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The Beach Holiday by Anita Hughes
Paperback, 302 pages
Published: July 19th 2012 by Ebury Press
My rating: 3/5
Goodreads Summary: Have you ever wanted to escape?
When Amanda finds her French husband wrapped around his sous-chef, her perfect life comes crashing down. Worse, Andre seems to think she should just accept his infidelity and carry on as normal for the sake of their young son, Max. Devastated by his betrayal, Amanda accepts her mother's offer of an holiday and runs away with Max to an exclusive resort in Laguna Beach. The St. Regis Hotel is heaven on earth and Max is having the time of his life. But while Amanda knows she should be using the time to think about what she wants, her life gets more complicated by a meeting with a handsome older man...
When you look at that pretty cover and read the synopsis, you pretty much know what to expect-a quick and easy, more or less entertaining beach read. While I did have some slight problems with it, overall, it was fine.
The Holiday Beach follows the maxim "what you see is what you get". The synopsis promises some drama, some romance and some high life, and it's all there. Amanda Blick finds her French husband wrapped around his female staff. She's devastated, having given up her dreams and invested ten years into being a support to her ambitious and charming husband and raising her son. Amanda's mother convinces her to join her in on her vacation in the St. Regis in Laguna Beach where it's all about luxury, Bentleys, room service, designer clothes and-you guess-a new man.
Amanda is a great mother. That's the one thing I can say about her. Maybe the life of this woman is too far removed from the sort of life I live. If one of the first things that the man who proposes your hand tells you that adultery is a normal part of life where he comes from, would you still marry him and be shell-shocked when he follows up on his word? Amanda is bounced around like a ping-pong ball, taking instructions from her friend, her mother, she is even guided-coerced-into the new relationship. The one thing she's adamant about is getting a divorce form her husband, and eventually she makes a big decision that I desperately wanted to see earlier. I was actually yelling, "You go girl!"
I am never impressed with brands and luxury, not in real life, not in books. Hughes doesn't overdo it; labels are inserted strategically, like small reminders that Amanda does belong to the créme de la créme of the society.
And then, the thing with Edward...ah, I don't know, I found him quite pushy from the beginning. Not my favorite character in the book. But I did love Stephanie very much for making me laugh out loud several times and for being so supportive when she was not a character to expect it from in the beginning.
I read this book in one afternoon. I don't really know what else to say about it; it's take it or leave it. The Beach Holiday is definitely not a miss, but I've read better.
Many thanks to Ebury Press for sending me a review copy!
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