Stuck on the Beach with You
His brain took one look at her and said, "There you are."
Sarah is a new empty-nester, her son off to college. She’s divorced and has no responsibilities for the next year, other than figuring out what she wants her life to look like. She takes two weeks in Tidewater Bay at an inn, and literally runs into Josh, a travel writer, and she’s immediately attracted to him.
This is usually the point where people might say that love at first sight isn’t real. I personally know from personal experience that it is very real. It all depends on whether you’re willing to take a chance and see where it goes. (Hint: I did that very thing and have been happily married for over twenty-eight years.)
Josh is former military, and has a support dog, a golden retriever called Percy, who never fully made it through support dog training. Percy loves to steal things, but he still is the best companion that Josh could wish for. When a terrible storm hits the island, people have to shelter in place, and he and Sarah end up sharing her room when he can’t get back to his rental.
This book wasn’t particularly billed as a romantic comedy, but there are moments that would support such a classification. My favorite one, the one that made me laugh out loud, is Josh in Sarah’s shower, singing a parody of a famous song. A very close second is every time Percy shows up with something in his mouth that isn’t his. He has a paw in getting Sarah and Josh together, so I’ll be lenient on the rest of his kleptomaniac tendencies.
I really enjoyed this story. As a woman of middle age, I can relate to the characters’ feelings. This is a well-written book, so come for the love at first sight romance, and stay for the very smart dog who knows when two people belong together.
