Now in My Bookbag: Undertow (Book #5 in The Beach Bag Boxed Set), by Elizabeth O'Roark

I am thoroughly enamored with this story. It is well thought out and well written. Despite being written using flashbacks through the first part of the book, it flows well. The story brings a wide range of emotions and deals with love separated by time because of misunderstanding and others’ machinations.

Should the expectations of your family’s class (inner-circle), dictate behavior? Maura thinks so, especially after she believes her childhood ‘everything’ broke her heart. The truth is, she is afraid of turning her back on the familiar to have no one left. Author Elizabeth O’Roark deftly underscores the fact that the exceptionally wealthy can sometimes play by their own rules and pay their way to anything they want, including an extended sense of entitlement.

As O’Roark delivers Maura’s last summer at the beach, the book is as page-turning as it is frustrating, in a good way. I am compelled to see whether Maura leaves her world of privilege to work things out with Nate, or if she follows the future laid out for her by her family. You don’t want to miss the revelations as truths are uncovered and Maura’s decisions are finally unveiled. 5 stars