Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

August's Group Buddy Read is Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter!

GR Summary:
Sophie Lawson should be enjoying her sister’s wedding day. But nothing could have prepared her to see the best man again.

After her mother became bedridden and her father bailed on the family, Sophie found herself serving as a second mother to her twin brother, Seth, and younger sister, Jenna. Sophie supported her siblings through their college years, putting aside her own dream of opening a bookshop in Piper’s Cove—the quaint North Carolina beach town they frequented as children.

Now it’s finally time for Sophie to follow her own pursuits. Seth has a new job, and Jenna is set to marry her college beau in Piper’s Cove. But the destination wedding reunites Sophie with best man Aiden Maddox, her high school sweetheart who left her without a backward glance.

When an advancing hurricane strands Aiden in Piper’s Cove after the wedding, he finds the hotels booked to capacity and has to ask Sophie to put him up until the storm passes. As the two ride out the weather, old feelings rise to the surface. The delay also leaves Sophie with mere days to get her bookshop up and running. Can she trust Aiden to stick around? And will he find the courage to risk his heart?

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Chime in below if you plan on joining in!

I’m hoping to join. I’m third in line at my library for one copy.

I just finished this one last night. Read it in two days. Was very cute.

My library finally came through! Phew. That was a long hold list for sure.

If I can get my hands on it I will also read this one with the group.

Hope to join with this one.

I have a copy from my library now, so I'll be joining.

I've got a copy waiting for me . . . a few books to finish first, but should be finished in time for the discussion on the 15th. 😊

Still third in line. Not looking good...

Staci wrote: "Still third in line. Not looking good..."


I downloaded mine from the library through Freading - does your library have that? You don't have to wait on those.

I’m in!

I’m in!

Moved up in the wait list to #2. :-)

I'm in! Got the kindle version from hoopla!

I read it! Cute story! I loved the strong sense of community that developed midway through the book.

I just finished the audiobook version of the book. I really enjoyed it. I agree with Anne, that the community really pulled together and helped each other when there was a need.

I agree with you guys! Once the setting moved to the bookshop, the story picked up for me. I loved how they came together and helped her fix the shop.

While this isn’t a favorite DH novel for me, it was a nice quick read with a summery vibe.

Am I to late to be in? I am planning on reading this book today. I finally read a Denise Hunter book and really like it so I thought I would give this one a try. Would love to talk about it after!!

I think my favorite part of the book was how everyone came together and helped save the shop. Overall, I thought it was a good beach read.

Also, I haven't read many of her books yet, but there was a brief appearance of a couple of characters who seemed like they might have been characters in an earlier novel. This one is great as a stand-alone, but now I want to go back and read the previous series.

I live in north Texas, so this really isn't an issue here, but I kept worrying about how the bookshop would do in future hurricanes!

That's an interesting point, Jenn. I've never lived anywhere where there were hurricanes, but that stretch of North Carolina where this book is set is known to have many hurricanes hit. I know that there are people who choose to live and do business there, but I don't know if I would have the fortitude to live in an area where you know that it's not a matter of IF another bad hurricane will come through, but WHEN.

Finished it today. :-)

finished it today and I did really enjoy it!!

I’ve noticed that people who live in those settings seem to be very resilient about hurricanes. They just batten down the hatches so to speak, and hope for the best!

Christine, I’m glad you hopped in and read the book! :)

I jumped in on reading this at the last minute when I realized that it was available on Scribd. I thought it was an enjoyable read!

I'm glad you jumped in to join us, Crystal Rose!

One of the discussion questions is interesting to me...

"Sophie had trouble letting her siblings fend for themselves. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?"

This was a sticking point for me in the story. I could empathize, but it also went on to a nearly ridiculous point for me, and her change was almost too little too late. I'm just curious to what others thought.

Thanks for letting me jump into the buddy read. I hate to admit this but I am the one who needs to let go and let me deal with situation myself. This storyline isn't really realistic because she goes to them 1 time and the problem is solved. In reality it takes time to stop depending on a person, its not a quick fix.

It did seem like a quick fix to me as well, Christine. And they apologized but it seemed a bit lackluster in my opinion. Like she had one conversation with them, and they said they’d stop, but I have a hard time believing they didn’t already realize they were taking advantage. They either realized and didn’t care or didn’t realize and that just seemed far-fetched in either case.

Glad it wasn’t just me that felt this aspect could have been handled better!