Darlene's Book Nook: #Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper @mollyharperauth #AudibleStudios @audible

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

#Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper @mollyharperauth #AudibleStudios @audible_com

TITLE: Sweet Tea and Sympathy

SERIES: Southern Eclectic, Book #1
AUTHOR: Molly Harper

NARRATOR: Amanda Ronconi

PUBLISHER: Audible Studios

PUBLICATION DATE: November 21, 2017

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook

LENGTH: 9 hrs and 27 mins

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

ASIN: B074WGZ4DT

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?

MY REVIEW:

Margot is event planner in Chicago, and she is very good at what she does. Unfortunately, after one debacle with numerous blunders, it was her head on the chopping block. Instead of being offered the partnership that she was striving for after ten years under her belt, she got the pink slip! It seemed like any agency that she contacted had heard about the disaster, and she was a laughing-stock. Without a job, she couldn't secure a mortgage so not only did she lose her job but her condo as well.

Margot receives a call from a long-lost family member on her father's side of the family, from whom she is estranged. Her great aunt offers her a job at the family's funeral home. She can put her skills to use planning funerals instead of parties! Even less thrilling is that the family business is in Georgia. With no other offers on the table, Margot is forced to move but makes it clear to her relatives that -- while grateful for the job -- this is a temporary situation and that she does not plan to stay in Georgia. That is, until her cousins take her out one night to the local bar and Margot gets hot and heavy with some stranger! He turns out to be the school principal, who is also a widowed father.

I have to admit that it took me a bit to get into this one. Margot isn't the easiest person to like! She's snarky and a bit hoity-toity, and I didn't care for her at the outset. However, Harper is excellent at character development, and Margot's fire isn't mean-spirited and I grew to enjoy her personality! I'm a family girl, so I loved how Margot's estranged family took her into the fold even though they didn't know her from Adam. Margot was raised by her mother, so she really only heard one side of the story as it pertained to her dad. Margot has a lot to learn about everything that happened in the past. I also enjoyed but was equally frustrated with the romance between Margot and Kyle. As a single mom, I totally get that dating is different when you have children. When both people involved also have commitment issues it makes it even harder!

I really enjoyed getting to know the McCready family, and I loved the small town setting and the humor that Harper injected into the story. I'm really happy to learn that there are other books in this series that feature different members of the McCreadys. I will be continuing on in the series with Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck which is the prequel that tells the story of Margot's cousin, Marianne, and her husband Carl.

Amanda Ronconi is a great fit as narrator, and she brings that spark to Margot's personality. There were moments that she had me laughing out loud.

MY RATING: