Reviews

For this and other reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

I had not read or listened to any other books by Pamela Kelly, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to dive into the audiobook of The Bookshop by the Bay. I’m a sucker for books about bookstores, and I was looking for a summer 2023 Beach Read.

Allison has been an editor at a magazine for 20 years, but dwindling circulation and a boss/friend doing everything to save her job, she knows it is time to step back and take a hard look at her next career choice. Her grown daughter opened a homemade jewelry store a year prior and seems very happy with the decision. That leads Allison to consider other options besides the publishing world.

Jess is a prominent and well-known lawyer in Charleston. She’s thrown for a loop when she finds out her husband has been cheating on her with his assistant. She gets out of Dodge and ends up at her childhood home in Cape Cod with her 30-year-old daughter, Caitlin, who still hasn’t found her passion in life. Jess turns to her best friend, Allison, to decompress, regroup, and rethink her life and future.

You can see where this is going, can’t you? A local bookstore owner mentions to Allison that they want to sell, and the wheels are set in motion for she and Jess and their daughters. The bookstore has an adjacent coffee shop (shouldn’t they all? I once worked in a used bookstore that was also a coffee shop.) The women all get their second chances at careers, love and life in general. It’s a heartwarming book that’s an easy breezy read or listen on the beach somewhere this summer.

I’ll definitely be checking out other Pamela Kelly books in the future.