Forever Beach by Shelley Noble

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (June 7, 2016)

 One woman struggling to hold on to what she has. . . . One woman learning to forgive. . . . Their lives entwined by one little girl. Sarah Hargreave is anxious to finalize the adoption of her foster daughter, Leila. Once a foster child herself, Sarah longs to become Leila’s “forever” family and give her all the love and stability she was denied in her own childhood. When Leila’s biological mother suddenly reappears and petitions the court for the return of her daughter, Sarah is terrified she’ll lose the little girl she loves to the drug- addicted mother who abandoned her. Having grown up in foster care, Ilona Cartwright is a lawyer who fights for the rights of children who have no one to fight for them. But to Sarah she is Nonie Blanchard, who grew up in the same group foster home as Sarah. They’d promised to be best friends forever, but then Nonie was adopted by a wealthy family, and Sarah never heard from her again. Sarah still hurts from the betrayal. But Nonie harbors her own resentment toward the past. Mistrustful of each other, the two women form a tenuous alliance to ensure Leila’s future, but when Leila’s very survival is on the line, they’ll have to come to terms with their own feelings of hurt and rejection to save the child they both have come to love.

My Thoughts…

There are two girls who are like sisters and one leaves when she is adopted.    The promise for letters never happens and feelings are hurt.     In time these two girls have grown to ladies and run into each other.    I was intrigued.   I was invested.   Nonie and Sarah have to make up.    It is only right.   The only way for this story to go.   Yet, I was never sure on how their relationship would end up.       Shelley Noble set up this part of the story perfectly.    She made both women real in their fears and feelings.    Their relationship was something that could happen, that did happen, and their reconciliation was perfect.

The story of Leila was heart breaking.   This is the part of the book that made me tear up.    How could a young girl go through so much?   I just kept thinking that this was happening in the world, this was real, it isn’t just fiction.     Being so young and torn from the person who has been your constant, the one who loves you, the one you trust and being sent to the unknown, a person who has hurt you in the past, who has left you in the past.   There is no easy way to come to terms with this.   I was amazed at how Sarah was able to handle the effects Leila’s bio mom had on her.     It wasn’t easy, for anyone, yet she never gave up.    

I thought I was picking up a great summer, beach book.   I was wrong.  It was an amazing book yet it was such a heavy topic.   I had tears by the 30^th page and could not put it down.  I read all 400+ pages in one day.      I recommend picking up your own copy immediately.   

 

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Shelley Noble

Shelley Noble is a former professional dancer and choreographer and has worked on a number of films. She lives at the Jersey shore where she loves to visit lighthouses and vintage carousels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America. Find out more about Shelley at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.