2 Romance Novels to Read

by Susan Roberts

It's always good to have a few romance novels around the house to read on your sad days.  I like to read a light, happy novel with a happily ever after ending to cheer me up.  Here are two that I read recently.

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Honeysuckle Season by Mary Ellen Taylor

September 2020; Montlake; 978-1542017886
audio, ebook, print (347 pages); romance

"Olivia had locked away so many memories over the years that they had tangled together.  She feared a tug on one would unravel the entire lot.  Confession might be good for the soul, but by her way of thinking, it did little else.  Her secret had served a purpose and if keeping it meant her soul was bound to this earth forever, then so be it."  (page 3)

This dual timeline novel is about family secrets and how they affect the following generations.  It's the first book that I've read by this author but it definitely won't be the last.

Sadie - 1942.  Sadie is the youngest of three children in a poor family in Virginia.  The family made and sold moonshine to have money to live.  Her father has died and her brothers have gone into the Army and Sadie makes the moonshine by herself.  After she ran over the man who seduced her and left her with a child, she had to run and left  her baby behind with her mother so she could stay out of jail.  She lost her job as a driver at Woodmont Estates and knows that no one there will help her out of the mess that she's gotten into, so she runs.

Libby - 2020.  Libby's husband has left after she had numerous miscarriages.  She couldn't handle the grief and he couldn't help her.  She's become a photographer and has gotten very popular taking wedding pictures.

Her father had been a well-loved pediatrician in the area and after he died, she was reluctant to go through his desk but she knew she had to do it.  When she does, she discovers a letter that totally changes the way she feels about her adoptive parents and she finds out that she's related to the family who owns Woodmont.

The two timelines blend together perfectly and as more is revealed about the two women Woodmont becomes even more important.  This is a novel about love and family, acceptance and forgiveness and two strong women who are connected to each other in surprising ways.  There is love and friendship and romance with strong female characters -- what more do you need to make a novel perfect?

Buy Honeysuckle Season at Amazon

More than Neighbors by Shannon Stacey

June 2020;  Harlequin; 978-1335894694
audio, ebook, print (288 pages); romance

"She definitely wasn't the same person.  Now she was a widow raising a daughter alone and the weight of that had been pressing down on her for two years. It wasn't as crushing as it had been in the beginning - she'd barely been able to breathe for the first few months - but it was always there.  The pressure and the loneliness." (loc 295)

Meredith, her six-year-old daughter Sophie and their tiny dog, Oscar have left California to start a new life in Blackberry Bay, New Hampshire. Meredith's life had been on hold for two years since her husband died and she decided to return to the town that she grew up in. When she first meets her next-door neighbor she's surprised that it wasn't the elderly woman that the realtor told her lived there. Instead, it was a good looking man her age that she immediately had problems with. Cam's grandmother left the house to him and he was spending the summer there to clean up the house and put it up for sale. His very controlling parents were unhappy that he wasn't in New York taking care of his important job at his father's company.  He is impressed by Meredith and her daughter and even though Meredith isn't happy with him, Sophie really likes him and wants to spend time with him. Will Meredith and Cam have their happily ever after or continue to fight like her dog and his cat? Give this light summer read a chance to find out the answer to that question

Buy More than Neighbors at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. Since her travel plans had to be canceled for this year, she is starting to make plans for travel in 2021. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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