Forever Beach by Shelley Noble

About the Book

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

Two women…

One little girl…

Can they forgive the past in order to ensure the future of an innocent child…?

Once a foster child herself, Sarah Hargreave can’t wait to finalize the adoption of her foster daughter Leila. Sarah longs to give her all the love and stability she was denied in her own childhood. She’s put her own friendships and even her relationship with Wyatt, her longtime lover, on hold in order to give Leila her full attention. 

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’s come to love as her own. Convinced the mother is still addicted to drugs, Sarah and her social worker enlist the help of high profile family lawyer, Ilona Cartwright. But when they meet, Sarah recognizes her as Nonie Blanchard who grew up in the same group foster home as Sarah. They’d promised to be best friends forever, 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 Sarah who she believes abandoned her when she needed her most.

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.

Forever Beach is not really the light-and-fluffy beach read the cover suggests... Instead, it’s a story about the foster care system and adoption, family and friendship, love and trust (with a few trips to the beach) and may even induce a few tears. Difficult memories and experiences from the past drive characters like Sarah and Ilona in their interactions surrounding foster child Leila, and each of Noble’s characters provides an interesting perspective to the storyline. I really enjoyed Forever Beach - it hooked me from the start and held on to all my emotions. Fans of contemporary fiction, especially those with an interest in foster care and adoption, should definitely consider reading this recent novel by Shelley Noble; I recommend it.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, I received a copy of Forever Beach and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. To read other opinions of the novel, click here.

About the Author

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.