Beach House Rules

Kristy Woodson Harvey's novel follows Charlotte Sitterly, whose husband is arrested for a white-collar crime. She and her daughter Iris are locked out of their house by the FBI and become targets of @JuniperShoresSocialite, an anonymous Instagram account known for gossiping about the small coastal North Carolina town. With her bank accounts frozen, Charlotte moves into a former beachfront bed-and-breakfast occupied by a community of single mothers. Despite their difficult circumstances, Charlotte and Iris find unexpected friendship and enjoyment among the other families living there. When the women uncover a secret connection linking them together, it upends their understanding of the unconventional family they've formed and raises questions about whether their meeting was truly coincidental. The discovery of hidden truths forces the group to confront whether these revelations will help Charlotte and Iris rebuild their standing in the community or destroy the bonds they've created. The novel explores themes of mother-daughter relationships, small-town dynamics, friendship, and the strength found in leaning on a community of women during hardship.