Reviews

Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter

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caracwill's review

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

It could be a good plot but the writing is so bad it distracts from the story.

theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition

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3.0

Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter is a sweet Christian romance. It contains Denise Hunter’s conversational writing style which draws the reader into the book. The book has realistic characters. I like that the characters were not perfect. It gave them a chance to learn from their mistakes and grow. I just love Pippa, Sophie’s dog. She was such a sweetie. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Piper’s Cove. It sounded like a quaint town where I want to live. The residents are just great. This is a special community where people help each other in time of need. They are a welcoming bunch. Sophie had a vision for the bookshop that was special. I could relate to her love of books. My favorite phrase from Bookshop by the Sea came from Sophie when she said, “I love how books can transport you to another place.” For those who love Christian romances, you will thoroughly enjoy this charming tale. While it is a lovely story, it is predictable and there are repetitive details. I like how the Christian elements were woven into the book. There are good life lessons learned by our characters. We see that we are never too old to learn from our mistakes and change our ways. I appreciated the epilogue that nicely wrapped up the book. Bookshop By the Sea is a story about healing, forgiveness, realizing dreams, and second chances.

butlermarla78's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

bargainsleuth's review against another edition

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4.0

For this and all my other book reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

Write a book about a small town bookshop owner and I’m in. Really, I’m quite the sucker for bookstore owners because at least once or twice in my life I’ve wanted to own a bookstore. Put it in a coastal town and that makes it an added bonus.

I didn’t realize until after I’d listened to the book and looked it up on Goodreads that this is considered Christian fiction. And the author has had several of her books made into Hallmark movies. So that should tell you one thing: this may be a romance, but it’s a clean romance, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Sophie and Aiden were teenage sweethearts who had big plans together, but fate pulled them apart when Sophie’s dad left her to take care of her ailing mother. She also helps raise her brother and sister and sacrifices her big dreams to tend the family. She doesn’t tell Aiden this, and he just accepts it and goes away to college.

Seven years later, Sophie’s sister is getting married and her brother lands a great job. It’s time to concentrate on her dream of opening a bookshop by the sea and is mere weeks away from doing just that, if she can only get through the wedding. And the hurricane heading their way.

Aiden is at the wedding and he and Sophie exchange pleasantries. He can’t get out of town because of the impending storm, so he has to stay in town. He graciously offers to help Sophie because a huge tree limb falls on the store during the hurricane. The time spent together getting the bookstore up and running lends to plenty of time to confront their breakup and the reasons behind it.

Aiden proved that he’s not the self-centered teen who just left Sophie and went on with his life. Sophie also proved that she’s matured enough to talk about the reasons she stayed with her family, and through that, she begins to realize she’s been babying her brother and sister, doing too much for them and not letting them grow up enough to take care of themselves.

Both Sophie and Aiden realize that their feelings for each other have not quite gone away, and as they clean up their personal lives, they dream of a future together, some way, some how, despite living in different cities. There are some painful moments for both of them as they make the journey back to each other and a happy ending.