Review – Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire

Publisher: Forever
Publish Date: Out Now!
How I got this book: NetGalley

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?
*Blurb from Goodreads*

I am an absolute sucker for small town contemporary romances, and when the fairly new-to-me Roxanne St. Claire’s contemporary was posted on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read and review this book. I’ve only read a few things by her, but everytime I put down one of her books, I immediately want to pick up another.

Lacey lost her entire life in a hurricane and is forced to start over with her teenage daughter. Her lifelong dream of building a B&B on her grandparents land finally seems within her grasp. She wants none other than Clayton Walker to design and build it. However, she wasn’t expecting the younger Clay Walker to show up on her beach half naked and looking undeniably sexy.

Clay needs a second chance to get his life back, and the project with Lacey seems to be the best way to get that second chance. But as he begins working closely with her to get the B&B underway, Clay realizes that there is more to life than just work. But with the zoning issues on the island, Clay’s family drama, and an unexpected visitor from Lacey’s past, will she and Clay be able to build more than just a B&B?

I loved and adored this book. I couldn’t put it down, didn’t want to put it down! It was such a fun and lighthearted and super sexy read. This would be the perfect book to curl up with under the sun on the beach (or in the bathtub). One of the things that appealed to me the most in this story was the side relationships between Lacey and her best friends, Lacey and her daughter Ashley, and even Ashley and her father and Clay. St. Claire does a wonderful job of creating real and life-like situations between her characters, and those interactions were so wonderful to read. I’m super excited that we will get to see more and more of Lacey and her BFFs, especially since they were all so well developed, with their secrets and dreams.

I also thought that Lacey’s relationship with her teenage daughter was super realistic. I don’t have any kids, but my siblings are still teenagers, and I could absolutely relate to Ashley and her mannerisms and attitude in this book. I thought that St. Claire did an incredible job portraying the teen. I also really liked the differences in the dynamics between Ashley’s relationship with her mother, her absentee father who shows back up for a short period of time, and even Clay. Bravo!

I would have liked to get a little more alone time with Lacey and Clay, since it seemed like the time they had together was spent half on the page and half off. That being said, I loved their interplay together. They joked and laughed and shared so many little details with each other that it was easy to feel their connection. Although they both kept some pretty big secrets (well, really Clay kept the big secrets), he was also the kind of hero that you could tell felt every emotion deeply. His drawings of the future had me almost in tears. So sweet and romantic and beautiful!

I am anxious to see how this series progresses. It reminded me a lot of Jill Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor series in that the relationship between the heroines is a close one, with plenty of fun sexy times thrown in. I can’t wait to find out why Jocelyn is so scared to see her father, the backstory of Eve and her married doctor… I just know that St. Claire is going to rock the rest of the series, especially if this first book is any indication.

All in all I can’t say enough good things about this book. It was such a lighthearted read. It put a smile on my face for hours and I am so anxious to dive back into these characters to see where life takes them next. Fans of Jill Shalvis, Carly Phillips and Susan Mallery will definitely want to check out this series!
I give Barefoot in the Sand an A!

Kindle eBook | Amazon