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Sweet Caroline, Low Country Series #1 By Rachel Hauck / Thomas Nelson When ownership of a country bistro falls into Caroline Sweeney’s lap, she wants to drop it like a hot potato! But she soon discovers she loves the restaurant business—till her blossoming relationship with country musician Mitch O’Neal threatens to place it on the back burner. Can a devastating fire help Caroline sort it out? Will she finally put herself first, instead of taking care of everyone else and not herself? |
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Kelly’s Review:
I started this book on Sunday afternoon and finished it on a Tuesday morning. I really REALLY enjoyed it tremendously! It had all my favorite elements going for it in that it’s a work of Christian fiction AND a Southern novel. Can’t go wrong there with me. Plus, I have an unexplainable affinity for books with settings in the Low Country of South Carolina and that was the setting for this wonderful book. Those elements combined to provide an awesome read and absolutely took me in from the very beginning.
Sweet Caroline in this story is Caroline Sweeney. She has lived in Beaufort, SC all her life and always finds herself doing things for others because they need doing. She feels an intense loyalty and calling to be there for those that she cares about. She lives against becoming like her own mother who was overly eccentric and abandoned the family before she died. After a string of other jobs Caroline has taken out of compassion and loyalty, she finds herself working at the Frogmore Cafe in Beaufort. The Cafe is a town institution, but has become worn down and almost forgotten. When the owner dies and leaves the Frogmore to Caroline, she finds more in her lap than she bargained for. In addition to figuring out what to do with the Cafe, she also has to make a decision about taking a job with an international firm in Barcelona. And, of course, there is a love story involved. Caroline has recently started to date a handsome deputy sheriff in town with a reputation for being a lady’s man, but she is convinced he has changed. To complicate romantic matters, her first true love, Mitch (now a famous country singer) returns to town. Throughout this novel Caroline has to find ways to balance her life, discover love’s true meaning and rediscover her faith.
I really enjoyed this book because Caroline was a character I could feel a connection to from the beginning. The style of writing used by Rachel Hauck made every character seem so real. This story feels like it could have easily been true. I’m thrilled to learn that it’s the first book in a series and definitely look forward to future installments.
HIGHLY recommend this one!!