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Barbourville #4
Dreaming of Dayton
Jill Taylor has had a crush on her best friend’s uncle, Chicagoan Dayton Vance, since she was a teenager. Unfortunately, Dayton insists that Jill is too young for him even though only six years separate them. Finally, having given up on Dayton, Jill closes her Atlanta counseling practice to follow her friend Megan to Barbourville, Tennessee, where she opens Jill’s Soup Bowl in a renovated Victorian house. Jill is contentedly settling into small-town life when Dayton’s appearance on her front porch disrupts her peace and has her questioning her real reasons for moving to Barbourville. Attorney Dayton Vance, one of triplets, was born a few minutes before either of his brothers, Dallas and Denver, and he’s always felt responsible for both of them, along with his niece Megan. When those three end up living in Barbourville—a move Dayton considers ill advised—he wonders where he’s gone wrong. Because Jill Taylor is the only counselor he knows who is acquainted with his entire family, Dayton flies from Chicago to Atlanta to consult her. Horrified when he discovers Jill has moved to Barbourville to open a restaurant, he hunts her down to complain, only to end up in her kitchen the next day peeling potatoes and asking himself how he managed to lose control of his plans so completely. Can the town of Barbourville work its usual magic and help two obstinate people discover that following their dreams will lead them in the right direction, no matter where they live?
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2013
26 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Carolynn Carey
35 books20 followersCarolynn Carey is an award-winning romance author of both sweet contemporaries and of historicals set in the Regency period.
In addition to writing, she loves to read, knit, and, on occasion, crochet if the pattern is super easy.
She lives in Tennessee, where her recent small-town contemporary novels are set. Family is important, both in her writing and in her real life.
In addition to writing, she loves to read, knit, and, on occasion, crochet if the pattern is super easy.
She lives in Tennessee, where her recent small-town contemporary novels are set. Family is important, both in her writing and in her real life.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 3, 2013
1-1/2 Star:
I read the first book in the series A Summer Sentence (bought it on sale) and it was ok. So when I read the synopsis of this one I thought I would give it a try. I'm regretting it now. I felt this author was trying to tell a modern story from a 1940's mentality. When I was first introduced to the " Uncle's" in A Summer Sentence, I thought these guys were in their 60's. I would sometimes forget that it was a modern book of a couple in 2013. I definitely felt like I paid to much for the book for the amount of pages that were there. This book was not for me but hey you may have a different opinion. This will be my last book from this author.
I read the first book in the series A Summer Sentence (bought it on sale) and it was ok. So when I read the synopsis of this one I thought I would give it a try. I'm regretting it now. I felt this author was trying to tell a modern story from a 1940's mentality. When I was first introduced to the " Uncle's" in A Summer Sentence, I thought these guys were in their 60's. I would sometimes forget that it was a modern book of a couple in 2013. I definitely felt like I paid to much for the book for the amount of pages that were there. This book was not for me but hey you may have a different opinion. This will be my last book from this author.
May 29, 2017
What a wild town!
I loved the characters, the family and friends and the setting of this series in a small town. Ms. Carey richly describes all of it and gave me the sense I was a visitor watching the residents enjoying life! A fun and quick series!
I loved the characters, the family and friends and the setting of this series in a small town. Ms. Carey richly describes all of it and gave me the sense I was a visitor watching the residents enjoying life! A fun and quick series!
May 16, 2017
I loved this book so much I just kept ordering the next one on Kindle Unlimited. Have now completed all 9 books. What a great idea to just go from one citizen to another and tell their stories, so they are all a little interconnected; it really sucks you into these character's fictional lives. I'm excited to start Carolynn's next spinoff series; McCray County!
February 6, 2014
This was a funny love story in that the lead male character is a lawyer from Chicago and is the oldest of triplets. He tries to take full advantage of that. For some reason one day he fills the need to talk to a family friend who is in love with him but was told by him because she was 6 years younger this won’t work. This of course was done when he was 25 and she was 19. She is now or was a therapist in Atlanta and he goes there. She is not there she closed her practice. So he drives to Barbourville Tennessee. When he gets there when he is driving through town he sees her in front of a restaurant sweeping the front. He stops and starts in on way nobody told him she had moved there for his two brothers live in town with their families and were sworn to not tell him that she had moved there. He finds out that she owns the restaurant and then he continues to make matters worse for himself by just talking and not listening. Then the biggest mistake is spending the night at the local B&B so the following morning when he goes back to talk to Jill his family shoes up and reads him the riot act for not letting anyone know he was in town. Dayton Vance continues to make matters worse and yet he actually thinks he is helping. When he finally gets a little bit of courage to let her know that he is in love with her, her mother shows up because she hurt her ankle. She gives him the cold shoulder and not wanting to confront the mother he runs back to Chicago. He is not happy there and starts making plans to move to the town his brothers are in and also looking at building a restaurant he found out that he really enjoyed working in one but he wanted to do things a little different. Jill tired of everything went back to Atlanta for a couple of days to try to move back there. Of course I am not spoiling it they get together but there is a lot that goes on before that. This is a really funny story but one that you get to see even the whole family all get together and work things out and they are there for each other. Also has that small town effect where everyone knows each other and looks out for one another. A very nice story. I got this book from net galley.
