Title: The Shark Club
Author: Ann Kidd Taylor
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Contemporary,
Romance, Mystery, Chick Lit
Publisher: Viking Publishing (Penguin Random House)
Published: June 6, 2017

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

A warm and wonderfully vivid novel about taking second chances–in life and in the sea

One summer day on the beach in Florida, two extraordinary things happen to Maeve Donnelly. First, she is kissed by Daniel, the boy of her dreams. Then, she is bitten by a blacktip shark.

Eighteen years later, Maeve has thrown herself into her work as a world-traveling marine biologist discovering more about the minds of misunderstood sharks. But when Maeve returns home to the legendarily charming and eccentric Hotel of the Muses where she was raised by her grandmother, she finds more than just the blood orange sunsets and key lime pies she’s missed waiting for her.

While Maeve has always been fearless in the water, on land she is indecisive. A chance meeting on the beach with a plucky, irresistible little girl who is just as fascinated by the ocean as Maeve was growing up leaves her at a crossroads: Should she re-kindle her romance with Daniel, the first love she left behind when she dove into her work? Or indulge in a new romance with her colleague, Nicholas, who turns up in her hometown to investigate an illegal shark-finning operation?

Set against the intoxicating backdrop of palm trees, calypso bands, and perfect ocean views, The Shark Club is a story of the mysterious passions of one woman’s life: her first love and new love; the sea and sharks that inhabit it.

I requested this book last year when Shark Week was approaching, and I meant to read and review it during Shark Week. But, you know, life happens, and it turned out that I was only able to start it during Shark Week, but not finish it. I went through a horrible reading slump during the second half of 2018, and once summer was over (and because I had packed it in an unmarked box) I had to put off my reading of this book. Luckily, once I was over my slump in early January, I was able to devour the rest of The Shark Club! I am personally quite afraid of sharks, but have been meaning to take the time to understand them better (through my consumption of nonfiction and fiction).

I know that they are very misunderstood due to how they’ve been portrayed in Hollywood, and that there are a number of documentaries out there trying to bring awareness about the importance of these creatures. Reading The Shark Club was part of my effort to try and get on board (and it definitely was quite informative for being a fiction rather than a nonfiction book). It was a great read, and it made me feel as if I was transported back to summer (and made me wanted to go to a beach so so badly)! There was also romance and mystery in this book, which definitely added to the plot (and I won’t say any more about that because…spoilers). So, I recommend this one for reading during the summer and during the other months of the year!

Ann Kidd Taylor is the coauthor of Traveling with Pomegranates, a memoir written with her mother, Sue Monk Kidd. Published by Viking in 2009, it appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including the New York Times list, and has been published in several languages. Sue Monk Kidd, is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novels The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, and The Invention of Wings. The Shark Club is Ann’s first novel. She lives in southwest Florida with her husband, son, and two dogs.

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