Wendy Wax’s Sunshine Beach is a Juicy Read Filled with Mystery, Romance, and Renovations

Sunshine Beach is the fifth installment of USA Today bestselling author Wendy Wax’s Ten Beach Road series, but it’s also designed to be read as a stand-alone book. Close friends Maddie, Avery and Nikki have previously had many an adventure in the world of house renovation and reality TV, along with an unfortunate entanglement in some dodgy finances. Throw in an ongoing if unlikely romance with a rock star, a complicated relationship with an A-rated actor, and some personal issues with loss and grief, and you have a recipe for a rollicking ride. Romance, beach, sun, sand, sea, and house renovations: What’s not to love?
The fun begins when the ladies spot a derelict hotel on some prime beachfront property along the Gulf coast of Florida. A plan hatches to bring the estate back to life while filming the transformation for their trademark TV show, Do Over. Problem is, they’ve been sold down the river as reality stars instead of renovators, so they’ll have to raise the capital themselves, find all the workers, and then produce and sell the show to another network.
Problems arise for their scheme when the two former owners of Sunshine Hotel turn out to be reluctant to go along with the idea. Renée and her husband seem tentatively open to persuasion, but her fragile, seemingly haunted half-sister Annelise is not so forthcoming. It emerges that there’s a tragic story behind the now overgrown hotel. Some 60-odd years ago, their father was brutally murdered there. Annelise’s mother disappeared the same night and was assumed to be the murderer. After the deaths of their grandparents 20 years later, they could no longer face dealing with the place, yet could not bear to sell it either, making it apparent that neither are close to having dealt with the tragedy. It’s agreed that the hotel can be renovated only if the cold case can be resurrected.
The murder mystery unravels throughout the trials and tribulations of the renovation, which in itself is delicious enough. Who doesn’t love a good description of seaside cabins being made over into midcentury modern cottages, or of rooftop deck construction overlooking turquoise waters? Anyone who has a weakness for HGTV (and who doesn’t?) will be entranced.
It is apparent that Wendy Wax had a clear vision of this place, since she based it on The Rellim Hotel in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, where she spent many childhood summers. Sadly, though, the classic vintage Florida family compound so well-described here is now gone. If it were able to come back to life in the same league as the Sunshine Hotel, it would make a killing—I for one would be looking to check-in and head to a lounger by the pool, preferably with a margarita and a good beach read like this one.
Sunshine Beach is on bookshelves now.