Under the Gulf Coast Sun

by

Skip Rhudy

A quick trip back in time to the beginning of a new young love.

Under the Gulf Coast Sun is a lovely historical romance by author Skip Rhudy and features the young adult surfing culture of mid-1970s Port Aransas on the Texas Gulf coast and the beginning of one made-for-each-other couple’s relationship. Connor O’Reilly and Kassie Hernandez had met the previous summer when she and her family were vacationing in his hometown of Port Aransas. Hitting it off, they’d kept in touch when she and her family had returned home to Midland through heartfelt letters, sharing their hopes and dreams as they completed their senior year in high school. When summer returned, so did Kassie, an event that the shy, inexperienced surfer boy Connor had dreamed about all year. Now faced with the reality, he’s filled with self-doubt that this beautiful girl whom every guy in town wants would want him, believing instead that she is out of his league. 

What a good story! Connor is a genuinely nice guy and falls hard for Kassie. But with his recent history, the departure of his mother with a lover to pursue her own dreams, which didn’t include her only son, he’s got trust issues. Watching other guys hanging around and trying to catch Kassie’s eye is particularly difficult for him. 

Kassie, whip-smart and with a full-ride scholarship to UC San Diego in hand, is certain Connor is different from other guys, interested in her for their common interests and not just for her hot physical attributes. However, his differences could be a two-edged sword, and she worries that her interest in him could divert her from her plans for the future. Thankfully, they eventually talk about their concerns, but not before there is a BIG MISUNDERSTANDING that causes a course correction on their journey to a HEA. 

Told from multiple points of view, readers are privy to the inside skinny on the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and true motives. There’s a bit of repetitive “is she really into me” thinking on Connor’s part, but that seems to be a result of the emotional fallout from his mother’s actions. Kassie both abhorred and enjoyed the attention her physical appearance attracted, but she was only 18 years old when navigating through this. 

The plot includes a lot of interesting descriptions and discussions of surfing, surfing legends of the era, and Connor and Kevin’s work aboard the crew boat. Connor’s time in the Gulf is suspenseful, and I thought the author did a great job of not telegraphing how this scenario was actually going to work out. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The story has a lot of humorous moments as well, many centered around Kevin Stamford, but the party at the very beginning of the book had me laughing out loud. 

Set as it is in the mid-1970s, these characters would have been my contemporaries, so I could relate to a number of things mentioned. Women’s roles were still in transition, and Kassie’s father’s warnings about what she could expect as a woman in a university science program were accurate. Even the assumption that women would naturally consider higher education at that time would have been false. But other aspects of the “historical” (really?) setting were fun and nostalgic, such as the music, the lower drinking age, and no cell phones, to name a few. 

With its engaging characters, authentic descriptions, realistic dialogue, and suspenseful plot, I recommend UNDER THE GULF COAST SUN to readers of historical fiction and romance.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns.