Love on Beach Avenue (The Sunshine Sisters #1)

Alina

Rating: really liked it
Yikes! Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of the hero or the heroine. The hero was an asshole through and through,

He did not believe in love, she did, she wanted more than a fling he did not, so she said I can't do this because she was in love with him and he was like okay I guess and they broke up, no dumping was involved, HOPE THAT CLEARS IT UP!!, he dumped her (you know the breakup that happens a chapter before the epilogue). ...

I saw nothing really redeemable about him as a romance hero but he seems to be really good with kids and dogs. See I for one completely understand that family has a huge impact on your life and beliefs, but that does not give you an excuse to be a dick. It just felt unbelievable the way the hero and heroine finally got together, she gave in so easily, like make him work for the shit he has said!

I just didn't like the heroine cause she never called on his behavior and she had very dumb responses, I would have preferred her having more of a backbone but maybe her sister(Taylor) will make up for it. She seemed to have a very good career, I applaud her on that.

The 3 stars were for Lucy(his dog), Zoe(her adorable niece) and Taylor (who has such an attitude and I love it)

Also in the next book, it seems that the heroine is going to be a dick so not really looking forward to reading that one.

This is an opinion, please do not get offended!

✰ Bianca ✰ BJ's Book Blog ✰

Rating: really liked it






We're in Cape May on the Jersey Coast with the three Sunshine sisters who run their own wedding planner business.

Avery is the first one to tell us her story.

She's mega busy going into the spring/summer wedding season when her bestie Ally from College asks her to organize her wedding in only three months!

Ally is renting a house in town for the summer to plan everything with Avery. And Ally isn't coming alone! She's bringing her big brother Carter. The guy Avery couldn't stand from the first second she met him a decade ago! And the dislike still seems to be mutual. Right?

Let the fun times begin ...

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH AVERY & CARTER?
WILL THERE BE A HEA??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT ☺

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You just know that by picking up a Jennifer Probst romance you'll get an adorable, funny, sexy and so very sweet and moving love story. And this one was no exception!

Avery and Carter were so much fun!

They can't stand each other - never could. But we all know about that little boys pulling little girls pigtails thing in kindergarten.

We just know that we'll get our happily ever after.

But of course it takes them a while to get there.

Lots of arguing and flirting and spark-flight-age!

Then we get this romantic background of wedding dresses and locations and cakes and whatnot.

It was just all so adorable and funny and sunny-wedding-beach-town-ish.

We even get lots of very moving moments - I had some very frequent eye-leakage!

I just adored this book and the whole cast! Lucy & Zoe! Super adorable! Wait till you meet them!



I can't wait to see what Taylor and Bella will have to tell us in the next two books!

Also - I want to move to Cape May asap! What an adorable location for a book series. I so want to see this whole thing on Netflix!!!

LOVE ON BEACH AVENUE was such an adorable & funny & sparky & emotional & wedding-y enemies-to-lovers New Jersey Beach Town love story! Just Beautiful!
Run to your nearest amazon for your own Carter - this one is mine!


💜 💜

MELISSA *Mel Reader*

Rating: really liked it
4 Stars!
(ARC provided by Amazon First Reads)

"Love is the ultimate freedom. It pushes you to be the best, challenges your worst, and tests your strength. It gives the most reward because you risk the most."



Avery Sunshine and her two sisters own and run Sunshine Bridal, and are known as the top wedding planners on the Jersey Shore in their small town Cape May. Avery had always believed in fairytales and happily ever after's, and loved her job. She hadn't yet found her own prince charming, but that didn't mean she wasn't still looking. She knew one day he'd find her, but she still found joy in helping others. When her best friend from college calls wanting her to plan her the perfect beach wedding, she's thrilled to help make all Ally's dreams come true. Then she encounters the man of honor. Ally's rude, uptight, hot older brother is just as annoying as she remembers. Carter Ross is still arrogant, judgmental, overbearing, demanding, and bossy as ever, and unfortunately she has to work with him since he plans to be involved in every detail of the wedding planning.



Growing up Carter was more of a father than a sibling to his sister Ally after they lost their parents. She was his only family, and had been his entire world most of his life. He was determined to give her the best of everything, and that includes making sure she gets whatever she wants for her special day. In order to oversee things he decides to spend the summer in Jersey. He remembers his sister's best friend Avery as feisty, unpredictable, and trouble. They always shared a mutual dislike of one another, but both would be forced to suck it up, and try to co-exist for Ally. As they clash while both trying to make Ally's dreams come true, they are surprised by the explosive passion and intense chemistry between them. They have more in common than they realize, and soon figure out they may have misjudged each other. They are both workaholics who believe family is everything, but could they have something between them worth fighting for? Will they take a chance on love, or be ruled by fear?



