Summer beach romance for book club: By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank

By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank is the official June Pick for the Peanut Blossom Book Club for Recovering Readers.

It is officially Beach Read Season! If ever there was a time to read something light and happy, the start of summer is it. 

This year, an actual trip to the beach may or may not be on your checklist. Whether you’re enjoying the sunshine in your own backyard or sitting by a pool, I’m sure you’re looking for an easy page-turner. 

So when picking our 2020 book club line-up, I decided to pick a fun romance with a wedding theme for June. Little did I know at the time that many weddings are being postponed right now. My heart goes out to all the brides changing their plans but hopefully, that happy day will get back on the calendar soon!

If this particular title doesn’t float your boat, you may want to check out my best suggestions for beach reads this summer. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy your little reading break to kick off the summer!

June’s Official Book Club Pick:  By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank

With a 4.5 star rating from 500+ reviews, I’m pleased to announce that it is our official June Pick for this year. 

Get your copy of this month’s book club pick:

Buy the book on Amazon.

Buy the book on Audible.

Money-saving tricks for reading this month’s book pick:

• You can get the book from your library.
• The Kindle version is currently just pennies more than the paperback, but you can save money on the Audible version if you own the Kindle copy. I love to use the Amazon Whispersync feature to go back and forth between audio and digital reading.

What is By Invitation Only about?

“The Lowcountry of South Carolina is where By Invitation Only begins at a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her son’s engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the bride’s father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private equity made him one of Chicago’s celebrated elite, discovers the limits and possibilities of cell phone range. While the mother of the bride, Susan Kennedy Cambria, who dabbles in the world of public relations and believes herself deserving of every square inch of her multimillion-dollar penthouse and imaginary carrara marble pedestal, learns about moonshine and dangerous liaisons.

Soon By Invitation Only zooms to Chicago, where the unraveling accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and super-sophisticated guests attending her son Fred’s second engagement party. Why a second party? Maybe it had been assumed that the first one wouldn’t be up to snuff? Fred is marrying Shelby Cambria, also an only child. The Cambrias’ dearest wish is for their daughter to be happy. If Shelby wants to marry Frederick, aka Fred, they will not stand in her way—although Susan does hope her friends won’t think her daughter is marrying more than a few degrees beneath her socially. At the same time, Diane worries that her son will be lost to her forever.

By Invitation Only is a tale of two families, one struggling to do well, one well to do, and one young couple—the privileged daughter of Chicago’s crème de la crème and the son of hard-working Southern peach farmers.

Dorothea Benton Frank offers a funny, sharp, and deeply empathetic novel of two very different worlds—of limousines and pickup trucks, caviars and pigs, skyscrapers and ocean spray—filled with a delightful cast of characters who all have something to hide and a lot to learn. A difference in legal opinions, a headlong dive from grace, and an abrupt twist will reveal the truth of who they are and demonstrate, when it truly counts, what kind of grit they have. Are they living the life they want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives if they were given the invitation to do so?”

Get your copy of the book here.

Discussion questions for By Invitation Only:

Coming soon!

Be sure to check out the official discussion in our book club group right here.