Starting over at 55 can be difficult, but a new beach house, a sisterhood of friends, and a sweet guy can make things a bit easier. 

It’s been five years since Evelyn’s beloved husband passed, but the 55-year-old is stuck in the past. Evelyn’s sister has had enough, so she buys her a trip to their old summer getaway, Martha’s Vineyard, where Evelyn learns she’s not alone after meeting Wanda, a divorcee with a secret, and Bitty, a sassy widow.

As the three women make fast friends, they help each other learn how to move forward and start living again. So when Evelyn sees that her longtime dream home is on the market, she doesn’t hesitate. But Evelyn’s newfound inspiration to move on is tested when she reunites with an old flame.

Titles in the Cliffside Point series include: Beach Home Beginnings ~ Sea View Cottage ~ Sugar Beach Sunsets ~ Home on the Harbor ~ Christmas at Cliffside ~ Lakeside Lighthouse ~ Seagrass Sunrise ~ Half Moon Harbor ~ Seashell Summer ~ Beach Home Dreams ~

This is a clean, sweet romance with either closed doors/fade to black, or only kissing.

Title:  Beach Home Beginnings
Series:  Cliffside Point #1
Author:  Ellen Joy
Published:  March 26, 2022
My Rating:  4 stars

Beach Home Beginnings is the first title in the Cliffside Point series, a Romantic Women’s Fiction release featuring Evelyn, who has been just going through the motions since her husband’s sudden death.  She’s a best-selling author who can no longer write, consumed by grief, a woman without a direction these days.  Her sister will convince her (actually nag her) to take a single’s vacation, hoping that she’d meet someone who would bring her back into the living world… or at least react to something beyond her grief.  What Evelyn will find on this unwanted trip goes beyond a week back in Martha’s Vineyard.  It’s a chance to start living once again, to find her writing voice, to connect with strangers who will become as close as family, and perhaps, to reconnect with her first love, the man who broke her heart into a million pieces.

I enjoyed my time in Beach Home Beginnings by Ellen Joy.  Cliffside Point is a ten-book series, just the kind of immersion into a book world that I love.  There are real-life issues to be dealt with in this first story.  How to survive when a loved one dies.  How to face the future when the unthinkable happens.  How to open one’s heart to love again.  How to draw new friends close and plan a future together.  How to trust again, especially when the one you love is sending mixed signals.  How to live with a free heart and a desire to embrace all that life has to offer in the time left to one on this planet.  Some heavy subjects written with tender grace and compassion, some lighthearted fun moments of life, and some changes in a family dynamic.

Strong women coming together as strangers at first, and quickly becoming those soul-mate kind of friends that are so precious when found.  In this first story, we’ll get to know the basic story that brought them all together.  A few glimpses into what may be coming in their future, and so many possibilities for them all.  I love a story with strong women who become even stronger with time, circumstance, family, and a circle of good friends to help weather the storms of life.

I had such a good time in this world, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next title in this series.  If you love a well-written, emotional, and engaging Women’s Fiction story with a romantic twist, found family, touches of reality, with humor and grace, then you’d enjoy Beach Home Beginnings by Ellen Joy. 

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)