Romance

Listening to the audiobook while walking my dog. I would not be able to make it through the book if I was actually reading it. Hoping that the book will tide me over till Season 2 of the netflix series is in sight. And truth be told, this is the first time that a series adaptation is better than the books.

So many many many things are wrong with this book and it infuriates me:

1. What Helen is doing with Eric is wrong and so many levels. Not okay with it at all.
2. For Eric being a former EMT he certainly had no compassion for Karen's break down.
3. Eric being a complete and utter a$$ by telling Helen that she WILL marry him. (yes what she did was truly worn)
4. Helen is a strong and independent woman and she just lets herself get bossed around and told, and goes along with it, a marriage because Eric said so???? Not really characteristic for Helen and yes, in love and relationships she is very insecure.
5. Karen was too emotional and her kids and other problems ran her into the ground to the point of a breakdown. Kids are kids and her kids are young, and so is she but not much is known how she was raising her kids. Did she actually teach them how to behave ? Glad she got the help.
6. Helen became my favorite character in the previous two books because she is level headed etc. but this book, her story, make her a needy conniving calculating mess.
7. Those women are in their 40s and I think they are behaving like they are in their 20s. Maddie pregnant the second time in her 40s with child #5, Helen doing whatever to get pregnant, and Dana Sue insisting she cant get pregnant because she is pre diabetic.

As in the previous 2 books, no problem solving. One paragraph they are in the midst of chaos and next paragraph everything is just hunky-dory. Glad for the Netflix series and honestly not sure if I can continue on the series. ( )

The Sweet Magnolias series is one that I am so glad I am reading! I have read three books in this series so far and LOVED each one. They have had me in stitches laughing and sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see how things turn out.

Sherryl Woods is an excellent story teller and her grasp of the nuances romance, southern life and small town living lends charm and laughter to an already great romance read. I highly recommend The Sweet Magnolia book series! ( )

this story carried on very well from the earlier novel. I liked the different story about someone who had a career and a happy life and seemed to want for very little. It was a nice love story and the humour was consistent and nice as well ( )

Helen is the best of the three characters in this trilogy (there appear to be more books in this set but the first three do act as a trilogy) because she seems to have a lot more character. She is focussed and driven and successful at her job as a hard-working lawyer - at least this was the character she had when she was part of the other two stories, in this one she seems to have lost a lot of that focus and become more indecisive. I was sorry about that but I suppose that the author has done this so that it is easier to understand how she and Erik can come together. Erik is a pastry cook who has a troubled past, he seems laid back and kind but it is difficult at times to see how he has the dynamism to be a suitable partner for Helen.

This book has lots of plot themes going off at the same time and so it is not just about Helen at all. The story of Karen, the single mother who is overwhelmed, is almost the main part of the book. The author fixed Karen's problems in the long-run by giving her a good man - it was sad that we couldn't see how well some single parents can do without a partner (although, as this is a romance novel I can see why she did it).

Helen's desire for pregnancy and her underhand treatment of Erik lost her a lot of sympathy for me and I just couldn't see how he could change his opinion quite so quickly and maintain his attraction in the circumstances.

In the end, this book failed the realism test a little too often for me. I just didn't find it all rang true enough to keep me completely engaged. ( )