The Denim Blue Sea (The Seaside Saga) Paperback – March 3, 2015

Great book series, just down home wholesome stories.

Dear Amazon, please note the date of my original review. Why are you asking me now, in May how I liked it?DENIM BLUE SEA delivers another twisting, turning tale of love: love of family, love of spouse, love of place.What stands out to me about Joanne DeMaio's newest work is the way she captures the beautiful setting of the Eastern seaboard and its quaint cottages while never boring the reader with descriptions of setting at the expense of character and plot. She does indeed have all her ducks (writing elements) in a row.This fifth novel begins with the wedding preparations for Maris and Jason. Both share a love of one another and a love of place, but at the same time the loss of Jason's friend is a steadily mounting crisis of grief that each must face. Jason tends to pull away rather than talk about his loss. Maris is so busy with her work in designing a denim line that she puts her feelings into a cubicle that she thinks she will choose to deal with later.At the same time, other marriages are facing crisis and breaking points. Kyle grieves the loss of his brother,Neil. His wife Lauren does not know how to help him move on with life, with or without her.While the wedding preparations go forward and the delightful details of wedding favors, decorations, weather forecasts, etc. all enter the picture, it is the feelings of these characters that bring the novel to life. The one comfort each finds is right in front of them: the blue sea and its driftline and the spouse on whom they take out their frustrations and sorrow. All have something to learn about life, and that something connects to family as well as to the acceptance of the end of life, death.Love conquers all. The pleasures of sunny dayas, sparkling water, quaint eateries, and long-time friends is more than a match for hasty words and lashing out.Joanne DeMaio offers an escape from the everyday routines of life to the hyper (but not exorbitanly expensive) wedding plans and the fact that couples live on in joy when they marry for the right reasons. I know that when I open the newest of DeMaio's works I will be tantalized with sights, scents, and tactile senses as well as challenged to discern if the characters can find their way on the emerging paths of their lives.

Joanne is always drawing and connecting through the story tangling lives together.Can't wait to continue the story in the next book.

words written about the sea, waves, drift line…were beautiful!It’s a short and easy read and can’t wait for the next book.

The Denim Blue Sea is a story of love, friendship and marriage. Jason and Maris are getting married in 2 weeks and their friends and family are converging in Stony Point, Connecticut to celebrate. Jason struggles with meeting the man who not only cost him his leg but also his brother's life. Maris wonders if she can give everything to her career and also to Jason. Kyle and Lauren's marriage is on the rocks. And Neil. Always Neil. Entwined in their lives even though he is long gone.Watching the waves along the beach this evening, from up on the bluff. There’s something sad about those waves breaking on the shore. Maybe it’s that they’re dying, the sound of the water tumbling and hissing over the sand is their last breath. But I don’t think they’re ever fully gone. That amazing energy of the sea can’t just stop—it shifts into the earth, the air. Because when I close my eyes, I hear it. When I take a deep breath, I feel it, really. Energy that strong just changes course, like the tide, I guess. Always moving, always there. Somewhere.I, along with others, waited what feels like a long time for this latest Joanne DeMaio installment. The characters all have histories in the prior books and their stories continue here. Joanne did a great job reminding us of their history in The Denim Blue Sea without creating a heavy back story. If you have not read the other novels you will follow the story and will likely want to go back and read the others after this.I follow Joanne DeMaio because her voice is descriptive without bogging the story down in adjectives. She creates tension without losing you along the way. She balances the good and the bad in a realistic way - what happens to these friends could be the story of our lives.If you want a wonderful summer read in your beach bag or you can't dip your toes in the breakers, pick up The Denim Blue Sea. You will find a whole new group of summertime friends between the covers.You can find this book on Amazon http://amzn.to/1z626DmJoanne's Amazon page is here http://amzn.to/1HEYNnSWhole Latte LifeBlue Jeans and Coffee BeansSnowflakes and Coffee CakesTrue BlendThe Denim Blue Sea

My reading pleasure

This was a nice little book for a summer weekend. From the beginning,there were clues to what was going on an when the plot unfolded, there were no surprises. Slowly we learned about three female characters who had been friends in a small beach community in New England where they had summered for many years. As life happened, they had met and two of them had married young men also a part of that community. The suspense builds around the couple yet to be married. She is a famous fashion designer with New York offices who sets up another office in the community to be near the man she is to marry. This young man is a gifted builder who can take any situation and turn it into a most beautiful home; however, his older brother whom he idolized had been killed some years earlier and that loss dogs his success. In order to have the marriage that both of them want, they have to deal with some demons that almost wreck their relationship. In a side plot, the older brother was also deeply involved with one of the women now married with children. She has real problems dealing with his loss and making things right with her husband. As the two plots intersect there are feelings of unrest throughout the community and especially among the six friends. The resolution is surprising only in the attitude of the father of the children. Very good interaction and scene description. Not sure why the "denim" played such an important part. Read it an you will be entertained.

Every single book this author has written makes you love this little town and each of the people that much more. Read Read Read. She just takes you there and you never want to leave.