Review: Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire

Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire

Forever

May 2012

Format: Paperback, 399 pages

Source: Personal copy

When all you hold dear is taken away . . .

When
a hurricane roars through Lacey Armstrong’s home on the coast of
Barefoot Bay, she decides all that remains in the rubble is opportunity.
A new hotel is just what Mimosa Key needs, and Lacey and her teenage
daughter are due for a fresh start. And nothing, especially not a hot, younger architect, is going to distract Lacey from finally making her dreams a reality.

A second chance is the only thing you have left.

Love
has already cost Clay Walker everything. And if he’s going to have any
chance of picking up the pieces of his life, he needs the job as Lacey
Armstrong’s architect. What’s not in the plans is falling for the
headstrong beauty. Her vision of the future is more appealing than
anything he could have ever drafted for himself. Will Clay’s designs on
Lacey’s heart be more than she can handle, or will she trust him to
build something that will last forever?

My thoughts: This is the first in Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay series and it’s been sitting on my bookshelf for a while now. I finally had the chance to read it, thanks to our recent vacation, and now I’m quite eager to read the next books in the series. This is the first book by Roxanne St. Claire I’ve read and I really enjoyed her writing style – it’s the perfect summer read and I’m hoping to pick up the next two in the series to read this summer.

Barefoot in the Sand introduces us to Lacey and her friends. After managing to survive a hurricane hiding out in the bathtub of her house with her daughter, Lacey has some serious thinking to do. Everything that she owns is gone and she realizes that now might be the perfect time to build that bed and breakfast she’s always dreamed of running. Contacting a well-known architect, she gets a lot more than she bargained for when Clay shows up. Clay, trying to make a name for himself as him and not his father, has big plans for Lacey’s little B&B. He just needs to get her onboard and is willing to do just about anything to get to her hire him.

Right from the first meeting between Lacey and Clay, the sparks start and it’s a fun ride to watch how everything plays out. Of course, their relationship doesn’t go smoothly – partly due to the age difference between the two of them (she’s got 10 years on him) and then there’s Lacey’s daughter Ashely, who still dreams that her father, Fox, will come back and marry her mom and the three of them will live happily-ever-after. Fox showing up definitely adds a twist to things and gives Lacey lots to think about. But there is definitely some strong chemistry between Lacey and Clay – so hot at times, it’s scorching! And I loved all the references to the movie Casablanca – despite the fact that I’ve yet to see it (definitely going on the must-see list!).

We also meet Lacey’s tight group of girlfriends – all of who will be featured in their own book in this series. As we meet them all – Zoe, Tessa and Jocelyn – we get glimpses of their backgrounds and what might be resolved when their stories are told. We also meet the townspeople of Mimosa Key. There’s some really interesting characters who think they are all that. I loved the town meetings, secret and planned, and the doctored up bylaw book. I’m not sure if the rest of the books take place in Mimosa Key or elsewhere, but I’m rooting for Mimosa Key – those townspeople are just too crazy not to see again!

When beginning a series, do you like it when you are given glimpses of what’s to come later in the series or would you rather be surprised?

Books in this series:

1. Barefoot in the Sand
2. Barefoot in the Rain
3. Barefoot in the Sun