September 3, 2014
Jill has given up an established career as a counselor to follow her dream of owning a restaurant. She moves to the small town of Barbourville to be near her best friend. One morning she arrives at work to discover her cook is out sick for the week and a man she never expected to see again is pounding on her door. Jill has been in love with Dayton forever. But her move to Barbourville convinced her that she needed to let go of that dream. So what is he doing here messing with all of her plans?
This is the fourth book in the series and it was obvious because of all of the references to the other characters. But this didn't deter from the story. It made me want to check out the other three books. The book was small with only about 180 pages. But the story was cute. The characters were fun and realistic. I think my favorite character was actually a secondary character named Millie. The romance was sweet, but not over the top. The author could have done quite a bit more with the story and made it into a more full length novel. There were some leads that were dropped and characters that needed more depth. But overall it was a gentle southern romance that I enjoyed.
I received this book free of charge from Goodreads in exchange for my honest review.
This is the fourth book in the series and it was obvious because of all of the references to the other characters. But this didn't deter from the story. It made me want to check out the other three books. The book was small with only about 180 pages. But the story was cute. The characters were fun and realistic. I think my favorite character was actually a secondary character named Millie. The romance was sweet, but not over the top. The author could have done quite a bit more with the story and made it into a more full length novel. There were some leads that were dropped and characters that needed more depth. But overall it was a gentle southern romance that I enjoyed.
I received this book free of charge from Goodreads in exchange for my honest review.
April 15, 2016
Okay, so I made it almost through the third book, but I...just...can't...finish...it. I'm just done with this author and this series. First of all, it's just so predictable and boring. Secondly, I finally gave up on this book when the heroine comes back from a week away from Barbourville -- a good week in which she found a great job and a great place to live (in only a week! she was busy) -- but comes back to find out that her home/restaurant has just burned to the ground. Her response was pretty much, oh well, ho-hum, I was starting a new life anyway. Oh, and you handsome, smart, wealthy lawyer guy, (yawn) yeah, it's not working and I'm going back to my old/new life. So, as you can see, the writer was able to extract real emotion from her H and h. And the h was in love with the H, but didn't like to admit it because there was 6 year age difference. What-the-what? I was going to add some quotes from the book that were prime examples of poor writing skills, but I didn't want to have reread anything.
Someone somewhere thinks she writes well enough because she's had a bunch of books published, but seriously she needs a good editor and be quick about it.
Someone somewhere thinks she writes well enough because she's had a bunch of books published, but seriously she needs a good editor and be quick about it.
July 9, 2014
Would rate this between a 3.5 and 4 but not able to do that. Received this as goodreads giveaway. This is a nice "cozy" romance. It tells the story of Dayton Vance, a Chicago lawyer, and Jill Taylor a former Atlanta counselor who is now running a restaurant in a small town called Barbourville in Tennessee. This is part of a series of books which I think celebrate love and small town life. The plot is pretty basic: Dayton is part of a family that has moved from the fast paced life in Chicago because they found love and a new career paths in Barbourville. Dayton, still not convinced that his brothers and niece can be truly happy, comes to seek Jill's help since she has a history with his family and there is an attraction between the two. Dayton is forced by circumstances and his unacknowledged longing to reevaluate what he wants in life. I enjoyed the book on its own but think it would work best if you were toread the other volumes in the set since there is a feel that you should know more about the characters past. I will be looking for more books by this author.
September 8, 2014
You just can't beat a good, well written romance sometimes can you?
And this is just the one.
Jill had been inlove with Dayton since forever, but they have six years between them. Dayton I don't think at first saw her in that way.
Jill has a change to get away, so she moves, she's not alone as she is near lots of people she grew up with and people that she knew. She opens a soup bowl cafe.
She's there getting her life moving forward when......
Dayton turns up.
As you can imagine, all sorts of things go wrong, things happen, but will they get together in the end or will that six year age difference REALLY make a problem between them.
Well written book. I hadn't read any of the previous books in this series but it didn't seem to make me feel I've come in the middle of something, it can very well be read as a stand alone book.
I was happy to get this from the author Carilynn Carey via Net Galley.
And this is just the one.
Jill had been inlove with Dayton since forever, but they have six years between them. Dayton I don't think at first saw her in that way.
Jill has a change to get away, so she moves, she's not alone as she is near lots of people she grew up with and people that she knew. She opens a soup bowl cafe.
She's there getting her life moving forward when......
Dayton turns up.
As you can imagine, all sorts of things go wrong, things happen, but will they get together in the end or will that six year age difference REALLY make a problem between them.
Well written book. I hadn't read any of the previous books in this series but it didn't seem to make me feel I've come in the middle of something, it can very well be read as a stand alone book.
I was happy to get this from the author Carilynn Carey via Net Galley.
