Just Beachy had me laughing from the start! And… it takes place in one of my favorite Florida beach towns so I was all in! It did get a bit muddled in the middle when lots of characters from previous books showed up and, in other places, it felt pretty light, but, overall, the humor and mystery were sweet.

Sydney has just been written off the popular detective show she’s been on for the past five years. (It’s really funny when she reads the script and realizes what’s happening.) She’s being replaced by a younger actress and her character, Cassie, is sent off to rehab, never to return. She decides it’s a good time to visit her best friend, Kyla, in Florida and, at the same time, her mother asks her to help out her grandmother (Grand) who is also in Florida.

When she gets there, she plans to just meet Kyla for a drink but everyone in the bar recognizes her and treats her like she’s Cassie, the character from her TV show. They ask her if she should be drinking (her TV character is in rehab) and there’s a lot of humor throughout the story with people thinking she is the character she plays on TV instead of a real person. While she’s at the bar, she manages to break up a robbery and then she’s surprised when the officer who shows up at the scene is Luke, her high school crush.

She ends up seeing Luke again because after Grand moves into a new townhome on the beach, her home gets broken into several times. Luke wants to protect Sydney and Grand and works to uncover who’s behind the break-ins while Sydney wonders if Grand may know more than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, Grand’s best friend, Myra, is opening a bookstore and Grand and Sydney help her paint and fix it up. Myra offers Sydney a part time job at the bookstore, the bar offers her a part time job as a bouncer, and, as she stays in Florida, things between her and Luke heat up.

I loved the setting of the story. It takes place along St. Petersburg Beach (on the Florida Gulf Coast) from the Don Cesar Hotel in Passe Grille up to Treasure Island. I have been there often over the years and one of the highlights for me was seeing the characters stop into some of my favorite places along the beach and enjoy meals and good times.

The book does suffer from sequelitis. In the middle of the book lots of characters from the author’s previous books showed up and I didn’t know–or really care–who they were. I also found the pacing slow although it picks back up as Sydney and Luke began to uncover the mystery of the break-ins.

I think readers who love the beautiful West Florida landscape will enjoy Just Beachy as will those looking for a lighthearted story with romance and a little mystery.