I loved reading The Sands of Sea Blue Beach. I’ve long admired Rachel Hauck’s writing and this story didn’t change that enjoyment.

The plot revolves around journalist Emery Quinn, who faced the best and worst summer of her life in Sea Blue Beach. Best because she met a boy who was her soulmate, but the worst because she learned her mom was dying. Her father remarried and Emery consistently struggled to find her place in the new, blended family.

Architect Caleb Ransom has returned to his hometown to reconnect with his family and relaunch his career. The last person he expected to see was the girl who got away all those years ago. Emery accepts a job as the editor in chief of the local newspaper and soon learns the community is fully divided between progress and investment vs historical preservation.

While Caleb and Emery team up to protect the old side of town from the bulldozers, their feelings resurface. The rest of the book is about how while fighting for their future, the pair can come to terms with the past. The character development is beautiful and the story unfolds in a clever and emotionally intelligent way you’d expect from a Hauck novel. I didn’t really want the story to end and hope she’s planning to set more stories here.

I received a copy of The Sands of Sea Blue Beach from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are all my own.