July 23, 2016
*ARC from NetGalley in Exchange for an honest review.*
This was the first book I read from the Barbourville series and I can say it can stand alone but it does make you curious about the other books. That said, I felt that length of the push and pull between Jill and Dayton that was alluded to gave it a heavy and depressing feeling that permeated this read for me. Though this picks up where the head to head is about to happen, the way the characters are somewhat weary and dejected at this point came through loud and clear which again added to the heft. The supporting cast were somewhat well-developed but kind of one-dimensional. I am thinking that if I had the backdrop of the other books in the series, these characters would be more alive for me. I recommend starting with Book 1 and going through chronologically...this might make it lighter and more relevant.
This was the first book I read from the Barbourville series and I can say it can stand alone but it does make you curious about the other books. That said, I felt that length of the push and pull between Jill and Dayton that was alluded to gave it a heavy and depressing feeling that permeated this read for me. Though this picks up where the head to head is about to happen, the way the characters are somewhat weary and dejected at this point came through loud and clear which again added to the heft. The supporting cast were somewhat well-developed but kind of one-dimensional. I am thinking that if I had the backdrop of the other books in the series, these characters would be more alive for me. I recommend starting with Book 1 and going through chronologically...this might make it lighter and more relevant.
June 29, 2014
I won this copy in a goodreads giveaway
Thank you to author Carolynn Carey for the signature.
I had never read the Barbourville series before. This is a really sweet romance of Jill and Dayton. I liked that it was well defined and could stand on it's own having not read previous series. I liked that Dayton was also brought forward as a character that gave his thoughts in the story line, most male characters just get in their truck and drive away with female character wonder WT? it was a good series read romance. I feel you would like it.
Thank you to author Carolynn Carey for the signature.
I had never read the Barbourville series before. This is a really sweet romance of Jill and Dayton. I liked that it was well defined and could stand on it's own having not read previous series. I liked that Dayton was also brought forward as a character that gave his thoughts in the story line, most male characters just get in their truck and drive away with female character wonder WT? it was a good series read romance. I feel you would like it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2013
Rich & Sweet
A very well developed romance. Filled with great characters and a wonderful sense of community. This is a page turner that you will enjoy reading. Dreaming of Dayton is book four in the Barbourville novel series. Dreaming of Dayton does stand-alone but now I want to go back and catch up. I’m a new fan of Carolynn Carey – she keeps the pace fast! Enjoy! NetGalley and Carolynn Carey provided an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A very well developed romance. Filled with great characters and a wonderful sense of community. This is a page turner that you will enjoy reading. Dreaming of Dayton is book four in the Barbourville novel series. Dreaming of Dayton does stand-alone but now I want to go back and catch up. I’m a new fan of Carolynn Carey – she keeps the pace fast! Enjoy! NetGalley and Carolynn Carey provided an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 30, 2014
Light sweet romance part of a series. I didn't suffer from not reading the other installments, this one stands alone. It is evenly paced, has a good premise and the story itself was quite romantic. I found myself emotionally involved in the character's happily ever after, and I was not disappointed.
I would read more from Carolynn Carey.
*I received my copy from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
I would read more from Carolynn Carey.
*I received my copy from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
January 10, 2014
This is a cute little romance about 2 lawyers who are tired of the law. Jill move to a small town and opens a soup cafe. She is well received into the community and knows several families from her childhood. When Dayton shows up , Jill realizes she has loved him since they were growing up and the families do all they can to help the romance. Love prevails after a few bumps in the road.
December 11, 2014
This was a Goodreads giveaway that I didn't win but added to my Must-Read list. I liked the premise of family elder Dayton finally falling for the woman he's always known was meant for him. This story is the one that initially got me hooked on the Carolynn Carey's Barbourville series. So glad to have discovered the wonderful characters that make up this sweet small community.
September 1, 2014
Loved the book. Easy reading
this book is a great final to the trilogy. Loved reading about small time life and community coming together to help each other. plus, for Dayton to realize his feelings for Jill had been suppressed for so long that he needed to let her know how he felt.
this book is a great final to the trilogy. Loved reading about small time life and community coming together to help each other. plus, for Dayton to realize his feelings for Jill had been suppressed for so long that he needed to let her know how he felt.
December 15, 2015
3-1/2 Stars. Light, romance read with some cozy attributes. The characters are likable and the premise believable. I would like to see more in-depth characterization for it to be a stand-alone book in a series. I would enjoy reading the previous stories.
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC provided through NetGalley, in the hopes I would review it.
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC provided through NetGalley, in the hopes I would review it.
September 5, 2015
Peeling potatoes and a sprained ankle leads a way of adventure for two friends.
All of the brother's have made career changes. Great reading and loved the storyline. Must read series and love the author's technique of writing.
All of the brother's have made career changes. Great reading and loved the storyline. Must read series and love the author's technique of writing.
December 14, 2016
an enjoyable series
To learn that Dayton decides he likes to feed people is a bit of stretch, but it works. All in all this book and the others in the series made for enjoyable and entertaining reads.
To learn that Dayton decides he likes to feed people is a bit of stretch, but it works. All in all this book and the others in the series made for enjoyable and entertaining reads.
September 6, 2014
Another romance in the Barbourville series involving one of the Vance triplets. A bit predictable, but entertaining and well written.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews