Sarah Ballance

As a young teen I was fascinated with the South--or at least what I thought of as the South. Encouraged by authors like [a:Norma Johnston|3644|Norma Johnston|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg] the South always had a sort of hazy gothic humid feel in my mind. Ghosts prowled everywhere on plantations and in darkened houses left vacant by Southern Aristocracy who couldn't afford the upkeep. Mystery and romance and danger lurked everywhere, on every corner, within every stranger's smile.

I grew out of that phase by about 15 when I found [a:Elisabeth Ogilvie|183046|Elisabeth Ogilvie|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg] and fell in love with Maine and New England (never looked back). HAWTHORNE however struck me as intriguing and I felt a real need to read it. It spoke to that 13 year old Lexie who saw romance and danger in the South.

In a lot of ways this reinforced my ideas about the South and gave me a whole new interest in the subgenre once more.

Emma is, as my grandma used to say, a real spitfire. Terrified of what she'll find at Hawthorne Manor, she still returns to pay her respects to her grandmother's passing and put some old ghosts to rest (as it turns out, quite literally). Ten years have done nothing to wipe the fear she felt on the night of the Accident, but she is determined to do right.

Noah has lived stuck in the past since the day of Emma's accident. Wishing to move on, but feeling obligated to stay, when he sees Emma again all he can think of is that maybe they can say goodbye this time. All those dreams they had together, all those hopes and the young love they felt at 17--combined with the very real fear of what's really happening at the Manor are a potent cocktail.

While there is a mystery to solve, I don't think Ballance ever really answers the question of what happened between Alma and Margaret all those years ago. Its heavily implied that things took a turn for the violent between the two at one point, but things get muddled in the middle when an unexpected item is found.

I will say this, the ending is sweet and sad, though not entirely unexpected in hindsight. Its a short book, very quickly paced with events unfolding one after the other with little breathing room, which makes all the more sense in the last chapter (as does Noah's bittersweet behavior all throughout.)

I recommend this one quite a bit. You won't regret it.… (mehr)

A short but cute read. Lexi and Matt have been friends since childhood and are perfect for one another. It's not until they temporarily have to share a house that they look at their relationship more closely. The fact that Lexi has joined a dating app in the hopes of finding Mr. Right sets Matt's jealous instincts alight especially when the said date has to call to the house to pick her up. I loved how Matt and Lexi tried to one-up themselves by pushing each other's buttons while flirting at the same time. With their level of mutual attraction, it was inevitable that their platonic friendship would combust into a smoking hot relationship. They just had to be brave enough to risk their friendship to do so.
I quite enjoyed this fun romance and there are a few characters in this series that I would like to read more about.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy provided by the publisher.… (mehr)

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Promising start quickly circled the drain around 40-50%.

I love a "I'll make you love my city," as much as the next city-lover, but...wow. This heroine is mean, and not in an i-love-her-hedgehog-ways, and continues to preemptively reject the hero until he shows up to fix her A/C, even though she wouldn't listen to him earlier....

But I am an equal opp hater, so what about that hero? I don't know why he liked the heroine other than her body. Which we heard about, no matter what. Her body. Constantly.I'll try to read the author again....but this was pretty shallow.… (mehr)

This was a cute between friends to lovers.. Lexi and Matt have been best friends forever and everyone around them sees them as having a relationship, more than just friends. Matt is not the type to have a relationship he is happy with his manho status until he sees that his Lexi is going on a date and a cop to boot. He is a firefighter so what can Lexi be doing with him, while supposedly just trying to make sure she is safe ends up crashing her date and as these two bicker they realize that there is much more than they admit too. As they give in to there chemistry Matt gets a little worried that he is just not capable of a lasting relationship and messes it up, but luckily he has friends that can wake him up..Cute story.

rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinion… (mehr)