Love on Beach Avenue by Jennifer Probst is the first book in her new Sunshine Sisters series. I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers romance about family, friendship, and taking chances on love. This book was packed with sexual tension, and fabulous banter, as these two tried to one up each other before finally giving in to their hearts desires.

Syndi

Rating: really liked it
I am a tad disappointed with this book. I have a high hope for Miss Probst books. Usually it is funny and sassy. Love on the Beach Avenue has that small town romamce that makes me want to go foe vacation. God knows this pandemic causing me anxiety.

At the beginning I enjoy the back and forth between the characters. But then toward the end everything just wrong. The conclusion is too quick and forced. The grovelling is weak. And that banter is gone.

To balance it all, I give this book 3 stars.

3 stars

Wendy'sThoughts

Rating: really liked it
3 Tricky Acceptance Stars
* * * Spoiler Free
This is the first of a new series for the hugely popular Jennifer Probst. This series has the backbone of three very different but loving sisters. They own and run the very successful Sunshine Bridal home of the New Jersey Shore wedding planning company.

In this first entry, we have a couple of troupes to get us started. There is the best friend's older brother...Then this older brother and first sister Avery had instant dislike...so there is that enemies to lovers deal.

All of this is handled when the best friend comes to Avery to plan her wedding in only three months. The big brother, Carter, is determined to oversee everything causing an intense working environment, highlighting how close that thin line of Love and Hate. This is a man who is unable to believe in love and hardheaded, stubborn, sort of demanding, judgy, and arrogant.

In other words...could be the man of her dreams...

This has the banter, hiccups, and in the end a happy ending. We are given rewarding secondary characters, the flavor of the places, and people who make things happen.

Lots to look forward to as Jennifer Probst knows just how to give you what you want.

Love on Beach Avenue (The Sunshine Sisters #1)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Temptation on Ocean Drive (The Sunshine Sisters, #2)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Forever in Cape May (The Sunshine Sisters #3)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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Mindy Lou's Book Review

Rating: really liked it
This was a fun read. The enemies to lovers trope really worked in this one because I enjoyed the conflict between these two. It did make the hero seem a bit jerkish, but I still liked him. The heroine seemed pretty set in her way as well so they were good for each other. I also like the glimpse into the two sisters and their possible love interest. It made me more excited to move onto the next book in the series.

Jessica (the naptime writer)

Rating: really liked it
Jennifer Probst’s Love on Beach Avenue is an enemies to lovers romance between a wedding planner looking for love and her best friend’s commitment-denouncing older brother. Trope-wise it’s pretty much my catnip.

Avery Sunshine’s BFF Ally asks her to plan her wedding with the assistance of her brother and man of honor, Carter. That’s actually a big ask because Carter and Avery have never gotten along. Carter had to raise his much younger sister after their parents died and he considered Avery a bad influence on his sister. To his surprise when they meet again he’s attracted to Avery and vice versa, but there’s the small fact that he will never allow himself to fall in love standing in the way of their romance.

I appreciated the dynamics between sisters that Probst sets up here—that felt realistic to me—and I admired Avery’s drive to succeed with her work even as I recognized that she’s a workaholic who needs to set better boundaries.

But I have a few big issues with the book. I don’t like how Avery is portrayed as failing/having failed several times in her quest to plan weddings and how Carter rubs her face in it. I’m a big fan of competence porn and I want women to be professionally successful, especially when they’re set up in an enemies to lovers situation with a judgmental hero.

This dynamic made it especially hard to connect with Carter. It was only after 50% of the book that I feel like this effect starts dissipating. Carter also has a pretty harsh view of his dad and I didn’t appreciate a lie he makes about having an anxiety dog.

He is devoted to his sister and his dog, though, and that makes him somewhat more sympathetic.

There are also seem to be a few cases of questionable gender stereotypes in this romance.

