Tales from Sea Glass Inn

It’s not often I pick up sequels without having read the first book, particularly not when the summary makes it clear that the original characters will be playing a major part once again. This story collection, however, was too tempting to resist and, it turned out, very easy to follow with no knowledge of what went before. Each novella follows on from the previous story, although all could stand alone quite easily; since most feature at least one newcomer to the area, the characters learn about the town, the inn, and the local population along with new readers. I suspect there are a few snippets in there to please fans of the first book too, but nothing jarred with me as being out of keeping with each story’s individual arc.

The book opens with Mel and Pam, owners of Sea Glass Inn, preparing to start their day as normal, only to discover that overnight an oil spill has washed ashore on the beach below their home, destroying their tranquillity, devastating the local wildlife, and jeopardising the area’s tourist trade. As the women and their guests summon the emergency services, then begin to do what they can to rescue stricken seabirds, they wonder how their lives will ever be the same again. Help is on the way, however.

Almost the first person to arrive from outside the area is Jenny, a wildlife officer, well used to dealing with natural – and man-made – disasters. The daughter of globetrotting emergency medics, Jenny has never found a place to settle down and feels pressured by her parents to change careers from helping animals and birds to helping humans. It’s obvious to those around her, though, that her work with animals has huge benefits for the people who care about them too. Jenny is soon befriended by Helen, the town’s baker and another relative newcomer. Helen fears that the drop in tourist business due to the oil spill will cause her business to fold before it’s had a chance to become established, and yet she brings food to the workers at the makeshift wildlife shelter and pays particular attention to Jenny. The two women are drawn ever more strongly to each other, and as the first stage of the clean-up comes to an end, they have to make decisions regarding how and if they are going to continue their relationship once Jenny’s work with the town’s wildlife is completed.

As parts of the beach open up again, a few visitors drift back to the inn, one of them being Ariana, an author suffering from writer’s block. She hopes to find inspiration from the sea and solitude, but also finds the promise of love from a local bookstore owner, Jocelyn, who has a talent for matching her customers to the perfect book for their character and current mood.

These two novellas, along with the two that followed them, were a delightful glimpse into US small-town coastal life, showcasing the various reasons people have for moving to a beautiful part of the world and what it is that makes them stay even when their peace is shattered unexpectedly. I definitely plan to read the novel that introduces us to Mel and Pam and shall look out for other books by this author too.

Reviewed by Sandra Marlow

Oh wow. So many stories and characters in such a small package. All the stories somehow revolve around the Sea Glass Inn and Cannon Beach. The Inn was previously bought by Mel in Sea Glass Inn (also the book in which Pam and Mel fell in love). This book also does have some of the same characters (other than Pam and Mel who are definitely in the book) from the previous book. Like Danny, Tia, and Piper.

It's four novella length stories. But even with there being four big stories in the book it really did seem like a total novel as well. It takes place over one year. It starts with a horrific oil spill and that's when we start with the story of Jenny and Helen. Jenny is a Veterinarian who comes to help with the animals when a disaster happens. Helen is the owner of a bakery that is seriously hurt and in danger of closing because of the oil spill.

Then we get the story of Ari and Jocelyn. Joss is the owner of a bookstore in town and everyone calls her the 'book witch' because she's uncannily good at Reader's Advisory. Ari is an author who is having a huge bout of writer's block. Is Joss the cure?

Another of the stories is of Aspen and Heather. They have a bigger age gap than most of the other stories, and at the beginning seem very, very different. Aspen is a barista by day and a sculptor by night (when she has the time and money). She's at the Inn at an artist's retreat. While Heather is a very very successful bank loan officer who has been ordered to take a vacation by her doctor and isn't too happy about it at first. But, then they meet.

Finally we come to Maggie and Tam. They tie everyone together and the stories as well. Tam is Pam's friend from childhood and Maggie is Joss' twin sister. Tam has come back because her estranged father is dying and Maggie just happens to be his doctor. They too find something in each other.

None of the plots were super surprising. But all the characters were amazing (I'd love to read much more about any of these characters), and I really liked the little things in each of the stories. It was also such an interesting thing to see where Karis Walsh has come as a writer since she wrote Sea Glass Inn and now. It's a cool contrast.

Reviewed by Danielle Kimerer

This was fun reading about the Sea Glass Inn again (a previous novel from this author). It's four novellas about four new romances that revolve around the inn. Each romance happened quickly but that 'is expected with novellas. I would recommend.

Reviewed by Chris Johnson

4 stories in one book all with the same outcome I love happy endings. If you read the first book he main characters are in this as well since they own the Inn.

Reviewed by Alicia DeLoatch