Author: Wendy Wax
Published: June 3, 2025 by Berkley
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Blurb: After losing her long-time acting gig on the hit show Murder 101, Sydney Ryan decides she needs a break from Hollywood politics. She heads to Treasure Island, Florida where her grandmother has been visiting and now refuses to leave. Sydney’s plan to lay low for a bit quickly goes awry though, as she is swept up in her grandmother’s now flourishing social life—Grand not only bought a new house in Casas de Flores, she’s also helping her neighbor Myra open a bookstore in Pass-a-Grille. But when someone breaks into Grand’s house repeatedly Sydney realizes her grandmother is keeping something from her.
Determined to ferret out the truth and protect her grandmother, Sydney enlists the help of the Ten Beach Road ladies and Luke, a local police officer who was once her high school crush. While Sydney puts her television crime solving skills to the test, she decides to act on the sizzling chemistry between her and Luke. And as Sydney spends more sunsets toasting to true friends and new romance, she begins to wonder if the sun is setting on her time in Hollywood and if this town could be the dawn of a new chapter.
My Opinion: I went into Just Beachy thinking I was diving back into the warm familiarity of the Ten Beach Road series, full of sunshine, friendship, fixer-uppers. What I got instead was... confusion. Sure, there are throwaway mentions of Pass-a-Grille and a nod to the ladies from the original crew, but this story is all Sydney Ryan. And wow, does her storyline stretch the boundaries of believability.
So, here’s Sydney: she’s been on a wildly successful, award-winning TV show for five years, winning Emmys and Golden Globes. But somehow, she’s broke? Because she spent it all on her dream home and personal maintenance? That math doesn’t math. Then the public supposedly confuses her with her character Cassie, a woman written into rehab, which leads to Sydney’s career collapse and a move to Florida to visit her grandmother and reinvent herself. As one does when they’re trying to reboot their Hollywood acting career. In Pass-a-Grille?
Let’s pause. Los Angeles to Florida as a career jumpstart? That’s not rebooting, that’s relocating to irrelevance. And the notion that people can't tell the difference between an actress and her character? Have we fallen into an alternate reality where basic media literacy no longer exists?
Then there’s the steamy scenes between Sydney and Luke, where I genuinely laughed out loud because they were written like an awkward improv sketch.
This book felt like one long misunderstanding between logic, plotting, and potential. Honestly, I should’ve abandoned ship early on. But instead, I popped in my earbuds, doubled the playback speed, and scrubbed the baseboards just to feel productive while waiting for something to happen that wasn’t as predictable as grandma’s secret and the gray fox.
I’m not saying I’ve broken up with Wendy Wax, but let’s just say we’re on a trial separation.
Determined to ferret out the truth and protect her grandmother, Sydney enlists the help of the Ten Beach Road ladies and Luke, a local police officer who was once her high school crush. While Sydney puts her television crime solving skills to the test, she decides to act on the sizzling chemistry between her and Luke. And as Sydney spends more sunsets toasting to true friends and new romance, she begins to wonder if the sun is setting on her time in Hollywood and if this town could be the dawn of a new chapter.
My Opinion: I went into Just Beachy thinking I was diving back into the warm familiarity of the Ten Beach Road series, full of sunshine, friendship, fixer-uppers. What I got instead was... confusion. Sure, there are throwaway mentions of Pass-a-Grille and a nod to the ladies from the original crew, but this story is all Sydney Ryan. And wow, does her storyline stretch the boundaries of believability.
So, here’s Sydney: she’s been on a wildly successful, award-winning TV show for five years, winning Emmys and Golden Globes. But somehow, she’s broke? Because she spent it all on her dream home and personal maintenance? That math doesn’t math. Then the public supposedly confuses her with her character Cassie, a woman written into rehab, which leads to Sydney’s career collapse and a move to Florida to visit her grandmother and reinvent herself. As one does when they’re trying to reboot their Hollywood acting career. In Pass-a-Grille?
Let’s pause. Los Angeles to Florida as a career jumpstart? That’s not rebooting, that’s relocating to irrelevance. And the notion that people can't tell the difference between an actress and her character? Have we fallen into an alternate reality where basic media literacy no longer exists?
Then there’s the steamy scenes between Sydney and Luke, where I genuinely laughed out loud because they were written like an awkward improv sketch.
This book felt like one long misunderstanding between logic, plotting, and potential. Honestly, I should’ve abandoned ship early on. But instead, I popped in my earbuds, doubled the playback speed, and scrubbed the baseboards just to feel productive while waiting for something to happen that wasn’t as predictable as grandma’s secret and the gray fox.
I’m not saying I’ve broken up with Wendy Wax, but let’s just say we’re on a trial separation.
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