10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A JOURNEY TOWARD REDISCOVERY...., May 4, 2011
This review is from: Ten Beach Road (Paperback)
Three women from very different circumstances have one thing in common. They have all suffered financial ruin at the hands of a financial manager, and they all now share ownership in a ramshackle beachfront property in Florida.
When they meet to assess their property, they come to a seemingly untenable decision. They will restore the historic home back to its original beauty, and then sell it. But they must achieve this in a record amount of time and by doing the work themselves, under the guidance of a local contractor.
The journey brings out all the strengths they weren't sure they had and forges friendships that will bring more than they could have bargained for. What happens during the course of this amazing journey will be totally unexpected, with some sad and some victorious moments.
Avery, Nicole, and Madeline will end up with something else they hadn't expected. They will discover untapped resources inside themselves that they will carry with them into the future. But what disasters and obstacles will befall them before they've reached their goal? And what will sustain them in the days, weeks, and months ahead?
Each character was someone I could relate to, even though none of them had experiences I'd enjoyed. Avery, an architect who had been reduced to a "Vanna White-like" role on the HGTV show she co-hosted with her ex-husband, is frustrated and full of anger; Nicole has a very successful matchmaking business to high-end clients, but something is missing from her life; and Madeline has been a homemaker all of her life, but her current empty nest has her seeking something new to do with her life.
In many ways, they are each ripe for the picking when fate throws them a few curves. Isn't it true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Each of them is forced to find out the truth of that on their new journey. I loved that each of the women began to reach out to one another, despite the secrets they tried to hold tight within. I felt emotionally drawn to them when obstacles popped up, as inevitably they would in such a situation. None of the women has been trained to do an "extreme makeover" like the one they face.
The contractor, Andrew, is an old family friend to Avery, but the way he seemingly condescends to her, calling her "Vanna" repeatedly, raised my ire. I could identify with the plight of being diminished by a man who is in a position of power.
I thoroughly enjoyed how Madeline came into her own as the leader and go-to person for organizational skills.
As I turned the pages of
Ten Beach Road, I didn't want the story to end. Even though I wanted to see what would happen, that satisfaction would come at the price of losing these friendships. For by this time, I felt as though these women were part of my own friendship circle. This book earned five stars from me.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect summer read, May 6, 2011
This review is from: Ten Beach Road (Paperback)
Reviewer: Stephanie
Blurb: On the brink of ruin, three very different women discover themselves where they least expect...at Ten Beach Road.
Madeline, Avery, and Nikki are strangers to one another, but they have one thing in common. They each wake up one morning to discover their life savings have vanished, along with their trusted financial manager... leaving them with nothing but co-ownership of a ramshackle beachfront house.
Madeline Singer is a homemaker coping with empty-nest syndrome and an unemployed husband. Avery Lawford is an architect -- or was, until she somehow became the sidekick on her ex-husband's TV show. And professional matchmaker Nikki Grant is trying to recover from her biggest mistake...
No one is going to save them but themselves. Determined to fight back, they throw their lots together and take on the challenge of restoring the historic beach house to its former glory. But just as they begin to reinvent themselves and discover the power of friendship, their secrets threaten to tear down their trust, and destroy their lives a second time.
Review: Wendy Wax understands the most difficult of dilemmas regarding family, secrets, undying passion, and inner turmoil, and that makes her stand out as a writer. Carefully, she identifies three women with three different concerns and takes readers on a journey that highlights not only on how their problems are solved, but also the struggles the three women go through, in order to get there.
A headlining Ponzi scheme involving Malcom Dyer leaves Maddie, Avery, and Nikki (among hundreds of others) abruptly penniless; they each now only have a beach house -- actually not even, since they each own a third of the beach house -- to their name. Bella Flora was once a majestic mansion overlooking the shore and the sunset, but today, its grounds are nothing short of ancient ruins.
To destroy the house, or to rebuild it are the only options the three women have, so they decide to take the risk and spend one summer making Bella Flora beautiful again.
Maddie needs to hang on, or else the rest of her family will fall apart. She's got an unemployed and quite depressed husband, an unmarried pregnant daughter, a college dropout son, and a ruthless mother-in-law on her hands. She needs to prevail with Bella Flora; it may be her last chance.
