Review: Whisper Beach by Shelley Noble

Whisper Beach

by Shelley Noble

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 416

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Fifteen years ago, seventeen-year-old Vanessa Moran fell in love and lost her virginity but not to the same boy. Pregnant, desperate, and humiliated, she fled friends and family and Whisper Beach, New Jersey, never breathing a word about her secret to anyone. She hasn’t been back since. Now a professional Manhattan organizer, she returns to the funeral of her best friend’s husband. She intends on just paying her respects and leaving—though she can’t deny she also wants the town to see how far she’s come as a successful business woman. But her plans to make this a short visit fall by the wayside when her girlfriends have other ideas. 

Dorie, the owner of the pier’s Blue Crab Restaurant where Van and her friends worked as teenagers, needs help. Dorie’s roving husband spends every penny they make and now their restaurant is failing. 

Joe, the boy Van left behind without an explanation, has never stopped loving her. While he’s wary of getting hurt again, he also can’t help wondering what would happen if they took up where they left off. 

As the summer progresses and the restaurant takes on a new look, trouble comes from unexpected sources. For Van, this summer will test the meaning of friendship and trust—and how far love can bend before it breaks.


Kritters Thoughts:  The main character, Vanessa Moran or Van left home abruptly and has returned for a funeral and this is her first time back in many many years.  Leaving behind a crappy ex boyfriend, some ok friends and a horrible family situation, she didn't look back, but now she must go relive some memories and deal with the past so that maybe she can secure a better future.

Vanessa narrates most of the book, but the author sneakily added some moments that came from Joe's point of view and I loved them - it was the perfect amount to get a little different POV, but not take away from the story.  I also loved that although Vanessa was technically the main character her three childhood friends - Suze, Dana and Gigi all had their own storylines and could have almost been main characters on their own, it felt like an ensemble cast!  

This book left on a little bit of a cliff - a small mountain if you will, so will there be another one?  Is this a series?  I wouldn't mind heading back to this small town for another story with these characters, they were entertaining and dramatic, but not TOO dramatic.  If you aren't a family drama reader, this leans more on the family can be defined in different way sort of book.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.