wp-1620058673653.jpgWelcome to my stop on the The Summer of Lost and Found blog tour sponsored by Suzy Approved Book Tours! Thank you to Suzy for the invitation and thanks again to Mary Alice Monroe for the gifts! Harper Lee had to check everything out!

About the Book:

One of BookTrib’s Most Anticipated Reads of 2021
One of Get Literary’s Most Anticipated Reads of 2021
One of Country Living’s “30 Can’t-Miss Beach Reads for This Summer”
One of Frolic’s “25 Best Books of Spring 2021”

“Mary Alice Monroe takes you on a trip to the idyllic sun, sand, and gracious lifestyle of a Southern summer. This season’s must-read!” —Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Surfside Sisters

The New York Times bestselling Beach House series returns with this tender and compassionate novel following the Rutledge family as they face a summer of upheaval and change with perseverance, unity, and a dose of humor, discovering unexpected joys and lessons that will endure long past the season.

The coming of Spring usually means renewal, but for Linnea Rutledge, Spring 2020 threatens stagnation. Linnea faces another layoff, this time from the aquarium she adores. For her—and her family—finances, emotions, and health teeter at the brink. To complicate matters, her new love interest, Gordon, struggles to return to the Isle of Palms from England. Meanwhile, her old flame, John, turns up from California and is quarantining next door. She tries to ignore him, but when he sends her plaintive notes in the form of paper airplanes, old sparks ignite. When Gordon at last reaches the island, Linnea wonders—is it possible to love two men at the same time?

Love in the time of the coronavirus proves challenging, at times humorous, and ever changing. Relationships are redefined, friendships made and broken, and marriages tested. As the weeks turn to months, and another sea turtle season comes to a close, Linnea learns there are more meaningful lessons learned during this summer than opportunities lost, that summer is a time of wonder, and that the exotic lives in our own back yards. In The Summer of Lost and Found, Linnea and the Rutledge family continue to face their challenges with the strength, faith, and commitment that has inspired fans for decades.

Mary Alice Monroe once again delves into the complexities of family relationships and brings her signature “sensitive and true” (Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times bestselling author) storytelling to this poignant and timely novel of love, courage, and resilience.

My Thoughts:

Favorite author alert! I look forward to Mary Alice Monroe’s books every summer. She writes southern fiction with an environmental/ecological twist, and I never tire of that.

Set in the spring of 2020, in Isle of Palms, South Carolina (swoon! If you’ve ever been, you know!) there is much to relate to here with the story of the Rutledge family. Linnea is worried she may be laid off from the aquarium where she works. Her significant other is unable to fly back to South Carolina from England, and Linnea’s old beau, John, is in quarantine next door.

Yes, my friends, this book is about finding love in the time of coronavirus. Will Linnea wait for Gordon to arrive, or will the proximity of John win out? And it’s sea turtle season, so that makes everything better, right? Especially when it’s in your own back yard.

The Summer of Lost and Found is a sweet story of love and second chances. As ever with a Mary Alice Monroe book, it left me feeling good. It’s a heartwarming story, and while it’s technically part of a series, it completely stands on its own with enough backstory to fall in love with these charming characters.

I received a gifted copy.

About the Author:

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of nearly 30 novels and children’s books, including THE SUMMER OF LOST AND FOUND, on sale May 11, 2021.

More than 7.5 million copies of her books have been published worldwide, and she’s earned numerous accolades and awards, including: Induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; the Southwest Florida Author of Distinction Award; South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the prestigious Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.

Monroe is also the co-creator and co-host of the weekly webshow and podcast Friends and Fiction.

Monroe is captivated by the beauty and fragility of the wild habitat around her. In particular, the coastal southern landscape became a strong and important focus of many of her novels. Monroe immerses herself in both academic research and hands-on/volunteering to learn about a species or conservation issue. Then, she uses the knowledge and experiences working with animals and the wildlife experts to craft captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, shorebirds, and loggerhead sea turtles are among the wild species she has worked with and woven into her novels.

Monroe is an active conservationist and serves on the South Carolina Aquarium Board Emeritis, The Leatherback Trust, The Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, Friends of Coastal Carolina and Casting Carolinas Advisory Board. She is especially proud to be a twenty year plus state-certified volunteer with the Island Turtle Team, the group that first sparked her love for loggerhead sea turtles, and is the inspiration of her Beach House series.

Monroe has also published two children’s books, which complement the environmental themes she’s known for in her novels. Monroe’s first Middle Grade book, The Islanders, will released June 2021.

Have you read The Summer of Lost and Found, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR