Book Beginnings on Fridays/The Friday 56 - December 4th

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join on the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

I'm also joining in Book Beginnings on Friday. It's hosted by Rose City Reader. 

This is a novella I have on my Kindle.  It looks really good for a weekend read.

First Chapter

Julia Montgomery's heart tumbled as the familiar outline of her family shell shop came into view further down the beach.  There wasn't much time or money left - and she couldn't afford to ignore entering the shop much longer.

From 56% on my Kindle...

She'd always been so strong, completely in charge of her domain.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Never in a million years did Julia Montgomery think she’d be alone in middle age, running the family shell shop on her own. But when her husband dies in a tragic diving accident, that’s just where she finds herself. And now the Shell Shop is in danger, and along with it all of Julia’s precious family memories.

Julia and her husband started the shell shop decades ago, before their now-grown children were born—he sold the rare shells he found on diving trips around the world and she got to raise their kids amongst the balmy breezes and waving palm trees. She left him to it—he had his own system and she knew nothing about shells. Her world was cooking, making sandcastles and snuggling with the kids. Their arrangement was perfect, until it wasn’t.

Now that John’s gone, the bills are piling up and she can hardly bring herself to open the shop even though tourist season is fast approaching. Her eldest, Dillon, knows a bit about shells but doesn’t seem interested in stepping up to help. He prefers diving and surfing to having a proper job. Her daughter Aubrey is having an identity crisis and has her hands full with Julia’s beloved grandchildren. And the baby of the family, even in her mid-twenties, is struggling to make a go of it in a very difficult profession.

With all of this on Julia’s mind, she has to dig deep to figure out a way to keep the shop—and her home—afloat. When a world-famous shell collector expects a rare shell that her husband promised to provide, can the Montgomery family rally and figure out the method to John’s madness and keep the shop in business?

Escape into this feel-good beach series. You’ll fall in love with the Montgomery family while you visit the warm sunny beaches of the Florida Keys! 

 

What do you think?  What are you sharing today?