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Coming Home: Sweetbriar Bay Book #1
Meet Kat. She's a successful reporter and television personality. She's popular, rich and has the perfect boyfriend. When tragedy brings her back home to the small town of Sweetbriar Bay, does she rekindle an old flame? Or go back to the glamorous life she's used to?
- GenresRomance
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2021
82 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 2, 2022
Clean contemporary romance.
The writing really needed polishing. There were a few places in the book where the dialogue flowed pretty well and showed the author has some promise. Most of the book contained awkward phrasing and bits of repetition that shattered the flow of the story.
Setting was also an issue, both in physical descriptions being lacking and in the sudden jumps forward in time causing confusion in the plot.
The premise of the story, an old lie coming back to create more heartache in the present, didn’t make much sense with the truth being common knowledge in the community.
The characters were described as being educated, successful, and professional but they act like junior high students with their gossip and tantrums. I didn’t feel a connection with the characters. The rampant lack of communication and the negative motivations failed to create any sense of relationship. The happy ending (where the male main character once again failed to communicate or place the female main character first) fell flat.
Some violence. No sex. Mild language.
The writing really needed polishing. There were a few places in the book where the dialogue flowed pretty well and showed the author has some promise. Most of the book contained awkward phrasing and bits of repetition that shattered the flow of the story.
Setting was also an issue, both in physical descriptions being lacking and in the sudden jumps forward in time causing confusion in the plot.
The premise of the story, an old lie coming back to create more heartache in the present, didn’t make much sense with the truth being common knowledge in the community.
The characters were described as being educated, successful, and professional but they act like junior high students with their gossip and tantrums. I didn’t feel a connection with the characters. The rampant lack of communication and the negative motivations failed to create any sense of relationship. The happy ending (where the male main character once again failed to communicate or place the female main character first) fell flat.
Some violence. No sex. Mild language.
January 4, 2024
While I did like this read for the most part, it had some things that were problematic for me.
1. Jayson. His whole, "I had to lie, make it appear I cheated because she can't make decisions for herself..." Sure, it was more, he wanted her to live up to her potential, but he never let her decide for herself what that was...and the whole town backed him up...including her family.
2. Mitchell. Selfish, arrogant, nasty little piece of work. Glad he had very little to do with the story.
3. This was the most problematic for me. The formatting of the book. It was going along good and then suddenly,
we get parts of the page are reading like this for a paragraph or so and
then it goes back to the right was, until it does this again and again
through the book.
This last point is why the book received only 2 stars.
1. Jayson. His whole, "I had to lie, make it appear I cheated because she can't make decisions for herself..." Sure, it was more, he wanted her to live up to her potential, but he never let her decide for herself what that was...and the whole town backed him up...including her family.
2. Mitchell. Selfish, arrogant, nasty little piece of work. Glad he had very little to do with the story.
3. This was the most problematic for me. The formatting of the book. It was going along good and then suddenly,
we get parts of the page are reading like this for a paragraph or so and
then it goes back to the right was, until it does this again and again
through the book.
This last point is why the book received only 2 stars.
May 9, 2025
This is an amazing story! Sometimes uplifting, sometimes hopeful, sometimes sad, sometimes loving, always complicated!!! Kat seems to have a perfect life in the big city...an amazing job and wonderful career, plus a guy who is highly successful in love with her. But things start to change when she receives a phone call that her father has had a heart attack, and she immediately decides she must go home to support and be with him.
Going home brings back so many memories because it has been years since she visited. Everyone is glad to see her and welcome her back. Of course she's not planning to stay long, but those plans soon change when she learns about the financial trouble her father's business is in. I won't tell any more about this situation so as not to spoil the read for future readers.
The author does an excellent job of creating real characters. Their thoughts and emotions are totally understandable. Of course years have passed since Kat had close relationships with any of them, but in no time things seem to be getting back to the way they were years ago. One exception is Jayson, with whom Kat had a very close and strained relationship that caused her to stay away all this time. Much of the story is about their history and any possible future. I truly loved how this part of the story developed. Obviously I loved the book and hope you do, too!
Going home brings back so many memories because it has been years since she visited. Everyone is glad to see her and welcome her back. Of course she's not planning to stay long, but those plans soon change when she learns about the financial trouble her father's business is in. I won't tell any more about this situation so as not to spoil the read for future readers.
The author does an excellent job of creating real characters. Their thoughts and emotions are totally understandable. Of course years have passed since Kat had close relationships with any of them, but in no time things seem to be getting back to the way they were years ago. One exception is Jayson, with whom Kat had a very close and strained relationship that caused her to stay away all this time. Much of the story is about their history and any possible future. I truly loved how this part of the story developed. Obviously I loved the book and hope you do, too!
December 16, 2023
I loved this small-town romance set in my home state of Georgia. I loved it when Kat finally returned home to her small coastal Georgia town and helps her family save the paper they started generations before. It is a nice, lighthearted second-chance romance. This was set up to be the first in the series, but no other books have been released yet. I would love to continue reading romances about the characters we were introduced to in this first book. This was a sweet, fun read and I am glad I picked it up!
January 12, 2022
The storyline had promise
This book had a great storyline, friends to high school sweethearts until they go separate ways out of love and are thrown back together again. What I didn't like about the book was the frequent use of taking God's name in vain and the fragmented sentences throughout. There were occasional cuss words too, but that wasn't a deal breaker for me. There weren't any racy love scenes either, which I appreciated.
This book had a great storyline, friends to high school sweethearts until they go separate ways out of love and are thrown back together again. What I didn't like about the book was the frequent use of taking God's name in vain and the fragmented sentences throughout. There were occasional cuss words too, but that wasn't a deal breaker for me. There weren't any racy love scenes either, which I appreciated.
May 29, 2022
The book was pretty good, but slow. Not a lot happened, but the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is due to some mediocre paragraphs. Example- "It was a nice boat. It was white with blue trim. The McQuaydes had owned it for a few years. The four of them spent a lot of time on the boat. Kat was happy that they still had it."
I liked the story but doubt I would read any more from this author until the writing improves.
I liked the story but doubt I would read any more from this author until the writing improves.
Want to read
December 31, 2021Meet Kat. She's a successful reporter and television personality. She's popular, rich and has the perfect boyfriend. When tragedy brings her back home to the small town of Sweetbriar Bay, does she rekindle an old flame? Or go back to the glamorous life she's used to?
March 3, 2022
Small Town Romance
Classic small town romance; Kat's dad falls ill and she goes back home to help out. Her ex, Jayson is there but there are unresolved issues between them. Sweet story set against running a newspaper
Classic small town romance; Kat's dad falls ill and she goes back home to help out. Her ex, Jayson is there but there are unresolved issues between them. Sweet story set against running a newspaper
July 7, 2023
Good Book
It was a good summer read. The description of the characters resembles white characters but it was fun and entertaining. It is a great beach book. I will read the second one.
It was a good summer read. The description of the characters resembles white characters but it was fun and entertaining. It is a great beach book. I will read the second one.
November 19, 2021
Wonderful!!!
Well written and well crafted story! Can’t wait for more books in this series from this brand new romance author!
Well written and well crafted story! Can’t wait for more books in this series from this brand new romance author!
July 7, 2023
If you like watching the predictable Hallmark movies this is one for you.
August 7, 2023
It's a super sweet and funny second chance at love. I read this is one sitting.
February 3, 2024
DNF at 41%
November 25, 2025
It was an ok sweet romance although lots of info in the story was repeated.
January 28, 2026
Super clean, wholesome, cute read. Basically a Hallmark movie in book form.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews