This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite
Sue Fagalde Lick’s Back to Ona Beach is the fourth book in the Up Beaver Creek series, but it reads well as a standalone novel. Forty-six-year-old musician PD Soares feels stuck in a holding pattern after losing her husband. She is far from the career she once dreamed about. She quits her job to look after her boyfriend Sam Kamealoha’s struggling music store in Seal Rock, as he reunites with his old band in Hawaii. It is a trip that keeps stretching longer than she was promised. Then an old friend walks in; her young friend Janey returns from New York with a secret just as a monster storm is raging, flooding the only road home. Winter comes, and she experiences a scary health crisis and a devastating loss. She is forced to question everything: home, faith, love, and the dreams she has abandoned for other people. By spring, she must decide with whom and where she truly belongs.
Back to Ona Beach is crafted in an unhurried, episodic style that makes the story enjoyable and hard to put down; the chapters read like short diary entries, meandering pleasantly through pie at the diner, weather reports, and small-town errands. The narrative voice grounds the story: self-deprecating, wry, and refreshingly frank as it explores menopause, grief, and money problems. Sue Fagalde Lick infuses the story with suspense, using the medical emergency, the storm, and the uncertainties surrounding PD’s relationship with Sam and her future. The characters are genuinely flawed and believable, and even after turning the last page, I still can’t forget PD and Sam, Dakota who wields a chainsaw, Eugenia who bakes cookies, and the irresponsible Janey. A warm, cozy, and satisfying read.
