Book Review: The House on Firefly Beach

My last review was on Summer at Firefly Beach, and my latest read, The House on Firefly Beach, follows one of the secondary characters from that story, Hallie Flynn’s sister Sydney Flynn. So, if you haven’t read Summer at Firefly Beach yet, start there. There are spoilers from that book below, so keep reading at your own risk.

Jenny Hale’s latest release, The House on Firefly Beach, focuses on Sydney’s story but we also get a great update on Hallie and Ben’s story: they’re getting married! In fact, the book starts at Hallie and Ben’s wedding, where Sydney is forced to face Nate Henderson, the man that broke her heart as a teenager.

To be honest, I was a little worried about reading this one because Sydney wasn’t my favorite character. It rubbed me the wrong way that she told Ben to stay away from Hallie in the first book because she wanted to protect his relationship with her son Robby. That being said, I’m not a mom, so I don’t pretend to understand the motivations of mothers who want to protect their children. So, I was willing to give her a pass.

I knew deep down I was bound to love this one. First, I’ve loved every Jenny Hale book I’ve read…and I’ve read them all! Second, my favorite romance trope is second chance romance. And third, I’m a sucker for a series! Once I fall in love with a setting and the characters, I just want to stay there forever. Hale doesn’t usually write series, so I was excited to see she was letting us stick around in Firefly Beach!

I wasn’t disappointed. This book totally turned me around on Sydney, and I loved getting to know and understand her better. It had all the elements I love about a second chance romance, and it felt like going home to return to Firefly Beach. We got to check in with Uncle Hank and everyone else from the first book. There was even a developer-trying-to-ruin-the-small-town element, which I can personally connect with because I live in a small beach town always fighting development.

If you loved the first book, you’ll love this one too. And if you haven’t read the first book, I highly recommend starting there and then grabbing this one. Jenny Hale consistently puts out some of my favorite beach reads, and this one was no exception.