**I received an ARC for my honest review.**
“Regrets are for those who refuse to change.”
“Forgiveness is a tool we do not use enough.”
“Don’t live in fear; it’s a waste of measured breaths that we don’t get too many of.”
Happy New Year, New You to us from J. Lynn Bailey!
Magnolia Road, the third in the Granite Harbor series, continues to deliver sexy, emotional, small-town wish fulfillment, but also real societal issues, philosophy, and broken heroes.
First the wish fulfillment -- who wouldn’t want to be a gorgeous redhead who READS FOR A LIVING?! Bryce’s wit, strength, confidence, and morality make her an easy heroine to love. The chapters taking turns between Bryce and Ethan allow the reader to see into both of their minds, what they want -- each other -- and the real forces that stand in their way.
I love that her characters have real issues that separate their love. I, for one, have read too many stories where characters pull away from each other because of dumb scripts in their head about beauty or pride or some other bulls@*# they’ve invented, and their love has to overcome those stories. That’s real enough; the stories in our heads can keep us from happiness.
But I also don’t know many real people’s lives who aren’t touched by mental health, addiction, PTSD, and familial estrangement. Bailey’s Granite Harbor series doesn’t shy away from these realistic themes, but instead has the characters powering through with love. And not the love of red roses and romance, but the love of getting therapy, accepting that we’re all broken, and telling the truth -- even when it hurts.
Speaking of, one of the delightful strengths of Bailey’s writing is the philosophy that always bleeds through. Magnolia Road carries the philosophies of two strong characters, and their love that settles a veteran’s PTSD.
The new year is the perfect time to be reminded that we’re all broken, but we can love each other anyway. I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review. My chief beef (see what I did there??) with the book is that, personally, I’m Team Milton’s Chili forever.