Almost a 4.
Sometimes it was charming.
Sometimes it was 3 whiney girls.
Overall I liked it.

I love these characters. The women who own The Boardwalk Bookshop are real, they have problems, they struggle through life, but mostly they have each other. They support, love, and respect each other even when things are not going well. Bree, Mikki, and Ashley came to own the shop without being friends first and now are friends more than co-owners of the same store. Everyone should have friends like these three.



Susan Mallery did a great job of making her characters relatable. Their issues were real people's issues and their reactions were real people's reactions. I could relate on some level to each character. They all deserved love but did not know how to get there or if they deserved it. Ashley knew what she wanted and not being willing to settle for less was my favorite. My heart hurt for her, but I was proud of how she handled her life and made the decisions she did. Bree, dang her parents are not good parents. I wanted her to find out how to love, she deserved it so much. Mikki, oh girl… your relationship with your ex was admirable but I was glad to see her ready to move on.



The Boardwalk Bookshop is classic Susan Mallery. Three amazing women, all with their own struggles find their way to happiness together.

Sadly it was one of my least liked reads of Susan Mallery.

This book had me giggling and swinging my feet, cringing, laughing out loud, and tearing up. Loved it.

an easy read, I’ll definitely look into the author more! good book to read in between the murder mysteries/thrillers lol

I read all Susan Mallery books and I enjoyed this one a lot. Part of me wonders if it could have been a 3 book series if the storylines were more developed but as one book the author was able to weave the main characters' lives together better. I did get as emotionally invested in the characters as I usually do with her books but I liked the story.

Good grief

I definitely didn't mind the sexy parts that was great. Not typical for Mallery but it was still good to see in her romance book. But the overall book was just a mess. Don't read this book and think and it's just gonna be about a book shop, it's not. It follows three women, Ashley, Mikki, and Bree who go in together to buy a storefront on the beach. Bree runs the bookstore, Ashley a bakery, and Mikki a gift shop. All 3 women are at different points in their lives and of course they all are dealing with relationship issues. One romance came out of nowhere (felt forced), another had that whole I’m going to ignore what you say you want because I know what you need hero, and another had a potential second chance romance.

Ashley feels as if she knows where her life with her long term boyfriend is going, until he admits he wants to be with her forever, but not get married. Mikki is in a great relationship with her vibrator, but realizes she doesn’t want to be alone and bitter like her mother, so starts online dating. And last we have Bree, daughter of two literary powerhouses who doesn’t do long term relationships or love, til she meets Ashley’s brother (who is a psychopath). That last part was me.

It's 2022, it's okay if people don't get married, and Ashley started working my nerves about that entire thing. Considering most of my friends are now divorced, her thinking no marriage meant people could leave at any time drove me up the wall. Her entire storyline was boring.

Mikki was my favorite character. I loved her being caught between the road she took and a new one. If the book had just followed her I would have given this 5 stars.

Bree worked my nerves. For being so smart about others, she was blind to herself. And Mallory does my least favorite thing with an independent and sexually active woman, act like she’s not really happy til a man comes along.

The plot jumped around too much and the flow was pretty bad. I think things take place over maybe 6 months? Way too short for some of the things going on in this book. Way too many I love yours after like a day for me too.

The ending was ehhh, just not really satisfying except in Mikki’s case.

3.5 stars rounded up. Very cute read - I liked how they mentioned redondo and hermosa beach
A bunch of female leads and follows their love lives

DNF, . Too many characters & just too much going on . Just a bit too much for me right from the beginning