Susan Schild

First, I have to start off by saying this is not my usual read. Sometimes though, ya just need a break, and want something different. My thought was, why not indulge in a book that contains a story filled with amusing, witty characters, and true to life circumstances? That's exactly why I picked up Sweet Carolina Morning by Susan Schild, and I wasn't disappointed. I could feel myself smiling and groaning along with the characters as I read through all of their ups and downs while noting how show more realistic their situations were. This is a story that will resonate with many readers, leaving them with a "been there, done that," feeling.

A bit about the story...in this second book of the Willow Hill Series, a fictional town in North Carolina, sweet Linny is doing what we all do - navigating her world, interacting with her family and friends. After a rough start, where's she's had to essentially re-build her life all over again after some bad luck with the first two husbands, she's found her true soul mate in Jack Avery. He has a son, Neal, from a previous marriage and Neal tends to not be as enthusiastic about Linny as his dad. Uh oh. And neither do the in-laws, who still seem smitten with Jack's ex, Vera. Poor Linny is feeling in the dumps about this, and on top of it all, she's also got her Mama to worry over, a sister about to have a baby, and many more worries with her business, and pending wedding. I was about to have a drink for her on behalf of all her worries!

But Linny is a real trooper. She's got backbone and smarts. She's funny too - how about a little spritz of Pledge around the place just when the in-laws show up unexpectedly? There's nothing like the smell of furniture polish to instill confidence in one's keeping the place up. I loved it.

Sweet Carolina Morning will warm your heart, make you laugh, and nod your head in agreement as Linny works out her personal issues.

As for Susan Schild's writing - she's got this knack for making you feel like you're IN the story, right beside the characters. At times I wanted to talk to Linny! Tell her, uh uh, don't you think that way! Or, you go girl. These are characters to root for, and especially Linny. If you haven't added the book to your shelves, you should! show less

Jenny is an over 40s woman who is working hard to make a success of the campground that her Dad left her half completed when he died. Her dad always had big plans but rarely saw them to completion and the campground was just another example. Jenny and two friends worked to finish the cabins in time for Christmas in the first book in the series Christmas at the Lakeside Resort. Now it's March, the cabins are completed and she needs to figure out how to get those cabins filled for the summer show more months so that she can make enough money to live on. With the help of her best friend, Charlotte and her contractor, Luke, she works to come up with ways to make the resort successful. Luke is more than her contractor, he is also her boyfriend and even though there has been discussion about getting married, nothing seems to be happening. As Jenny struggles with keeping the cabins cleaned and making the visitors happy, she is having the time of her life.

It's wonderful to read a book with a main character over 40 who is still working to figure out their life and be successful. Jenny is a fantastic character - sometimes you feel sorry for her as she struggles with life and love and sometimes she makes you laugh out loud. I especially enjoyed how she used goggle to learn everything from how to catch fish to how to be interviewed for the newspaper to how to plant a garden. As she becomes more involved in the day to day running of the resort, her stress level increases until she realizes that it's ok to accept help from other people.

Note: this is book 2 in the Lakeside Resort series and you need to read this series in order to avoid confusion.

Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own. show less

The previous installment was a drama-free slow-burn romance set against the backdrop of Christmas and a major renovation project. Now the renovation project is pretty much complete, the weather is warming up, the resort is open for business, and Jenny is finally settling in to a more comfortable life. She also has this sort-of long distance thing going on with Luke, the contractor that helped her renovate in the previous book. I say long distance because Luke lives far enough away to not see show more Jenny every day, but they are fortunate enough to be able to make mid-week dinners work.

Early in this story, Luke goes abroad for an extended work-related trip, and it stresses Jenny's routine. She feels strongly about their relationship, but she's having a hard time getting a feel for what Luke wants for the future. While Jenny continues to make improvements to the resort, she misses Luke. AND she sets out to try her hand at better marketing in an effort to bring more people to the resort all throughout the year.

I really like Jenny for her down-to-earth personality and the way she interacts with everyone she encounters. I like that she is willing to try out new things even though she may have to learn while she goes. Jenny learns new things like internet marketing and boating during this installment and it was fun to watch her perform just like any other regular inexperienced person would do. She maintains a great relationship with her friends and family. And she is honest about the impatience and frustration she feels with Luke gone away.

Even more than the romance, I loved the other parts of the story, including the day-to-day work around the resort. There are a ton of scenes on the page that include improvements to the property and cabins, and that fed my love for stories centered around renovation. Also on the page are the people staying at the resort and whatever activities they're up to. Some have come for workshops; others are staying there for regular vacations. I loved every single scene with these resort patrons and I hope the author continues to include them in the future.

The relationship between Jenny and Luke is a slower burn, so if you're looking for something steamy and fast-paced as far as romance goes, this isn't really what you're looking for. But if you want a relatable, steadily-paced romantic relationship, a great North Carolina lakeside setting, and all-around great character relationships, you may like this one as much as I do. (The two dogs and mini-horse have lots of page time!)

*

Sidenote: I almost had a fit when I got to the end of the story and saw the author's notation mentioning that the next Lakeside Resort book is out in May 2020! MAY 2020!!! So long from now!! GAH, I'm so impatient.
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This is a drama-free slow-burn romance set against the backdrop of Christmas and a major renovation project. Jenny Beckett is a little bit down on her luck recently because her fiance broke off their engagement just before their wedding, she is being evicted from a home she loves living in because her landlord sold it, and her father died and left her with the burden of a lot of property, which he gifted to her truly and honestly out of love. Jenny is at this huge crossroads in her life and show more she needs to figure out where she will go and what she will do now that basically everything is changing.

I've read Susan Schild's stories before and loved them for their slow-burn romance and their North Carolina settings, and their wonderful character development, and those are the things that I loved here as well. (Plus the Christmas that she threw in, which was a lot of fun.) Jenny hires a contractor team to help her renovate the cabins - a guy and his sister - and this ends up gaining her a love interest and what appears to be a lifelong friend. The three end up getting along very well together and the brother-sister team end up teaching Jenny so much about renovation at every step of the project. I truly enjoyed all of their interactions and loved the way Ms. Schild developed their characters enough that at the end of the book, I want to know more about them all.

About the romance: Jenny and Luke, the contractor, have this simmering attraction throughout the story that is very respectful of one another. Luke is aware that Jenny is just out of a relationship, and Jenny is aware of what happened with Luke's past relationship. The slow-burn is very slow, though, so readers that want a steamier or very quick development will not find that here. Additionally, Luke's sister Alice is actively involved with a guy that she is madly in love with, and her relationship gives almost a comic relief to the story that leads up to a really great scene at the end.

I always love renovation stories and stories featuring building projects, so this one was a lot of fun. Every single secondary character was great, and every single character was relatable to me in some way or another. I found Jenny very likable and relatable. I love the way that she weighed all of her decisions rationally and with a lot of smarts, but she still took a few risks hoping for happiness and success in her life.

Also, sidenote, but Jenny has these great pets that are heavily featured: two dogs and a mini-horse. She is so good to them and treats them so well and that stood out to me with her character. Like, if Jenny were a real life person, I feel like she would be one of the good ones. show less