Friendships flourish at ‘Ten Beach Road’

Totally different Southern adventures with Mother Nature can be found in Wendy Wax’s fun novel, “Ten Beach Road.”

After losing all their savings in a Ponzi scheme, housewife Madeline, television maven Avery and matchmaker-to-the-stars Nikki are brought together by the only thing any of them has left, Bella Flora, a fixer-upper mansion in Pass-a-Grille, Fla.

Each woman is facing her own challenges. Maddie, who should be enjoying the empty nest, finds herself unexpectedly with an unemployed and depressed husband, a sick mother-in-law who calls her by the name of her husband's ex-girlfriend, and a pregnant daughter.

Avery, a talented architect, finds herself unemployed after being pushed out of the home repair TV show she started with her (now ex) husband, and Nikki no longer has a business after trusting the wrong person and losing all her money.

For each woman, Bella Flora is her last hope. Though strangers when they meet, the women band together to renovate and sell the house.

In “Ten Beach Road,” Wax tells a heartwarming story of how renovating a house also leads to renovating a life or two. The women, and the family and friends who join them, find a way to appreciate the best of Bella Flora while working hard to make it beautiful again.

The restoration process parallels their own personal reinventions, and when an unexpected hurricane threatens to tear apart all the work they have done, the women find an inner strength they never dreamed they could possess.

The real strength of the story comes in the friendship that develops between the women and how they encourage and challenge each other. This dynamic, fast-paced story is a loving tribute to friendship and the power of the female spirit.