Category Archives: Southern Eclectic Series

March 27, 2019 · 11:58 pm

Review: Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper

Title: Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper
Southern Eclectic Series Book Three
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Woman’s Fiction, Romance
Length: 304 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A young widow returns to Lake Sackett, Georgia to face the ghosts of her past—and decide if she’s ready to take another chance on love—in the third sparkling Southern Eclectic novel that “goes down as easy as honey on a deep-fried Twinkie” (Library Journal, on Sweet Tea and Sympathy). 

Lucy Brewer would never have guessed that her best friend, Duffy McCready (of McCready’s Bait Shop & Funeral Home) has been in love with her since they were kids. Fear of rejection and his own romantic complications prevented Duffy from confessing his true feelings in high school, so he stood by and watched her wed Wayne Bowman right after high school. Wayne had always been a cheapskate, so it comes as no surprise when he suffers a fatal accident while fixing his own truck.

Even as her family and friends invade Lucy’s life and insist that the new widow is too fragile to do much beyond weeping, Lucy is ashamed to admit that life without Wayne is easier, less complicated. After all, no one knew what a relentless, soul-grinding trudge marriage to Wayne had been. Only Duffy can tell she’s hiding something.

In need of a fresh start, Lucy asks Duffy to put his cabinet-building skills to use, transforming the town’s meat shop into a bake shop. As the bakery takes shape, Lucy and Duffy discover the spark that pulled them together so many years ago. Could this finally be the second chance he’s always hoped for?

Once again Molly Harper “writes characters you can’t help but fall in love with” (RT Book Reviews) in this charming and entertaining love story.

Review:

Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper is an endearing small town romance. Although this latest installment is the third full length novel in the Southern Eclectic series, it can be read as a standalone.

Lucy Bowman never thought she would return to Lake Sackett. But following the death of her husband, Wayne, she moves back home with four year old Sam. She is preparing to open a dessert shop but her strained relationship with her mother-in-law Evie is delaying her plans. Lucy is pleasantly surprised to reconnect with her best guy pal, Duffy McCready, but their relationship is surprisingly fraught with tension.  Best friends growing up, they both had feelings for each other, but afraid of ruining their friendship, neither was willing to speak up.  Finally willing to take a chance on a romantic entanglement, will Lucy and Duffy find their happily ever after?

The shine quickly wore off her marriage to Wayne, so Lucy is not the typical grieving widow. She is of course sad but Lucy is mainly concerned about helping Sam work through the loss of his dad.  She is very happy about moving back to Lake Sackett but Wayne’s family is a thorn in her side.  Lucy is excited about her new venture, but she is frustrated by Evie’s efforts to prevent her from opening her bakery. However, with the McCready family on her side, Lucy unexpectedly finds friendship, support and the possibility of love.

After Lucy left town, Duffy married his high school sweetheart, Lana, but they eventually divorced. Despite their divorce and Lana’s unrepentant  man chasing, Duffy has never quite broken free of his ex-wife. He is pretty laidback and such a sweetheart that he is a bit of a pushover. He works in the family owned business with his mom, Donna, and their relationship is a bit strained on occasion. Duffy does not want to push Lucy into a relationship but he also does not want the opportunity to date her slip away.

With their solid friendship as firm foundation for their burgeoning romance, Lucy and Duffy cautiously begin dating. In spite of a few concerns about becoming romantically involved, they easily settle into this new phase in their relationship. They encounter a few hiccups and bumps, but Lucy and Duffy handle these difficulties with ease. So it is all the more shocking when Lucy’s unresolved issues threaten to derail their future together. Is Duffy willing to watch his chance for happiness fade away? Or  will he fight for a future with Lucy and Sam?

Gimme Some Sugar is an amusing romance with a zany yet (mostly) lovable cast of characters. Lucy and Duffy are fully rounded characters who are quite appealing.  Their relationship is enjoyable to watch unfold, but fears, doubts and outside interference threaten to tear them apart. Through snappy dialogue, offbeat antics and  heartfelt interactions, Molly Harper brings this newest addition of the Southern Eclectic series vividly to life.  Old and new fans are going to enjoy this latest visit with the somewhat eccentric but lovable McCready family and the rest of the residents in Lake Sackett.

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Filed under Contemporary, Gallery Books, Gimme Some Sugar, Molly Harper, Rated B+, Review, Romance, Southern Eclectic Series, Women's Fiction

June 13, 2018 · 11:57 pm

Review: Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper

Title: Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper
Southern Eclectic Series Book Two
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Length: 304 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

An Atlanta ex-cop comes to sleepy Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet—but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met.

Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything—but it seems rude to embalm them and not at least say hello.

Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family. Led by Great-Aunt Tootie, the gambling, boozing, dog-collecting matriarch of the family, everyone looks out for one another—which usually means getting up in everyone else’s business.

Maybe that’s why Frankie is so fascinated by new sheriff Eric Linden…a recent transplant from Atlanta, he sees a homicide in every hunting accident or boat crash, which seems a little paranoid for this sleepy tourist town. What’s he so worried about? And what kind of cop can get a job with the Atlanta PD but can’t stand to look at a dead body?

