Seabreeze Inn

Summer Beach, Book 1

By: Jan Moran

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

A widowed artist. An old crush. One summer to get her life back.

A USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling book series!

Ivy Marin’s life implodes after discovering her late husband spent their life savings on a beach house. Strapped for cash as an art teacher and with nowhere to go, Ivy and her recently jilted sister head to Summer Beach to recreate their lives. If only renovating a historical home didn’t unveil a host of hidden secrets in the beachside community—and her former high school crush wasn’t in charge of the small town.

Bennett Dylan led a campaign against Ivy’s late husband to block the rezoning of the beach house land for a high-rise resort. Although it’s been ten years since his wife’s death, Bennett is avoiding the pain of loving—and possibly losing—another woman. Ivy’s demands for a zoning variance for a bed-and-breakfast couldn’t come at a worse time for him.

Despite distractions, Ivy has one summer to sway the town to salvage her livelihood and the new life in Summer Beach she’s come to love.

With spellbinding intrigue and poignant self-discovery, the Seabreeze Inn is a sweet summer beach story. If you like sun-soaked beach sagas you can lose yourself in, the Seabreeze Inn and Summer Beach’s fascinating characters are for you. Start your vacation in Summer Beach now.

©2019 Jan Moran (P)2024 Sunny Palms Press

A leisurely-paced romance with an older couple

I was quite pleased by this sweet (just kissing), small-town romance with a little dash of mystery. It can also be classified as women’s fiction, an enemies-to-lovers romance, and a second chance romance. The relationship development is very slow-paced between the 50-year-old heroine Ivy and her love interest Bennett of the same age, so readers should only buy this book if they like that kind of thing. However, some interesting subplots really kept my attention for the entire book: the mysteries with the house, Ivy’s perplexing dead husband, and Ivy’s congenial relationship with her younger sister Shelly. I love the setting in a small beachside town in southern California. I felt like I really got to know the town and the residents, and I am looking forward to listening to the second book in the series. I recommend this to all fans of women’s fiction and all fans of sweet small town romance.

The story is told mostly from Ivy's perspective, with only about five chapters told from Bennett’s perspective. Ivy is mostly likable. For me, she does a little too much worrying and rehashing of things and delays taking any action in her love life. At least she people swift action about her business and financial situation. She does undergo admirable character development throughout the book. Ivy's relationship development is quite slow, but it seems like it might continue in book #2. I really like Bennett and all of the minor characters. Ivy has a large and loving extended family who are all lovely people.

The narrator Erin Bennett did a perfect job. I love her alto voice with its lovely tone and melodious quality. She clearly made every character sound distinctive and believable. I am very impressed with Erin Bennett’s performance, and I am definitely looking up her other work. She was the perfect choice as the narrator for this cozy, uplifting story with a vibrant older heroine.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy via #AudiobookObsession, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
#AudiobookObsession Reviewer

Cute Story!

I loved the descriptions of architecture, art, and furnishings. The mental picture was so vivid that I could practically smell the ocean.

Easy Listen!

Easy listen, good narrator and story line. I have already purchased the next several in the series.

Sweet!

It was a sweet story and it really held my attention. I'd like to listen to more in this series.

A Fun listen

Loved the story. Narrator is great. I’ve listened to the first four but somehow missed reviewing this one. The Christmas one was my least favorite. I’m starting seabreeze weddings now. I’m definitely invested in the characters!

Sweet story of second chances.

The story is an easy and uplifting listen, offering hope.
I'm eager to listen to the rest of the series.

Not relatable

I found it difficult to relate to the women in this book. I couldn’t finish it. Disappointing.

Great beach read

I loved the characters and the setting so much. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Truthful & Magical

Unbelievable things happen in life, tragedy & romance! My flower loving sister recommended this series to me, the art lover of our family.
A book of hope. Keep doing the best you can, things will be all right. (If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger!)

Twists and turns

Love the adventure of the treasure finds and your first crush after the loss of who you think is your life partner. Ivy learned many things about herself and her family. Interesting history !