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What would you do if you caught your brother cheating on your best friend? While Beth is proud of her Malibu beach shop, Surf Sandwiches, she's even prouder of her charismatic brother, Rick, who rose from foster care all the way through surgical residency. She makes subs, he saves lives. Things takes a turn for the happy after she finds out Rick is dating her new best friend, Jana. Then Jana’s handsome brother adds even more sparkle to Beth’s days…and nights. But when she catches Rick with another woman—like, with with—her visions of an idyllic family future disappear in one awful instant. Either she betrays her brother or she keeps his secret and risks losing the man she loves and her best friend. Love and loyalty collide with secrets and betrayal in this witty and emotional tale about the lengths we’ll go to for family, from Susan Mallery, bestselling author of The Boardwalk Bookshop.
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Zero Beach Vibes. Solid Mallery Tale. I normally get a bit into the review before explaining star deductions, but in this particular case the reason for the star deduction is the most critical thing you need to know about this book: It has *ZERO* beach vibes. Yes, it takes place in Malibu - largely across the street from the beach, at best - but the setting here is largely completely irrelevant to literally anything about the story. Mallery could have changed the location names to almost literally "Anywhere" and the overall story would read and feel *exactly* the same. Now, with that said, this actually *is* a solid tale of its type = in other words, a women's fiction/ romance blend that Mallery is so prolific with and does so well. If you've never read her works, this is a decent one to begin with - not her worst in my own experiences with her books, yet also not her best, but solidly indicative of her overall style of writing and storytelling. So if you're ready for a drama filled tale of two strangers who happen to become friends and who happen to develop an uncommon cross bond with each others' siblings... this tale will work well for you. Note that the spice level here is somewhere north of a warm glass of milk yet south of habanero - again, fairly typical of Mallery's overall style. So those that prefer the warm glass of milk or those that prefer ghost peppers... either direction there, you're likely going to be left a touch disappointed. Yet the overall tale, outside the bedroom, is actually quite strong in its own right, and you really should give it a chance anyway - there will most likely be other things about this tale that you truly enjoy, and maybe you can glass over the bedroom stuff. Overall a solid, well told tale... that simply has absolutely *zero* to do with anything remotely associated with its title. Very much recommended.