Lexi Laney and Clare Hart grew up together having wondrous adventures across picturesque Nantucket. And when it was time to share intimate secrets ...
read full description
reviews
Aug 31, 2009
Katie(babs)
rated it: 
Clare Hart and Lexi Laney are the best of friends. They live on Nantucket Island and spend their summers playing at each other’s house or going to the beach. One day they find a special beach that is hidden off a country road. They claim the beach as their own and call it moon shell beach. They promise one another that they will never bring just any regular guy there, but only the men they end up marrying.
The years fly by and Clare and Lexi begin to drift apart. Clare has her first More...
The years fly by and Clare and Lexi begin to drift apart. Clare has her first More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 24, 2009
Laurel-Rain
rated it: 
A predictably comforting “beach” read, “Moon Shell Beach” brings to the reader all the ordinary elements of such a tale—friendship, betrayals, redemption—with the satisfying culmination in romance.
Lexi Laney and Clare Hart grew up on Nantucket Island, fast friends who revel in their beach adventures —specifically those involving a unique island haunt, a hidden cove they have named “Moon Shell Beach.” When their bond is frayed by serious disagreements, Lexi leaves the island with her More...
Lexi Laney and Clare Hart grew up on Nantucket Island, fast friends who revel in their beach adventures —specifically those involving a unique island haunt, a hidden cove they have named “Moon Shell Beach.” When their bond is frayed by serious disagreements, Lexi leaves the island with her More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 13, 2011
Gina
rated it: 
Clare and Lexi have been friends since childhood. Clare always one to play house while Lexi dreamed of great adventures. Both girls go to college together but when back home their first summer, Clare and Lexi grow apart. Clare is dating Jessie Gray and Lexi realizes that she won't be able to return to college. Lexi meets a rich and dazzling older man and accepts his proposal and spends years in a loveless marriage but getting the traveling she has yearned for. Now, 10 years later, Lexi retu
More...
Nov 28, 2010
Jackye
rated it:
After reading the Hot Flash books by Nancy Thayer, I was interested in trying something else by her.
This book is the story of two friends who grow apart then find each other again during a summer on their native island of Nantucket. Clare never left the island and owns a chocolate shop. She is engaged to Jesse, her high school sweetheart.
Lexi returns to the island after marrying a wealthy older man. She has traveled extensively, then finds her husband is cheating on her. She More...
This book is the story of two friends who grow apart then find each other again during a summer on their native island of Nantucket. Clare never left the island and owns a chocolate shop. She is engaged to Jesse, her high school sweetheart.
Lexi returns to the island after marrying a wealthy older man. She has traveled extensively, then finds her husband is cheating on her. She More...
Jun 07, 2010
Sara
rated it:
OK, I was bored on Sunday afternoon and picked this out of order to just read something light. And light it is--the perfect mindless book for an afternoon at the beach! Just don't expect anything more than that. It follows the lives of two childhood friends living on Nantucket over the course of 20 years or so. One falls in love as a teenager with a guy who can't keep his hands off women and the other runs away with an older real estate developer. In the process of this, they damage their fr
More...
Feb 27, 2009
JoAnn
rated it:
I have to say, I am partial to books about friendship and the beach, but this was an excellent book. I first read Nancy Thayer back in 1995 when I came across Belonging. I still re-read that book over and over.
Thayer's characters are real. You want to get to know them. You hate them, you love them, hate them some more and love them in the end. You find yourself cheering on Clare and Lexi throughout the book, trying not to take sides, just wanted the friendship to make it.
More...
Thayer's characters are real. You want to get to know them. You hate them, you love them, hate them some more and love them in the end. You find yourself cheering on Clare and Lexi throughout the book, trying not to take sides, just wanted the friendship to make it.
More...
Jul 10, 2011
Maria
rated it:
Para quem está já com o pensamento voltado para as férias de verão nada mais apropriado para ler de momento.
A Praia da Memória é um romance tão bonito que centra basicamente a sua história na vida de duas amigas cuja vida adulta o acaso vem separar. A ambição de Lexi leva-a para longe da terra natal, mas o pensamento e a traição do marido trazem-na de volta à pequena ilha onde fora tão feliz com Clare.
