The Summer of Lost and Found by Mary Alice Monroe
The Beach House series, book 7
Gallery Books (May 11, 2021)
Southern Fiction/Womens Fiction
A timely, tender, and compassionate tale of perseverance, love, and the bonds of family in the face of tremendous and sometimes painful upheaval in this latest novel in the New York Times bestselling Beach House series.
The coming of spring usually means renewal, but for Linnea Rutledge, this spring is a season of challenge. Linnea faces another layoff, this time from the aquarium she adores, and her family’s finances, emotions, and health teeter on 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 COVID-19 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 during this summer than opportunities lost: that summer is a time of wonder, and that the exotic lives in our own backyards.
Poignant and moving, The Summer of Lost and Found is “a novel of growing up, saying goodbye to the past, and learning to ask yourself the hard questions, including one of the most vital of all: ‘Who do you really want to be’” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).
REVIEW
The Summer of Lost and Found is a story that inspires hope during an uncertain time. The challenges of job loss, financial loss, quarantines, and sickness has the multigeneration characters proving that they can come together and rise to the occasion. It’s a story of second chances, loss, and finding oneself. I loved how the beach house became a safe haven for many characters. The setting is one I know well, Isle of Palms in South Carolina, and the author’s descriptive writing allowed me to escape for a short while to one of my favorite vacation spots (and yearn to visit again; its been way too long). While it deals with the challenges and changes one faced during the beginning of COVID-19, it is not about the virus, but how the virus affected peoples lives in various ways. This is the very first book I’ve read by this author and I’m eager to explore her prior writings.
Reviewed by Comfy Chair Books/Lisa Reigel (July 18, 2022)
Received via Goodreads Giveaway
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For Buy links, excerpt, and more info on the novel:
Mary Alice Monroe
New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe found her true calling in environmental fiction when she moved to coastal South Carolina. Already a successful author, she was captivated by the beauty and fragility of her new home. Her experiences living in the midst of a habitat that was quickly changing gave her a strong and important focus for her novels.
Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of 22 novels, published worldwide, and the author of two children’s picture books. She writes richly textured stories that delve into the complexities of interpersonal relationships and the parallels between the land and life.
Monroe has achieved many lists, including the New York Times, USA Today and SIBA and starred reviews. She has received numerous awards, including several Readers’ Choice Awards, RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the Girls Scouts of America Woman of Distinction Award, the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing and was featured at the National Festival of the Book, the 2008 International Book Award for Green Fiction for The Butterfly’s Daughter, the 2015 Florida Book Festival Distinguished Author Award, and the ASPCA Henry Bergh award for Children’s Fiction. Monroe’s A Lowcountry Christmas won the 2017 Southern Prize for Fiction. Her novel, The Beach House, was adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring three-time Golden Globe nominee Andie MacDowell, Minka Kelly, and Chad Michael Murray. In 2018 Mary Alice Monroe was inducted into the South Carolina Literary Hall of Fame.
Mary Alice is an active conservationist and serves on the Board of the South Carolina Aquarium and The Leatherback Trust. She is a frequent speaker at book festivals, conferences, and private events. Monroe is also a frequent contributor to magazines and online blogs.
Mary Alice Monroe is published by Gallery Books and Aladdin Books, Simon & Schuster. Her agent is Faye Bender of The Book Group.
Monroe lives with her family on Isle of Palms, a barrier island off Charleston, South Carolina.
For additional information, go to www.maryalicemonroe.com
https://www.facebook.com/maryalicemonroe/
https://www.instagram.com/maryalicemonroe/
https://twitter.com/maryalicemonroe
comfychairbooks.com 
I enjoyed this book, too.
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