It’s a pleasure to be participating in the Tasty Virtual Tour for SWEET CAROLINA MORNING by Susan
Schild.
As part of the tour, Susan is
sharing an excerpt from her book and offering a tour-wide giveaway of a $25
eGift Card to the winner’s choice of booksellers. I’ll also be sharing my
thoughts on this delightful story. Please see the end of the post for more
giveaway details.
◊ Sweet Carolina Morning
◊ Series: Willow Hill, Book #2
◊ By: Susan Schild
◊ Released: Aug. 2,
2016
◊ Publisher: Lyrical
Press
Life down South just got a whole lot sweeter in Susan Schild’s new novel about a woman whose happily-ever-after is about to begin…whether she’s ready for it or not.
Finally,
just shy of forty years old, Linny Taylor is living the life of her dreams in
her charming hometown of Willow Hill, North Carolina. The past few years have
been anything but a fairy tale: Left broke by her con man late-husband, Linny has
struggled to rebuild her life from scratch. Then she met Jack Avery, the town’s
much-adored veterinarian. And she’s marrying him.
Everything should be coming up roses for Linny. So why does she have such a serious case of pre-wedding jitters? It could be because Jack’s prosperous family doesn’t approve of her rough-and-tumble background. Or that his ex-wife is suddenly back on the scene. Or that Linny has yet to win over his son’s heart. All these obstacles—not to mention what she should wear when she walks down the aisle—are taking the joy out of planning her wedding. Linny better find a way to trust love again, or she might risk losing the one man she wants to be with—forever…
Everything should be coming up roses for Linny. So why does she have such a serious case of pre-wedding jitters? It could be because Jack’s prosperous family doesn’t approve of her rough-and-tumble background. Or that his ex-wife is suddenly back on the scene. Or that Linny has yet to win over his son’s heart. All these obstacles—not to mention what she should wear when she walks down the aisle—are taking the joy out of planning her wedding. Linny better find a way to trust love again, or she might risk losing the one man she wants to be with—forever…
SWEET
CAROLINA MORNING can be found on Goodreads
and is available to purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google,
iTunes,
and Kobo.
Here’s an excerpt from ‘Chapter
1: Trouble in the Stepmother Hood’ for your reading pleasure.
Though it was February, the
galley kitchen at her future husband’s old farmhouse was steamy and hot, but
Linny hardly noticed. Peering at the pages on the counter, she pushed back up
her nose the reading glasses she'd had to borrow from Jack and double-checked
to make sure she’d not left out any key ingredients. Why had she printed the
recipe in ten-point font?
Tonight’s menu came from a
website she’d found called Recipes for
Picky Eaters, and she hoped it was a winner. She
shook her head, chagrined at Jack’s reaction to the first possible menu she’d
suggested. He’d kept that pleasant smile on his handsome face, but his eyebrows
had shot up. Once they’d come back down to normal, his veto had been so
diplomatic. “Darlin’, the mountain trout, braised Brussels sprouts, and beet
salad sounds tasty, and I hope you cook them for me real soon, but
eleven-year-old boys’ tastes tend to be more… well, mainstream.”
Blowing back a stray lock of
hair, she turned on the oven light and peeked inside. The neat rows of crusted
chicken breasts were browning nicely in their casserole dish home. The side
dishes—creamy-looking mac and cheese and green bean casserole topped with onion
rings—were both bubbling gently. She breathed in cooking smells and was
transported back to Sunday suppers at the farm when Nana and Paw-Paw were still
alive. Sighing, she felt a wash of safety, contentment, belonging. Those were
just the feelings she wanted to infuse in this new little family.
Sliding into the chair, Linny
admired the old kitchen table and touched the swirls of the tiger oak. It felt
warm, solid. How many other families had sat around it and shared their lives
over meals? She pictured her and her two men gathered around like in a scene
from the Hallmark Channel, talking and laughing about their day. Jack and Neal
would lavishly compliment her on her cooking, she’d blush, wave them off, and
act as though it was no big deal. “I just threw the meal together,” she’d
trill.
Trouble was, it was a big deal,
and not just because Linny was just learning to cook. She rubbed her chin and
thought about it. This morning, Jack had sat his son down after they’d cleaned
up from their pancake breakfast and told him that he and Linny were marrying in
the summer. Linny had just sat beside Jack and let him do the talking but felt
a stab of sadness as she saw Neal’s face fall. Forlorn. He looked forlorn. When
he asked in a trembling voice, “So, you and Mom aren’t ever getting back
together?” she thought her heart might break. He still held out hope for his
family to be whole again, the way it used to be. Never mind that Neal’s mother,
Vera, had already remarried the year before. Though Linny and Jack had been
dating officially since October, she’d only just started spending a lot of time
with the two of them. Jack hadn’t wanted to introduce her to his son until they
knew they were serious, so Linny was only just getting to know the young man.
Linny got a nervous flip in her
stomach when she thought about becoming a stepmother. She’d gone thirty-eight
years without children, and in a few short months, she’d be slipping into this
new role without even a course or certificate. Linny got up and made herself a mug
of Chamomile tea. Calming, the label said.
She sat back down and blew on the tea to cool it and tried to quell the
thrum of the squadron of butterflies that was revving up in the pit of her
stomach.
Staring out the window, she
thought of the other scenarios she’d been imagining, in living color and the
minutest detail. If she messed up in this new job, he’d be that troubled teen
with the shaved head who sold pot and lived in their basement after he dropped
out of school in tenth grade. Neal would end up being the inebriated driver of
a speeding car full of kids who drove them into a tree after leaving an
unchaperoned party. Her heart banged as she tried to obliterate the image she’d
seen in this morning’s News and Clarion
-the mangled wreckage of a barely recognizable car driven by a teen going the
wrong way on I-40. He’d killed himself and badly injured a whole vanload of
kids on the way home late from a church youth group retreat. Pulling out her
phone, she scrolled through her emails as the good smells wafted from the oven
and felt her shoulders relax as she reread Mary Catherine's note. Nice to have
a best friend who practiced family law.
Under the subject line, Impending
Stepmother Hood, her friend wrote:
You asked
for advice on your new parenting gig. Remember, a lot of divorced couples and
blended families don’t talk civilly and don't act in the best interests of
children. In my practice, we serve more of the send-the-kids-home-dirty and
talk-trash-about-the-stepmother crowd. What not to do may be more useful than
what to do.
Another
disclaimer: I’m no expert on teenage boys just because I had one. Remember just
a few months back, my nineteen-year-old almost got a DUI on a bike. Boys are
knuckleheads between the ages of eleven and twenty-four. Your nerves will fray
no matter how hard you try to be a good mother—or, harder yet, stepmother—but I
will tell you what I know.
Meet me for a quick breakfast 7:00 a.m.
Wednesday at Jumpin’ Joe’s Bean House?
Blowing out a sigh of relief,
Linny replied, Perfect. She let
herself sink back into the chair for a moment. Thank goodness for Mary
Catherine.
Glancing at the clock, she rose
and fretted as she checked the timer. Last weekend’s cookout at her place had
been a bust. Neal had picked at his food, claiming he “'just wasn’t hungry.”'
What American boy didn’t like grilled hamburgers and French fries made from
scratch—from the actual potato? Could it be that he didn’t like her? She tried
to dismiss the thought. How could he not like her when she was already so fond
of him? He was whip smart, mostly well mannered, sensitive, and had an offbeat
sense of humor that would catch her when she wasn’t expecting it and make her
burst out laughing.
Tonight would be different, she
decided, setting flatware firmly at the three places at the table. After
grilling Jack extensively about his son’s food likes and dislikes, she’d
scoured the internet for the perfect menu. If she was finally going to embark
on this mother thing, she sure as heck was going to excel at it. She’d do the
whole shebang: soccer weekends, volunteering on field trips, deep talks about
life. She’d waited long enough for this little family, and now that she’d got
it, dang it, she was going to do it right. The water glasses spilled over as
she set them too firmly down on the table.
Jack and Neal were still at the
barn with the mare that was about to foal. She picked up the walkie-talkie and
pressed the button. “Supper’s ready, men.”
The line crackled. “Be right up,”
Jack said cheerfully. “I’m hungry as a bear.”
