Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
Read for Free
OR
$3.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

R J Gould
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The bench by Cromer beach: A bittersweet dip into relationships Kindle Edition

by R J Gould (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 740 ratings
See all formats and editions
Five people in a sleepy English coastal town. One year that changes everything.

They seem to have it all. Living in a pleasant and comfortable town, they are in fine health, are financially secure and have fulfilling friendships. But as their lives intertwine, cracks emerge, restlessness grows and relationships are threatened.

For Clive, is retirement the beginning of the end? Can fun-loving Saskia break free from her adulterous husband? Will Andy marry his childhood sweetheart? Is Jamie prepared to change his dishonest ways? Might Ellie’s happy marriage be shattered by temptation?

Heartwarming and heartbreaking collide in this novel about aspirations, expectations and the realities of everyday life.

What reviewers are saying about The bench by Cromer beach

“I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It’s gossipy, engaging and well-structured for maximum entertainment.” Adele Geras, Author.

“This book will warm you, make you smile and get you thinking.”

“Great character development. You really start rooting for those in trouble.”

“Involving, funny and uplifting – definitely a winner to lift your spirits.”

“By the time I was done, I felt I was leaving friends of my own.”

“Absolutely loved this book, I couldn’t put it down.”

“R J Gould brings his characters to life as he introduces a group of seemingly normal people with seemingly normal lives, yet it soon becomes clear that they are anything but ...”
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    255 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 25, 2020
  4. File size
    715 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. See all details
Next slide of product details

From the Publisher

1
2

3

4

5

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08DMR2CMT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (July 25, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 25, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 715 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 255 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 740 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
R J Gould

R J Gould

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

R J Gould is a rare male member of the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association, writing contemporary fiction about relationships using a mix of wry humour and pathos to describe the tragi-comic life journeys of his protagonists. He has been published by Headline Accent and Lume Books and also self-publishes.

Before becoming a full-time author he worked in the educational and charity sectors. In addition to his addiction to telling stories, he has somewhat milder addictions to playing tennis, watching film noir cinema, completing Wordle and eating dried mango slices.

R J Gould lives in Cambridge, England.

You can connect with him at www.rjgould.info, on twitter and Instagram @rjgould_author, and on Facebook at RJGouldauthor

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
740 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book enjoyable and entertaining. They appreciate the well-developed characters and the author's skill in describing their internal dialogue. The plot twists keep readers guessing, and the story about people falling in and out of love as they age is lovely.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

EnjoymentCharacter developmentPlot twists
7 customers mention "Enjoyment"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They find it an entertaining read with dimensional characters.

"...where the younger couples gather. This is a very quick and enjoyable read." Read more

"...Their interactions and life changes in a year. It was entertaining. The characters are dimensional and life happens...." Read more

"I really enjoyed reading this book. Getting into the lives of these six people brought some surprises and challenges...." Read more

"This was such a good read. Nothing dramatic, but very honest look at the lives of several people in a small coastal town...." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters. They appreciate the author's skill in describing their internal dialogue and life experiences.

"...as they determine which path they will take. The author makes his characters come alive and you care about what happens to them. As for..." Read more

"...It was entertaining. The characters are dimensional and life happens...." Read more

"Such a nice book with wonderful characters. The author has done a good job of describing the internal dialogue of characters." Read more

"Book was an enjoyable sweet read. Liked the characters too. Would read another by this author when I’m looking for entertaining, not deep book." Read more

3 customers mention "Plot twists"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's plot twists that keep them guessing. They appreciate the lovely story about people falling in and out of love as they age. The author intertwines their stories in a way that makes readers feel like they live among them.

"A lovely story about people as they fall in and out of love as they age...." Read more

"...I loved how the author interconnected their stories. I felt like I lived among them. Quick read because I couldn't put it down." Read more

"...Some great plot twists that kept me guessing. Well worth the read!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Veronica Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Bench
    Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    A lovely story about people as they fall in and out of love as they age. Of course, there is a lot of drama and angst as they determine which path they will take.
    The author makes his characters come alive and you care about what happens to them.
    As for the bench It is where the retired couple sits overlooking the seashore where the younger couples gather.
    This is a very quick and enjoyable read.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Deborah
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The lives of 5 people living in a small village. Their interactions and life changes in a year. It was entertaining. The characters are dimensional and life happens....
    Helpful
     Report
  • Jodi Wiesneski
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Bench by Cromer Beach
    Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I really enjoyed reading this book. Getting into the lives of these six people brought some surprises and challenges. I loved how the author interconnected their stories. I felt like I lived among them. Quick read because I couldn't put it down.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Tonya
    5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt
    Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This was such a good read. Nothing dramatic, but very honest look at the lives of several people in a small coastal town. Each with their own problems and challenges, just like normal people. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
    Helpful
     Report
  • Jfaulk
    5.0 out of 5 stars An every day story of seaside folk.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Such a nice book with wonderful characters. The author has done a good job of describing the internal dialogue of characters.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Elisabeth Carey
    4.0 out of 5 stars A warm, satisfying visit with the residents of seaside Cromer
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020
    This is a charming novel about an English seaside town.

    There's not really a plot here; it's about the people of Cromer getting on with their lives, with all their friendships, relationships, their businesses and professions; their children and their parents.

    Sharon Kipling and Andy Powell have been a couple since they were students; they're planning to get married. She's a teacher, and deputy head, at the local primary school. He's a real estate agent. They each meet many of their fellow Cromer residents through their work.

    But Sharon's father, Jamie, owns the Cromer Curiosity Shop--he says antiques, but other people say junk. Jamie has never been reluctant to talk up the value of what he's selling, dishonestly or not. He's also not reluctant to talk down, dishonestly or not, the value of what he's buying. Sharon's conflicts with her father go back to Jamie's infidelity when her mother was dying. The conflict explodes when Jamie scams Andy on the value of Andy's newly deceased father's extremely valuable collection of art and artifacts from India.

    Andy, hurt deeply by the sudden, tragic loss of both of his loving, devoted, parents when he was a child, is shocked that Sharon isn't just grateful to have a living parent, even a dishonest, unfaithful, unreliable one. It leads to arguments, conflict, and doubt about getting married.

    Jamie, shocked at how very angry his daughter is, and her declaration that she never wants to hear from him again, is meanwhile wondering if he's made a mistake--if this is costing him what he cares about most.

    Meanwhile, Rosemary and Clive, the retired couple that had befriended Andy's father, Samuel, happy to do his errands and visit with him, are in growing conflict over, of all things, diet. Rosemary is determined to get both of them on a healthy diet. With "healthy" mostly excluding meat of any kind, or sugar, or, well, a lot of things Clive enjoys. Neither one of them is really prepared to be at all flexible. After forty years of marriage, they're at loggerheads.

    Clive, walking the beach regularly, and Sharon, teaching and supervising schoolchildren, become aware of a couple who seemingly have everything, and are in fact coming apart, with the strains affecting their son badly.

    These and other residents of Cromer are living their ordinary lives, experiencing ordinary stresses and strains, and forming new friendships and relationships as they do. It's engrossing, warm, and satisfying.

    Recommended.

    I received a free electronic galley from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
    6 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining with nice characters
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Book was an enjoyable sweet read. Liked the characters too. Would read another by this author when I’m looking for entertaining, not deep book.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Kindle Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars Gossip
    Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Even though I liked the writing style, this book was boring. Little town by the sea with a lot of unhappy people.
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Kenneth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book The Bench at Cromer Beach
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Very good book and the fact each chapter was about a different character and how their life was going in a small town in Norfolk and how the characters were all interlinked in some way was a great story, very descriptive and very enjoyable to read - would recommend to buy it
    Report
  • Joy Tremblay
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet is an apt descriptor
    Reviewed in Canada on June 5, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This was an enjoyable read. I had read a blog by the author which interested me - about whether men can write romance. Turns out they can. Different from a woman's approach, not the typical HEA, thus bittersweet is a very apt description of the tone of the story. What I found most interesting is the author's focus on the women in the story, and wondered if he got them right. I leave it up to other women to decide for themselves. Anyway I will be reading more by this author to see how he writes romance from the male point of view. Very refreshing.
    Report
  • Krupa Chirravoori
    3.0 out of 5 stars Just a so-so read
    Reviewed in India on April 8, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This book covers adult romantic relationships of a handful of individuals in a quaint English coastal town. Their lives are not very intertwined, each person has their own storyline going on parallely. The stories explore marriage, the ups and downs and the unique ways in which couples cope with deep cracks in the relationship.

    I am giving 3 stars to my reading experience because I felt that the potential each storyline carried was not explored. A superficial treatment was doled out. I always kept waiting for the writing to pick pace or to dig deep, but that didn't happen.

    Also, I was a bit out off by the oversight on the part of the proofreader. The punctuation game is not sharp.

    There were only two times I laughed, both during the exchanges between the seniormost couple. Once when she referred to "blueteeth" and once when he thought quinoa looked like maggots.

    I also liked that some of the storylines were not resolved for a HEA ending, because that's what life in real is. Not perfect, but you roll with it.

    Still, it wasn't such a good read that I would like to check out the author's other works.
    Report
  • k
    3.0 out of 5 stars MIXED FEELINGS
    Reviewed in Australia on January 10, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I had mixed feelings about this book: the concept is laudable, but somehow things get lost in the telling. There is a “Happy ever after” theme for most of the parties, except for Ellie, and I got the feeling the author just didn’t know where to go with that one, and left it up in the air. Enjoyable enough as a light read, but not great literature. Good to read about an area of Norfolk I worked in in the 70s, and of which I still hold fond memories. However, dear author, having grown and eaten passion fruit throughout my life, I have never seen the insides of one with “greenish grey slime” inside as the author describes it, rather than the regular orange coloured flesh encasing the seeds.
    Report
  • Tom Williams
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not your usual romantic novel
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is another of RJ Gould's modern romances for grown-ups, which means that death and divorce feature just as much as love and marriage. Although Gould is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, his approach will upset many traditional romance fans as it is by no means about Happy Ever After, but his look at modern life and modern relationships has much to offer and is ultimately life-affirming. A well-written book that I enjoyed.
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report