Find Danger and Mystery in Luxurious ‘Cocoa Beach’ [REVIEW]

Along the Florida coast, a young widow learns to stand firm in the face of adversity in Beatriz Williams’ Cocoa Beach. (Photo courtesy Justin Henry, Flickr)

When a young mother suddenly becomes a widow, she is left as the sole beneficiary of her husband’s Florida estate. As she learns to navigate a corporation she knows nothing about, she must also raise her daughter and deal with greedy relatives in a tropical boomtown she’s never visited in Beatriz Williams’ gripping novel, Cocoa Beach. 

William Morrow

During World War I, Virginia Fortescue traveled overseas with the Red Cross to escape her father’s criminal past. Brave and determined, she becomes an ambulance driver on the Western Front, transporting injured soldiers through dangerous territory to a hospital set up by the Americans.

While there, she meets British army surgeon Captain Simon Fitzwilliam, and falls completely under his spell. Soon she begins a sizzling affair with the charming doctor. But his facade hides a darkness Virginia knows nothing about, and as the war ends, she is forced to make a choice that will affect both her and her unborn child.

Five years later, Virginia becomes a widow and must travel to Cocoa Beach, Florida to settle Simon’s estate. There, she discovers the beauty of the area’s white sandy beaches, citrus groves and rumrunners and is quickly taken in by Simon’s siblings. But this coastal community isn’t all it is cracked up to be. A predatory presence lurks just beneath the surface of this heady paradise, and suddenly she is left with one nagging question: Was Simon murdered? If so, will she and her daughter be next?

Cocoa Beach is a total treat! It is historical fiction with a mysterious slant, and it sets fascinating characters against an irresistible backdrop to create the perfect summer read.

As a heroine, Virginia is tough and vivacious, and we can’t help but fall for her charming demeanor and quick wit. A dynamo who isn’t afraid to back down from a fight, she’s a woman who is both smart and strong enough to give Scarlett O’Hara a run for her money, one who would never wait to tackle tomorrow what she could today. Readers will be helpless to resist her, and will surely find themselves cheering her every triumph.

Decadent and scandalous, with just the right amount of romance and danger oozing out of every page, Beatriz Williams’ Cocoa Beach is sure to become a fan favorite. Don’t be surprised if you discover friends passing a dogearred copy from one to another on the warm, sultry sands of beaches everywhere this summer. This is one book that you won’t want to end!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beatriz Williams
(Photo courtesy Amanda Suanne Photography)

Beatriz Williams is the New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, Along the Infinite Sea, A Certain Age, and several other works of historical fiction. Beatriz’s books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.

A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before she turned her attention to writing novels that combine her passion for history with an obsessive devotion to voice and characterization.

Born in Seattle, Wash., Beatriz now lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children, where she divides her time between writing and laundry. Find out more about her at her home on the Web at BeatrizWilliams.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

COCOA BEACH
By Beatriz Williams
400 pgs. William Morrow. $15.99

Purchase Cocoa Beach at one of these fine online retailers: HarperCollins, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Cocoa Beach is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.