She’d just finished putting on a
slick of lip gloss as they clattered into the room, bringing with them a wash
of fresh February air. Her heart still skipped a beat when Jack gave her a
boyish grin, and she longed for a kiss, but there was sweet-faced Neal, right
on his heels. She felt a pang of regret. She and Jack had talked about it and
agreed on the rule of no smooching or PDAs in front of the boy right on the
brink of becoming a man. She felt wistful. Leaning against the stove, she
smiled as she took them in, amazed at how much commotion the two could make
just walking into a room, with their thudding boots, unzippering coats, biceps
punching, and easy laughter. Linny raked back her hair with her fingers. Man,
her too quiet life had sure changed.
This is a heartwarming story about combining families and
trying to make good impressions.
The author tackles the heart of becoming a step parent. She
highlights the dreams, disillusions, and realities families face. The story
flows quickly and smoothly as the drama unfolds.
The characters are realistic, likable and well-developed.
Readers can easily relate to the highs and lows of the characters. The author
artfully combines tension, suspense, humor and romance for a well-balanced
story.
This is the second installment in the Willow Hill series, but
can be read on its own. The protagonist is a delight as she tries to please
everyone while reaching for her dream life that, at the moment, may be just out
of her grasp. The secondary characters are unique and add charm to this already
enchanting story.
SWEET
CAROLINA MORNING is a fun, entertaining and uplifting read with
Southern flare. An enjoyable story about family, friends and coming together.
Sweet Carolina Morning by Susan Schild, A Willow Hill Novel (Book #2), Lyrical Press, @2016, ISBN: 978-1601838872, Paperback, 244 Pages
FTC Full Disclosure – A copy
of this book was sent to me as part of the author’s virtual
book tour in hopes I would review it.
However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The
thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.
Author Susan Schild |
Susan Schild writes wholesome and sunny Southern fiction. She likes stories about charming men, missing money, adventuresome women, sweet dogs, and happily ever afters at any age.
Susan is a wife and a stepmother. She enjoys rummaging through thrift store for treasures like four-dollar cashmere sweaters and amateur watercolor paintings. She likes taking walks with her Lab mix, Tucker, and his buddies. She and her family live in North Carolina.
Susan has used her professional background as a psychotherapist and a management consultant to add authenticity to her characters.
SWEET
SOUTHERN HEARTS, the final book in the Willow Hill series, will
be released in January of 2017. Readers can look forward to more adventures,
new beaus, sinister ministers, lovebirds over fifty, a road trip for Mama and her
pals, and maybe even an “I Do” ...or two.
For more on Susan and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and GoodReads.
This is a tour-wide giveaway that will end Aug. 5th.
The giveaway is for a $25 eGift Card to the winner’s choice of booksellers.
To enter just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and
follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be
patient.
Thanks so much for dropping by during Susan’s visit. Do you
enjoy reading about the conflict step-families can sometimes have?
I think we all need to hear about more happy ever afters. Thank you. And Susan.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun book with realistic characters, which I love. I'm sure a lot of women will be able to relate to the protagonist's struggles.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Willow Hill? I'm going to have to look that one up on a map...
ReplyDeleteWith the high divorce rate in our country, "blended" step-families account for a high percent of our population. Writing which focuses on varying sides of this issue has great appeal for women readers.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of issues right before a wedding.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds like an honest look at a modern relationship, Mason. Nothing like an upcoming wedding to bring it all out. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteA unique story and I love her cover. Congratulations to Susan!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Susan. I like that the leading lady is in her forties. Most authors write about woman struggling with the above and them being in their twenties. Plus, I like stories with happily-ever-afters.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Murees! I agree about age of leading ladies!
DeleteLove and fresh starts happen to women of all ages.
Susan
Thanks for always mentioning if it's not the first in a series. I always like to start at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Wonderful review! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, have to laugh. The book sounds delightful. Teenagers! LOL. Wonderful review, Pamela! Best of success to Susan.
ReplyDeleteSweet Carolina Morning sounds like a great book! the story line is certainly compelling.
ReplyDeleteSo grateful for you featuring my newest book, SWEET CAROLINA MORNING. With exquisite ex-wives and snooty future in laws, Linny has her hands full! Hope your readers love it!
ReplyDeleteSusan Schild
I don't think I really enjoy reading about the conflict as much as I can relate to it and empathize with the characters. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteWriting (and reading) about blended families might be a challenge. 😊 This book sounds so good.
ReplyDeleteTeresa