw and she is suddenly swept up in an opportunity that she finds very difficult to refuse. Marrying Ben was just another step in the direction her life kept taking her-doing what it takes to survive another day. The one caveat, Ben is dying and he's willing to make sure Juli is well-provided for if she just marries him and lives out his dying days in platonic companionship with him. When Ben dies, she doesn't expect to be as shaken as she feels and her life moves further down the road in another unexpected turn. She has to deal with a dangerous situation from her past, as well as opposition from Ben's and his cousin, Luke's families. The real question becomes, can Juli learn to accept Ben's faith and find hope that she can have a life with true love. My review: Juli and Ben married for companionship but as I read this story, I kept hoping for a miraculous healing for Ben and that they'd truly fall in love. That was not the case, but they did grow to care about each other very much. I liked Juli's character from the get-go. She was very independent and no-nonsense, but with a real vulnerability. I liked how Ms. Greene wove a tapestry of faith into this story through the character of Ben and I loved her reference to faith as a mustard seed. All of the characters were fun to read about and I didn't feel the need to rush through any sections thinking, I really don't want to read about this character. Credit goes to Ms. Greene for creating a vivid backdrop to this story. I truly felt like I was right there and could hear the ocean waves crashing against the shoreline. Not to spoil the ending for anyone, I won't go into too much detail with this next point. However as I read, I was really wondering if the ending would be predictable and Juli's character would fall head over heels in love again so quickly. I was pleasantly surprised with Ms. Greene's unpredictable plot line. I do not have much to complain about here with the exception that I would've liked to see a few more action tags and less dialogue tags-but that is only a minute detail and more likely my personal taste. I have to say that Beach Rental is a very good contemporary drama, with likable characters, awesome scenery descriptions and great tone of voice. Beach Rental is Ms. Greene's debut novel and I am adding her to my list of authors to watch. I look forward to reading more of her work. My Rating (Beach Rental): 4 Stars-Top Notch Fiction 5 Stars-Outstanding Fiction: Rivals my love affair with the classics of Jane Austen 4 Stars-Top Notch Fiction: Highly recommend you read this book and watch this author 3 Stars-Ordinary Fiction: Not earth shattering revelation of greatness, but worth reading 2 Stars-Disappointing Fiction: Hoped for more and you won't find this book fulfilling 1 Star-Not-so-good Fiction: Difficult to keep reading; you won't want to read it either (Disclaimer: I reserve the right not to post reviews with a rating below 3 Stars) A gratis copy of this book was sent to this reviewer by the author / or publisher in exchange for an impartial evaluation.

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