Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: June 21, 2025
Rating: 4/5
Source: Publisher
Publishers Summary:

Former socialite Tracy Deloche has nothing to her name but five ramshackle beach cottages and the unlikely friendships she’s formed with her tenants. Wanda, wise waitress turned popular pie-shop owner. Janya, the young Indian wife whose arranged marriage surprises her every day. Alice, a widow raising her complex tween-age granddaughter. And Maggie, Wanda’s daughter, a former Miami cop with a love life as complicated as Tracy’s own.

The new man in Tracy’s life hasn’t mentioned love or commitment—and Tracy has just discovered she’s pregnant. Janya longs to be a mother—and suddenly has two young siblings in her care. Maggie helps out at Wanda’s Wonderful Pies…but is the kitchen big enough for both Gray women? And Alice may lose her beloved granddaughter to someone no one expected….

As a tropical storm brews, the wind carries surprises and secrets over the bridge to Happiness Key. Now, more than ever, five friends will discover just how much they need one another.

Everything that matters to Tracy Deloche exists at Happiness Key. From friends to her home and her now boyfriend Marsh, but when things beyond Tracy’s control threaten to take it all away she’s left to question what she wants from her life. Through pies and bridges the other women in the story, including Wanda and Maggie seek to reconnect and rebuild. Together all five women at Happiness Key learn that through their friendship is the key to their survival.

My first thought is to share everything about Tracy and Marsh’s relationship, because they were without a doubt my absolute favorite part of Sunset Bridge. The way the story is set up it follows a number of different narrators and I felt myself constantly being drawn to Tracy. Having lost a life of luxury she now struggles to trust the men she gets involved with no matter how kind and caring they may be. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen with Tracy and Marsh right from the beginning, primarily because of her sudden discovery of her pregnancy. In the end it turned out to be just what I was hoping for and there was a definite happy ending to the story.

One of the other story lines that made the story quite interesting was Maggie’s and her history as a cop. The investigation she was working on spills over into her daily life after retiring from the force and she’s still struggling to make things right. This definitely made for a nice twist in the story line and gave something to keep the plot moving forward. That, as well as her relationship with Felo who she left the same time as she left her job.

If there was ever a great beach read Sunset Bridge would definitely be it. Stories of friendship, love, a great investigation and of course pies make it easy to love and enjoy on a breezy afternoon. If there was anything that might steer me away from it it would the size, it’s nearly 500 pages and quite a large book at that. But don’t let size deter you from another fantastic Emilie Richards novel, I’m positive you won’t be disappointed.

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