Overall, I had a hard time connecting to the hero, and in some cases, the heroine, and several aspects of their dynamic hit the wrong note for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for my complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books)

Rating: really liked it

I adore enemies to lovers romances and I enjoyed this , but it didn’t blow me away. I usually love the fact Carter and Avery have always hated/annoyed each other, which you know means they’ve always been attracted and are too stubborn to admit it, that’s the fun with these books watching their chemistry unfurl into passion, however I found nothing appealing about Carters character, he was a bully , patronising and not really charismatic the way I’d expect if you’re going to have a dominant male. The thing that annoyed me also is Avery never calls carter out on his behaviour when he is being an ass and he is an ass a lot. Also what kind of best friend doesn’t expect you to be part of her wedding but arrange it. But it has dogs, romance, some cute characters. An easy distraction but bugged me too much

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Pam Nelson

Rating: really liked it
I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book as much as I did, the hero is a bit of a …. Hole lol and I kinda loved that about him if I am honest.

Avery and her sisters own a very busy very in demand business, Sunshine Bridal. Avery is a bit of a work acholic so when her best friend calls her up tells her she is getting married and would Avery be her wedding consultant how could Avery say no.

Ahh but in walks Carter, said best friends big brother and boy oh boy he doesn’t make Avery’s job any easier.

I love how it grew into something, it wasn’t insta-love it wasn’t even friends to lover more like enemies to lovers lol which I loved.

The only thing I would ask for is more sister time to really give us that connection.
LOVED the narration both narrators nailed it and gave all the characters a unique voice.

Can’t wait to dive into book 2.

Nina

Rating: really liked it
I was looking for an easy reading cleanser after my last read, and while this fit the bill, it was also really bad. The two main characters were both incredibly immature and overly cruel to each other that their ensuing attraction didn't make sense. Not actually worth reading.

Reading Addict

Rating: really liked it
Love on Beach Avenue was classic Jennifer Probst. Full of love of family, laughter, a bit of angst and hope for more! When Carter comes to Cape May to help plan his beloved younger sister's wedding, he is caught off guard by how much her best friend from college has grown up. Avery is a perfectionist in her job and plans on creating the perfect wedding for her old friend. The last thing that she needs is input from her friend's older and quite attractive stuffy older brother. Well you all know what they say about opposites attracting! This was a wonderful, uplifting story with plenty of laughter and a bit of heat. I really enjoyed the banter between Carter and Avery and how they kept trying to fight off the inevitable. The supporting characters are definitely one of the highlights of the story. Avery's sisters who she shares the wedding planning business with are great and her niece Zoe was a joy! Run and read this today and I know that more books will be coming in this series because it was too good to stop with one!

Vibliophile

Rating: really liked it
(2.5 stars) - Cute but flawed enemies-to-lovers with "mature" content

The story is ok - though the plot is "classic" (predictable), it's at least written fairly well.

When you're forced to be the responsible person over younger siblings, it makes you have to be more serious, uptight & focused on consequences.

It's made Carter more of a take charge alpha type than average, but in a bull-in-a-china-shop sort of way at times. His unusual experience losing his parents & raising his little sister from a young age has left him a little socio-romantically impaired.

Carter is right about many things, but he's smug & rather obnoxious about it. Even when he wants to impress, he doesn't seem to know how to do it without humiliating Avery. Meanwhile, Avery is irritated by Carter to the point that she's frequently unreasonable & inflexible.

I wasn't totally convinced that their relationship could develop from passionate dislike to sexual attraction then to more. Frankly, I think the author made Carter too much of a horse's butt.

And Avery - the woman who always managed to have everything under control - had a surprisingly unprofessional lack of control. Certainly, I could buy that she felt she had no choice but to make nice with her BFF's brother, but I couldn't see her handling him so ineptly given what she's supposed to have been used to.

The ending is sweet, at any rate, & they get a happily-ever-after. I do always enjoy series with broken people & families that find healing; however, I prefer my romances without the added porn & crudities, so I appreciate the free trial from prime, but I'll be skipping the rest of this series.

*Clean romance level: heroine sort of but not really holds out for something resembling a committed relationship while hero's figuring things out, graphic descriptions of intimate petting & several rounds of descriptive sex

*Language: mid-level; some 5 or 6 dozen uses of d-mn & h-ll, several dozen uses of sh-t, a few uses of d-ck & p---y, +15 f-bombs

*Religion: secular, dozens of uses of the Lord's Name in vain, sadly & totally unnecessarily, though at least none as curses

Dawnie

Rating: really liked it
this was a nice romance.

i have this strange fascination with wedding planners. no idea why but i really enjoy reading or watching media that includes wedding planners.

so i was excited for this.

and it was a good book.

my biggest issue was how unrealistic i found the two main characters for most of the book but especially the beginning.

i really disliked how extremely hateful and hurtful the main man was because he „knew“ the main woman when she was 19 and in college and away from her family for the first time and wanted to have some fun times with her girlfriend -who was the younger sister of the man.

