The Last Bathing Beauty

By: Amy Sue Nathan

Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

A former beauty queen faces the secrets of her past - for herself and the sake of her family’s future - in a heartfelt novel about fate, choices, and second chances.

Everything seemed possible in the summer of 1951. Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’ lakeside resort. The "Catskills of the Midwest" was the perfect place for Betty to prepare for bigger things. She’d head to college in New York City. Her career as a fashion editor would flourish. But first, she’d enjoy a wondrous last summer at the beach falling deeply in love with an irresistible college boy and competing in the annual Miss South Haven pageant. On the precipice of a well-planned life, Betty’s future was limitless.

Decades later, the choices of that long-ago season still reverberate for Betty, now known as Boop. Especially when her granddaughter comes to her with a dilemma that echoes Boop’s memories of first love, broken hearts, and faraway dreams. It’s time to finally face the past - for the sake of her family and her own happiness. Maybe in reconciling the life she once imagined with the life she’s lived, Boop will discover it’s never too late for a second chance.

©2020 Amy Nathan Gropper (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A peak into the past

This author provides just enough orientation and keeps the story moving. She describes a time and place in which appearances were everything and there were a lot of rules around who was acceptable to marry. The fear of many is living an acceptable life vs a passionate life reaching to fulfill dreams. IMO this story explores that from the other side, after a life well lived.

Getaways

For the nostalgic, a nice story for a getaway from these troubled times. I thought the narration was very well done. I think a tag team narration for Betty and Boop would have been nice, but I very much enjoyed it

Sweet story spanning generations

This story was as much about friendship and family as it was about romance and love. My mother is gone now, but would have been about the same age as "Boop", so it was a delightful glimpse into her generation when she was young. Her name was also Betty.. :) I imagined her as a young girl swooning over boys, having dreams and having to make tough decisions just like the Betty in the book. Loved the friendships with Georgia and Delores as well as her relationship with her granddaughter Hannah.

Of course some of it was predictable, but the characters are rich and wonderful, so I didn't mind a bit. Really glad I picked this book!

Happy girlfriend read

This book is a light summer romance with a Jewish flare. I enjoyed it while taking walks and cleaning the house.

Tear jerking ending

Sappy and predictable but well written and enjoyable characters. Too bad it was like that back then.

Good little story

This is a lovely little feel-good story. However, I found the prose to be a little clunky. That is, there is entirely too much affectation in the descriptions of clothes, rooms, etc. that I felt stood in the way of the story line. Maybe it was the author’s way of underscoring Betty’s interest in fashion. It was a nice juxtaposition of two eras, though, and a happy ending. It was very nice.

2 1/2 stars

I’m undecided how to rate this. I love the idea of summers at a lake in Michigan. But the book was predictable. The characters were pretty dull. And I don’t understand why the narrator gave all of the guys a stutter. I strongly feel that there are way too many books out there to waste time on a 2-star book but something kept me listening, so I suppose that makes this book at least 2 1/2 stars.

Meh.

I read this for a book club. I had to get it on audiobook so I could get through it. It was ok. The end was predictable enough that it made it tough to get through. I guess I am not the romance novel type.

Some mistakes turn out very good!.

For some reason, I thought this was a loose historical fiction about Betty Boop (the comic character). I know. Rereading the summary, the mistake was all mine, and while it isn't about Betty Book, it is a good listen!

A Sweet Story Of Blissoming Dreams

The true beauty of the story though is the way the heroine rewrites her dreams when the original plan falls away like sand through her fingers. Demonstrating that happiness is formed in the attitude to which we face life. Life can have a fairy tale ending.
The narrator brought her characters to life.