Title: Summer Rental

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Publisher: Whodunnit 2011

Genre: Women's Fiction

Pages: 402

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Well-Rounded Reader; What's in a Name -- Weather; TBR Pile; 52 Books -- W22; Women Authors

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia--whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life. And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity. Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs?

A light breezy beach bag book.  Thank goodness!  This hit the spot!  I needed a little levity to get me back on track.  I'm excited about the coming summer reading season.  While this novel was fairly predictable, I enjoyed taking the journey with the four main characters.