A amizade sobrevive à distância criada entre ambas e as grandes amigas conseguem sup More...
A Praia da Memória é um romance tão bonito que centra basicamente a sua história na vida de duas amigas cuja vida adulta o acaso vem separar. A ambição de Lexi leva-a para longe da terra natal, mas o pensamento e a traição do marido trazem-na de volta à pequena ilha onde fora tão feliz com Clare.
A amizade sobrevive à distância criada entre ambas e as grandes amigas conseguem sup More...
Feb 10, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
A sweet escapist novel about love and friendship. The beginning of the book, which recounts the youth of the two main characters, seems a little summarized (and I had trouble at first differentiating Lexi and Clare), but the central part of the book, about Lexi's return to the island and the rekindling of her relationship with her former best friend Clare, was engaging and enjoyable. The ending wrapped things up maybe a little too neatly, but to me it felt just right, like the happy ending in a
More...
Oct 11, 2009
Sari Lynn
rated it:
An enjoyable book - perfect for taking to the beach or for curling up with on a rainy day, when you're dreaming of the beach! Set on Nantucket, Lexi & Clare, best friends since girlhood, make very different choices after high school graduation. Clare remains on the island engaged to her philandering high school sweetheart, while Lexi marries a wealthy real estate developer and travels the world. Now, ten years later, Lexi is back. Will they be able to get past old grievances and slights (re
More...
Oct 02, 2011
Julie
rated it: 
Moon Shell Beach by Nancy Thayer, childhood secret beach where they'd get together and share their private secrets with one another,
book follows 3 girls as they grow up on the island,
one leaves for more schooling, one to get married, one stays. years later they are all
back on the island, brought together again after apologies are made for various reasons.
love small community living on an island.
book follows 3 girls as they grow up on the island,
one leaves for more schooling, one to get married, one stays. years later they are all
back on the island, brought together again after apologies are made for various reasons.
love small community living on an island.
Jul 17, 2010
Liz
rated it:
A great summer read. Hooks the reader from the first page and moves along at a good pace. Perhaps a little to idealistic as far as the forgiving relationship between the girls, but it was a pleasure to escape from the realities of life relationship. Not a book for those who like to delve into the characters but if, like me, wanted to escape on a summer's day, this was the book that met that criteria.
Jan 04, 2010
Sue
rated it:
I've enjoyed every book I've read of Nancy Thayer's and this one is no exception. An easy to read story about two best friends who have a falling out; they don't communicate for many years, then reconnect as they both experience life changes. Set on Nantucket, Nancy Thayer does a good job of describing daily life on the island, making one wish they could live there. This is a good "beach read."
Jul 04, 2010
Emmie
rated it: 
Very disappointed in this book. The plot was unbelievable and how could the author skip over at least some details of the 10 year separation in events from the beginning of the book to the "present" time? Surely those 10 years, which represented major changes in the lives of the primary characters deserved more than a couple of paragraphs. Not a good read.
Jun 30, 2009
Amy
rated it:
I liked between Husbands and Friends so I decided to try another title from this author. This book is aptly named as it is a non taxing beach read. It explores the relationship of two life long friends set on Nantucket. I listened to it on audio in my kitchen and it kept me engaged as I baked and cleaned. A solid three if you like chick lit.
Jul 21, 2011
Shani
rated it:
Was in the mood for something different then I usually read, so I picked this up. It's about friendship, relationships, and twists & turns in life. I didn't love it, but I did like it. Had a few spots towards the end of the book that I had to skip through....few too many details about intimate situations then I care to visualize. = P
Feb 25, 2011
Marie
rated it:
I liked this book, it catches your interest right from the beginning and keeps it til the end.
It's a story about 2 girls who grow up best of friends, end up having an argument, then fast forward 10 years and it takes you to where they come together again....
A must read if you want to find out what happens to them....
It's a story about 2 girls who grow up best of friends, end up having an argument, then fast forward 10 years and it takes you to where they come together again....
A must read if you want to find out what happens to them....
Jul 11, 2011
Deb
rated it:
Not sure I would actually say this book was "amazing", but I did love it! I like Nancy Thayer's writing and found this book to be a different one than her "Hot Flash" series.