Avery is famous for her looks as a Vanna White on her ex-husband's home improvement television show -- but she's the one with the architecture degree. Every cent her late father left her is gone, thanks to Dyer's theft, and having been abandoned by her biological mother as a young child, she's not sure where to turn. But suddenly, her mom and a childhood crush are both back in her life to offer help with Bella Flora, though Avery is certain she doesn't need it. Determined to fix the house and fight on her own, just the way she's been her whole life, Avery learns the lessons of forgiveness and honest love, both strong parts of her that could either lift her up or bring her down.
Nikki's taking the loss the hardest, not only because no money means no more designer dresses and pretty car, but because Malcom Dyer is her brother. How can the man she's raised from a little boy (since their parents' deaths) commit such a monstrous act against her? Her fortune is gone and she is torn, but more importantly, she doesn't know how she'll cope with this ultimate betrayal.
Ten Beach Road is the perfect summer beach read, but not because it's fluffy and romantic. Ten Beach Road weaves a complicated story that brings the lives of three prominent women together, and changes them forever as well. In each of the characters, Wax depicts expert emotion; she everything, from an adoring mother, to a frightened lover, to a self-conscious "power woman" who knows exactly how to personalize each of her characters.
Relationships between mother and daughter, old acquaintances, and siblings brings sentiments of the breathtaking human life together, in Wax's novel. While reading, you feel like each of the characters are your own mother, your own sister, your own best friend. And by the end, you wish they actually were.
Quote: "The words settled over her. [Madeline] hadn't thought in those terms, she'd just been plowing ahead trying to hang on. But Kyra's recognition was like a balm to her soul; one she hadn't realized she needed.
'[I didn't realize how strong I was, either],' Maddie said. 'You don't really know what you're made of until things fall apart.' "
Source: Directly from publicist via Romancing the Book for review.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Beach Read!, June 16, 2011
This review is from: Ten Beach Road (Paperback)
Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax is the perfect novel to escape into! I've read one other book by Wendy Wax, that being Magnolia Wednesdays, which I loved. So I knew I wanted to read Ten Beach Road and I wasn't disappointed. I really enjoy the writing style of Wendy Wax and I can't wait to read more by her. She manages to draw me into the lives of her characters to the point where I just can't put the book down until I'm finished. Ten Beach Road is one to throw in your beach bag this summer and enjoy!
Madeline, Avery, and Nicole have never met but they are about to be thrown together because each has suffered a great financial loss thanks to a financial advisor who has taken off with everyone's money. The women all come from different backgrounds but it seems the one thing they have in common now is that they have shared ownership in a beachfront property in Florida. The women all meet to take a look at this property they now own in the hopes that they can recoup some of their financial losses but they are sorely disappointed by what they find when they get there - it is a disastrous mess!
They decide to restore Bella Flora to all her former glory but it's going to take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get this place to where they can sell it for a good price, which is what they all need in order to get out of the predicaments they are in financially. What unfolds as these three women work to get this place restored is at times serious and at others hilarious, but one thing it never is, is dull!
Usually when I read a book that involves a group of women I will gravitate towards one and connect more with them but in Ten Beach Road I really liked all three women. They were each very different in their personalities but they were all good and kind people at heart and I think that's what attracted me to all of them. Madeline is at a point in her life where her children have finally gone off to college and she's looking forward to time for herself. That is until she learns that her husband has actually been out of a job for half a year and lost all their money to this financial advisor and yet never once thought to tell her. Avery has been on a television home repair show with her now ex-husband for a few years but the show is really focused on him now and they decide to boot her out, which comes at a really inopportune time as she's lost all her money to the financial advisor as well. Then there's Nicole who is an extremely successful matchmaker but was also one of the people who put all her money in with the financial advisor and now she's left with no money, a tarnished reputation, and an even bigger secret that she's been keeping from the ladies.
What I loved most about Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax was the relationships that these women built as they got to know each other. They were complete strangers when they first met at Bella Flora but as they worked to restore her, they found that they themselves were being restored by the friendship that had blossomed between them all. I love books that revolve around women's friendships so I really enjoyed this novel and hated to see it end. Wendy Wax also has such a way with words and I loved the descriptions of the area and especially of Bella Flora. What I wouldn't give to have a beachfront property like Bella Flora to restore!
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