In the hills of Eastern Kentucky, Melinda Campbell lived in a mining town. When her father became ill with Black Lung Fever and could no longer work, her mother worked 50 hours a week in a grocery store/garage. She mopped floors, cleaned toilets, ran errands, and stocked shelves for a minimum wage. They struggled, close and loving. Melinda cared for her father and books played an important part in her upbringing.

One day, when she was 12, she took a shortcut through the woods to school. There she met Daniel Clausen, the son of the most hated man in Walker County. Clausen made his living traveling around the country closing mines, putting men out of work. At school, Daniel was always surrounded by his classmates and Melinda thought he was a stuck-up, rich kid. As they walked toward their homes, they talked. Melinda decided he was just a nice, very lonely kid. They became friends and as time passed, they became lovers. Daniel confided that his home life was unbearable. His father had already gotten rid of his brother and sister. He was cruel and abusive to Daniel.

When Daniel drove his car off the bridge, it was rumored to be suicide. Broken hearted, Melinda soon discovered she was pregnant with his child. She left town and delivered a daughter in Mississippi. A daughter she held for a few hours before she had to give her up for adoption. It was the only possible decision for Melinda. She had no money, needed home to care for her failing father. This was a chance for her daughter to have a loving home and a happy future. If Grandfather Clauson discovered her, he would take her away and ruin her life like he did his children.

Georgia Bockoven tells a story that will touch your heart. Melinda is a strong and sassy heroine that you cheer and root for. She held on to the dream of being reunited with her daughter for 13 years. When the call came from Jeremy Richmond, the adoptive father, inviting her to Santa Cruz, California to meet her daughter, she did not hesitate. Arriving at the beach cottage, she waited for the call to come from Jeremy. Instead, he arrived in person. Tall, handsome, with sun bleached hair, a GQ unshaven face, and dark brown eyes. He was bitter as he told how his wife left their daughter, Shiloh, the day before her 7th birthday because she had Lupus and her mother did not want to care for a sick child. Shiloh was in the hospital and plans were made to meet her there the next day

Her meeting with her daughter, Shiloh, was sweet. Melinda took her hand, smiled and said, "It's been a long time." Their journey back together was special filled with surprises and an ending, that to me, was the icing on the cake. THE BEACH HOUSE: COMING HOME is a gentle read that will make you cry and smile especially at Heidi, the kitten that came from the dumpster to heaven on earth! I loved this book.

Book Summary

Bestselling author Georgia Bockoven is at her powerful and emotional peak in this novel perfect for fans of Nancy Thayer and Elin Hilderbrand.

Unlock the door to the beach house…a place where life slows down, people come together, and love is the strongest force of all.

After you’ve given your baby to strangers, what do you say when someone asks if you have children?

Fourteen years ago, Melinda Campbell was fifteen and a half, pregnant and terrified. Desperate to protect her baby from a malicious grandfather and needed at home to take care of her own critically ill father, Melinda makes the most generous, heart-wrenching choice of all: adoption. Now she’s living the successful life her father struggled to give her, but missing her daughter with a longing that shadows every joy.

Jeremy Richmond knows the beach house the way a painter knows his canvas, intimately and focused on detail. His life revolves around his adopted daughter, Shiloh, the girl who’s owned his heart from the moment he first held her as an infant. They were a picture-perfect family until Shiloh was diagnosed with pediatric lupus and Jeremy’s wife walked away.

When Shiloh tells her father she’s tired of fighting her illness and wants to meet her biological mother before it’s too late, Jeremy agrees to find a woman he has no desire to meet.

From the moment Melinda and Jeremy come face-to-face, they realize their worlds will never be the same. Will the beach house that has harbored troubled hearts for decades prove to be the balm they need to heal…?