The Seaside Library by: Brenda Novak

Disclaimer: I was sent a free book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Purchase book HERE

I am excited to bring you another wonderful book by Branda Novak. She is becoming one of my favorite writers. 

Book Description

There are secrets that bring friends together, and others that drive them apart...

Mariners Island is barely ten miles long, but when Ivy, Ariana and Cam were teenagers, it was their whole world. Beyond the pristine beaches and iconic lighthouse lies the beautiful old library that belongs to Ivy’s family. While that bound Ivy to the island as an adult, Ariana could not leave Mariners behind fast enough. The town holds too many...memories. Not only her unrequited feelings for Cam, but the tragedy that left a scar on the community.

When a young girl went missing, a teenage Cam was unthinkably the prime suspect. Ariana and Ivy knew he couldn’t have hurt anyone, and they promised to protect him--even if it meant lying on his behalf.

Now, twenty years later, Ariana returns to Mariners just as new evidence emerges on the case, calling into question everything the three friends thought they knew--and everyone they thought they could trust. What really happened that night? Over the course of one eventful summer, Ariana, Ivy and Cam will learn the truth--about their pasts, their futures and the ties that still bind them as closely as the pages of a book...

About Brenda Novak

Brenda Novak is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author with more than eight million books in print, translated into twenty different languages. An eight-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Daphne and the Silver Bullet. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.6 million.

My Thoughts

I was excited to read another book by Brenda Noval. She is an excellent writer and has a way of pulling her reads in from page one. 

This book was no different in that as soon as I began reading it I wanted to know more about Ariana and her friends. More importantly, I wanted to know their secret. Brenda is very good at weaving a story, especially one with past secrets sprinkled with romance. She has a distinct way of giving you just a small bit of teasers with each page that makes you want to turn the page to see where it goes. 

This story begins when long-time friends Ariana, Cam, and Ivy reunite after 20 years. The reunion is overshadowed by the discovery of a body belonging to a young girl who went missing years before. Though their friend Cam was the main suspect in the girl's disappearance the secret they keep is even worst. As the detectives dig further into the mystery of Emily's disappearance more secrets are uncovered. The friends begin to question the choices. their feelings and whether their loyalty to each other may have been built on a lie. 

I really love the setting of this story. It takes place on an island. Brenda does a great job describing the scenery and how quickly the weather can change. At times the ominous description of the weather matched the storyline.

The characters were well written at times I wanted to give them all big hugs and tell them everything would be okay. I enjoyed watching the characters grow, change and come to terms with their feelings. I enjoyed how well the storyline and characters were entwined with one another. I will say I wanted to slap or shake Melanie and tell her to grow. 

Overall this book was really good and it begs the question would you lie for a friend?