Great summer read, typical chick lit, maybe.. follows 2 young girls throughout their lives on Nantucket, with many different twists and turns.
Great summer read, typical chick lit, maybe.. follows 2 young girls throughout their lives on Nantucket, with many different twists and turns.
Apr 14, 2009
Jeanne
rated it:
This was a surprisingly good book. Lexi and Clare are close childhood friends growing up on Nantucket. Harsh words end their friendship when Lexi leaves the Island to get married. The story develops when Lexi, newly divorced, returns to Nantucket. This is a story of friendship, hope and redemption. Very well written. Retta would have liked this one.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 24, 2011
Daphne
rated it:
This was different. I seem to have read a lot of contemporary female fiction in the last couple of years. I am enjoying it more and more even though I am at the wrong end of 50. I don't think there was enough fiction like this around when I was younger. I enjoyed this.
Sep 06, 2010
Kiwi
rated it:
This was a really great book about friendship and living in a small town. Old friendships being broken, but then rekindled after time...I first read the excerpts from this book in the Summer Reading Section of Redbook magazine a few years ago, and then had to buy the book!
Oct 25, 2009
Laura
rated it:
Ugh, this book was so cheesy. I think the fact that I listened to it on audio book made it worse. The narrator's portrayal of the characters was so over-the-top I caught myself stealing glances to the people on the elliptical machines next to me and the bus seat behind me to make sure they didn't hear what I was listening to. so embarrassing. This book was incredibly predictable and extremely far-fetched. thumbs down.
Mar 11, 2009
Leah
rated it:
I find Nancy Thayer's most recent books to lack in the character development that marked some of her earlier works. However having said that I still enjoyed this book on a rainy cold Sunday afternoon - it was suitably distracting and engaging.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 15, 2009
Delcy
rated it:
A quick read, pretty cheesy, ok for a beach read. Two best friends reunite, twisted romances, living on an island. Moon shellbeach is their special place. Contrived ending. Probably a sequel in the making. Foreshadowing was too obvious.
Aug 03, 2011
Susan
rated it:
It was a good read. I think right now, as a 22 year old missing her best friend, I read it differently than my mom (who gave it to me) reads it as an older married-kids woman. Not the best book i've ever read, but still enjoyable.
May 30, 2009
Cindy
rated it:
OK I don't usually give light, romantic type reads 4 stars, but this one was just so good. I find myself wanting to bask in the sun and find a Moon Shell Beach to share with my best friend! And the ending....well, just read this book! That's all I will say.
Jul 25, 2011
Miriam
rated it:
I enjoyed the story line of this book, something about best friends and coming of age books always get me. A nice, easy, quick, mindless read. Perfect for unwinding from a long day! Warning: Some sensuality in this book!
Aug 10, 2010
Jane
rated it:
Light, a good beach book. Nothing I would suggest for my book group, but I found it distracting, easy, good to read on a weekend. And I didn't put it down. Sometimes, this kind of light reading is exactly what I need
Jun 12, 2010
Michelle
rated it:
This was a quick read - very chick lit, but nice to read about Nantucket and the beach. I consider myself a mountain person, but I have to say that I forget how much I love the beach. This was a nice and fluffy read.
Aug 26, 2011
Dorene
rated it:
This book is for any woman who has ever fought with her best friend, lost her best friend, had a best friend or yearned for a best friend. I have not been able to put the book down because the writing is so smooth and realistic. I feel as if I am present in Nantucket and a witness to the drama as it is unfolding. I am half-way through and I don't want this book to end.
It is a perfect summer read- easy, interesting, and relatable.
lmk if you read it so we can discuss...
It is a perfect summer read- easy, interesting, and relatable.
lmk if you read it so we can discuss...
May 24, 2010
Barbara
rated it:
It was ok. Clair bothered me. She seemed self rightous and self centered like it's all about her. I didn't understand her anger with Lexi about Lexi's relationship with Hardin since Clair's own relationship with Jesse was so bad.
Liked the happy ending, but thought they would never get there.
Liked the happy ending, but thought they would never get there.
