The Beach House

May 1, 2021
The second book in the Book Club series by popular and prolific African American author Alers, following The Sea Caf� (2020), focuses on prodigy Leah Kent. After graduating high school at 15 and Vanderbilt University on a full academic scholarship at 18, Leah is pursued and seduced by a prominent Richmond attorney who is twice her age. Pregnant with twins, Leah marries him and lives a life of wealth but no freedom. Thirty years later, after being hospitalized after a nearly fatal beating by her husband, Leah heads to Coates Island off the coast of North Carolina to rejoin her friend Kayana Johnson, co-owner of a caf�. Kayana, newly married, offers Leah the use of the apartment over the caf�, and sparks soon fly between Leah and Derrick, Kayana's widowed brother and business partner. While there are lovely descriptions of clothing, home furnishings, and delectable food, a discussion among Leah and two book club members is one of the tale's most enjoyable aspects. Novels by Tracey Livesay, Brenda Jackson, and Reese Ryan offer other steamy romances featuring affluent multicultural characters.

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