Frankie has other questions that need answering first—namely, who’s behind the recent break-in attempts at the funeral home, and how can she stop them? This one really does seem like a job for the sheriff—and as Frankie and Eric do their best Scooby-Doo impressions to catch their man, they get closer to spilling some secrets they thought were buried forever.

Review:

Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper is a light-hearted, humorous novel that is absolutely delightful. This second full length addition to the Southern Eclectic series can easily be read as a standalone but I highly recommend the previous installments as well.

Frankie McCready is a tad eccentric but so sassy and full of life it is easy to overlook her faults. She is twenty-eight but still lives with her over-protective parents and she is just tiny bit spoiled. Frankie is more than ready to move out on her own, but she just cannot quite force herself to have a conversation she knows will be difficult to navigate. Her profession as a mortician and coroner is unique and her habit of talking to her clients is unconventional yet endearing. Is Frankie up to the challenge of catching the sneaky vandal who is plaguing her while at the same maneuvering a tricky romantic entanglement with interim Sheriff Eric Linden?

Eric is a transplant from Atlanta who wants make his Sheriff position in Lake Sackett permanent. He left his last position in the Atlanta police department under a bit of a cloud so he takes his job very seriously. Eric and Frankie share an unexpected history that makes their inevitable encounters somewhat uncomfortable. Just as they begin to explore the chemistry between them, Frankie’s impulsivity creates a major headache for Eric.

Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper is a winsome novel with quirky characters, a lead protagonist who has some maturing to do and a male lead who needs to loosen up some. The combination of these elements results in a marvelously entertaining and incredibly heartwarming story. With plenty of down home charm and a slight romantic aspect, this newest addition to the Southern Eclectic series is sure to be a hit with readers who enjoy contemporary women’s fiction.

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Filed under Ain't She a Peach, Contemporary, Gallery Books, Molly Harper, Rated B+, Review, Romance, Southern Eclectic Series, Women's Fiction

November 22, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper

Title: Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper
Southern Eclectic Series Book One
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Beloved author Molly Harper launches a brand-new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with this story of a big-city party planner who finds true love in a small Georgia town.

Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business.

Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes tragically, spectacularly wrong. Now she’s blackballed by the gala set and in dire need of a fresh start—and apparently the McCreadys are in need of an event planner with a tarnished reputation.

As Margot finds her footing in a town where everybody knows not only your name, but what you had for dinner last Saturday night and what you’ll wear to church on Sunday morning, she grudgingly has to admit that there are some things Lake Sackett does better than Chicago—including the dating prospects. Elementary school principal Kyle Archer is a fellow fish-out-of-water who volunteers to show Margot the picture-postcard side of Southern living. The two of them hit it off, but not everybody is happy to see an outsider snapping up one of the town’s most eligible gentleman. Will Margot reel in her handsome fish, or will she have to release her latest catch?

Review:

The first full length novel in the Southern Eclectic series, Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper is an absolutely charming novel of new beginnings and coming to terms with the past.

Unable to find a job after her last event becomes famous for all the wrong reasons, Margot Cary very reluctantly accepts her  Great-Aunt Tootie’s offer to work in the family business.  Grudgingly relocating to Lake Sackett, GA, she is out of her comfort zone in too many ways to count.  Margot is surprisingly enchanted by her extended family but unsurprisingly, her estranged father, Stan, continues to be a disappointment.  She is intrigued by Kyle Archer and although their attraction is mutual, are either of them ready for a relationship at this point in their lives?

Margot is a bit of a snob when she first moves to Lake Sackett and despite how out of place her fancy clothes and shoes are in the rural community, she clings to her big city ways.  She tries to keep her distance from her numerous family members, but they have a way of sneaking past her defenses. Charmed by their eccentricities and their big hearts, Margot cannot deny how much their easy acceptance of her means to her. However, Stan continues to keep his distance from her and she remains unforgiving when he blows his chance to start mending their strained relationship.  Despite slowly coming to appreciate and enjoy her close-knit family, Margot is still planning to leave town at the first opportunity.

Margot is absolutely delighted to meet someone who can commiserate with her adjustment to life in small town America.  As a transplant to Lake Sackett, Kyle has a pretty good idea just how much of a culture shock she is experiencing.  Their friendship is definitely a bright spot in her (hopefully) temporary relocation but will their unexpected attraction have any impact on her plans for her future? Well, considering just how ill-prepared she feels when confronted with the depth of Kyle’s situation, Margot is not sure she is the right person for him.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy is a humorous and poignant novel that is fast-paced and engaging.  Margot is initially a little off-putting but as she falls under the spell of her family, Kyle and Lake Sackett, she becomes much more sympathetic and likable. Despite a bit of a romantic element, Margot’s character growth is what drives the story and it is an absolute joy watching her connect with her relatives and sort through her tangled relationship with her father.  A heartwarming first installment in Molly Harper’s Southern Eclectic series that readers of women’s fiction are going to LOVE.

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Filed under Contemporary, Gallery Books, Molly Harper, Rated B+, Review, Southern Eclectic Series, Sweet Tea and Sympathy, Women's Fiction