Review: Blues Beach

Emotional rollercoaster worth the ride. Read it! #heartbreaking #sweet @tymberdalton
Blues Beach by Tymber Dalton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Warning, this is an emotional story which dances upon a shared suicide edge for a portion of the book. For those who struggle with whether to commit suicide or not, this book may trigger a desire to end it. I love stories that make me feel strongly. Usually the ones which stab a dagger into my heart and twists it so slowly that I bleed out from heartbreak, make it to my four star rating immediately. This story can be read as a standalone but is not recommended. Read the following three books: Heartache Spoken Here, Roll with the Punches and A Case of You to receive a better understanding of all the characters mentioned in this story.

This is Tracey's story. She made a mistake in her youth by letting the love of her life go. She never got over it and ended up making one mistake after another. Sometimes for people, there is one defining moment in time which changes the course of their life. For Tracey, letting her love go did it for her. I can't say that it was necessarily so terrible because she did end up with a lovely daughter Emma and some very good friends. Her journey has been long and hard. This story shows how and why Tracey had so many issues. It is true. Children who are not loved and have low self esteem can end up with problems as adults.

Tracey's immediate family make me livid with anger. What they do to her is horrendous and I can not understand why they treat her so badly. Arrogant, elitist jerks who give academic and successful people a bad name, they tear down Tracey with no rhyme or reason.

When Tracey attends a funeral of a beloved cousin, an impromptu high school reunion takes place. Reconnecting with her old boyfriend Eric is so sweet. This tender love between the two of them is fragile and filled with years of longing. Sometimes people are given a second chance and it is beautiful. This could be the happily ever after for Tracey. And I never thought I would want a happily ever after for her.

Tracey was not a favourite character of mine in the first three books that revolve around this non-traditional family. I loathed what she did to her daughter, Emma. She was nonredeemable in my eyes. Ms. Dalton masterfully pulls a fast one on me and now I'm rooting for Tracey and wanting to bash Emma over the head.

This is where the anger comes through again, along with severe melancholy. Tracey made a foolish promise to have buy off from Emma and her three fathers if she were to ever get serious again with a man. Why people make these kinds of promises, I don't know. Then again, I am not one for promises. I don't like to break promises so it is rare I will ever make one. Emma doesn't take well to her mother's reunion with Eric. It does come with complications that make the matters worse.

Quite honestly, Ms. Dalton creates a fantasy happily for now that I don't believe in. In my reality, my expectation is for Eric to kill himself. In my vengeful world, I'd have expected Eric to die and leave Tracey completely alone and traumatized to have lost her greatest love twice. And Emma would feel guilt for the rest of her life for destroying her mother's life forever. I do not think Emma suffered for what she did to Eric and I am expecting Emma to have a very painful lesson in her love life to balance the scales in my books. I have a pretty big hate on for Emma because of her irrational behaviour which the book tries to show as justified. I don't accept the rationalization even if I understand Emma's behaviour. I'm disappointed in her and I felt so badly for Eric.

Whenever a character who is strong, loving and a survivor is dealt with their kryptonite that leads to possible suicide, I am strongly impacted. My go-to emotion is fury. I want the aggressor pay to the price of causing the death of a good person. Fortunately, Ms. Dalton takes a different path. This story was very emotional for me and I loved it. Recommended to contemporary romance readers who love angst and lovers reunited through a second chance theme.