i hate when characters mistreat others because of something that happened 10+ years ago especially if it wasn’t even that bad.
and he’s horrible to her!

he completely undermines her professionally -openly! and does everything he can to make her feel bad or as if she’s bad at her job.
which is a horrible thing to do!
especially to the best friend of your little sister who does your sister a favor!

so i wasn’t a big fan of him.

and sure it was made clear that he’s a control freak but you know what? i am one too and i know a few others (it runs in my family!) and what we all have in common is that we don’t undermine people that clearly know what they are doings because it’s their profession.
would i question everything and make them explain it all down to the smallest detail and cent spent? yes!
would i want to be there to see every detail and make sure it’s want i envision and want? yes.
but you know what i wouldn’t do?
try to seem smarter then they are and take over.

if you’re really that controlling and don’t like the chooses your sibling made in regards of a hired help then tell them that and give them options you think are better fitted for their needs.

but don’t try to take over behind their back and at the same time pretend everything is perfect to their face.

also you can’t talk down to a planner that was given a budget and they stuck to it, and then complain or pick something completely outside the budget that will be more fitting but wasn’t an option before the budget was taken away.
that’s completely stupid!
and that happens a few times, where the guy comes in and sees the options, complains about it even though it’s exactly what the bride wanted and so the planner did her job! but then he goes and shows up with something completely outside what was agreed on.
and excuse me, of course something that is completely outside of my price range but my dream is the one i will love more - but i would also be happy with my own choices and and sticking to the budget i picked?
so i found those scenes extremely „i am a man i know better!“ not only towards the planner but the bride/sister too.

and disguising those moments as „bets“ isn’t helping the situation at all. you shouldn’t make bets about what someone likes more of both people playing don’t have an even playing field!

also don’t be a nice guy to everyone but the person you are supposed to be nice to even if it’s just play acting in favor to your sibling.
that’s horrible too!

that horrible not only to the person having to deal with you but also completely unfair to your sibling!

sorry.
rant over (maybe)

moving on.

clearly i wasn’t a fan of the guy.
and he did get better but it took a long time (maybe around 180-200 or so pages out of the 300?) and i can’t say that i really bought how this romance was done.

both dislike each other a lot and don’t enjoy being around each other and just think the other is a bad person in some way - and then all of a sudden both start thinking how attracted the other one is? without real reason for that change?
mhm.

okay.

and even the romance itself was pretty problematic because it was clear that either of them would always have to be something they didn’t see themselves being.

the woman had to be interested in a relationship that she was pretty sure wouldn’t end up in a marriage because the man didn’t believe in those but she wanted exactly that.

so it’s foreseeable how it ends -one or both of them have to stop believing in what they want.


this all sounds as of this was a bad book.

it wasn’t.

i really loved the family dynamics outside the romance

i loved the sunshine sisters (which i am guessing all three books are based on) and how they are always there for each other but also fight each other.

i love the little niece! she was such a well done addition to the book!

i really enjoyed that we got a male wedding planner -sure we can already foresee that kn one of the next two books he’s going to be the love interest of one of the sisters. but still! it’s great so see a guy on that kind of job! and proudly doing it!

i loved that we had perfectionist as characters that actually had a huge struggle with letting others step in and help or take part of the work.
it’s rare to see this type of representation of perfectionism where it’s really all about getting every single little detail perfect and not wanting others to interfere until is finished.


there were some great moments challenging stereotypes for both men and women in there which was nice to see.

i also loved the small coastal town setting!

and it was really well written overall.


so all in all?
it’s a good book.

it clearly wasn’t my favorite romance couple but i did love the sunshine sisters and will continue and see where their stories are going.

i think that this book is one of those that you either love because you enjoy the moments between the two main characters or are similar to me and are frustrated with them and how that could develop into a romance when it’s toxic from start to finish.

doesn’t mean i disliked the book. i just disliked the main romance, but thankfully that wasn’t the only storyline in the book.

so overall i hope for better things with the next one!

Carol (StarAngel's Reviews) Allen

Rating: really liked it
Cute enemies to lovers story

This was such an enjoyable read that went by so quickly. When you get into a story and find that interest, it's really hard to put the book down. Even though there were times that both of the main characters were frustrating and mean, I still found myself rooting for their happily ever after.

Jodi Weissberg

Rating: really liked it
Prob not quite a 4. Fast. Fun summer romance. Beach read for sure. Takes place in cape may so that made it fun. Roni not for you.