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I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
MY REVIEW:
A Return to Mountain View
This small-town, contemporary, and clean romance follows Hattie’s return to the rustic hills and quiet charm of Mountain View, South Carolina. The scent of honeysuckle and hay still lingers in the air, a familiar comfort against the ache of a decade away. Raised on the family’s struggling farm, Hattie once believed she had to leave to become someone more. But now, with her parents in need and the fields overgrown with uncertainty, she’s come back—not as the girl who left, but as a woman bearing the weight of dreams deferred and roots unearthed.
First Love, Second Chances
However, when she returns she finds out quickly that her old love has also returned and with it their connection to one another is fueling again. Lee is her first love and a man she will never be able to get out of her heart, but both of their futures are in question as Lee might leave town again and with it, breaking her heart all over again. Their connection is still there, raw and unfiltered, like the humid Southern air thick with memory. But while their hearts remember, their futures remain uncertain. Will Lee stay? Or is she once again bracing for the heartbreak that never fully healed?
Sparks, Pain, and Possibilities
The pain that Hattie went through when they broke up after high school has devastated her for a decade and has left a mark on her ability to love anyone other than him. Their reunion is not to be taken lightly and is filled with lots of fireworks, past pain, and emotional conversations.
A Town on the Brink of Change
The Mountain View of today is not the town Hattie remembers. The looming construction of a modern football stadium threatens to bulldoze not just farmland but the very soul of the community. Her family’s farm—sun-baked, weather-worn, and full of whispered stories—stands on the edge of survival. And at the heart of it all is the barn, an aged beauty of weathered wood and sagging beams, where dances, fundraisers, and memories unfold. It’s more than a structure—it’s the last beating heart of a town fighting to stay whole.
Enter Fox: The Steady Stranger
As things start to crumble around Hattie’s perfectly crafted world, she finds a balance and support in the mysterious new hardware shop owner, Fox. He’s stable and loves this town – even if no one seems to know his real past or how he ended up in this corner of the country. But that doesn’t matter to Hattie, he’s always there to support her and help when needed, which is exactly what she needs in these circumstances.
Roots, Growth, and Finding Home
The deeper Hattie sinks into life in Mountain View, the more she begins to realize that growth doesn’t always mean leaving. Sometimes it means staying and planting deeper roots. She’s torn between the woman she wanted to be and the one she’s becoming—the one who finds beauty in morning fog over the fields, who treasures family dinners around the scratched-up kitchen table, who dares to dream a little differently. The family barn, once just a landmark, becomes her symbol of possibility. A gathering place for neighbors, a pulse of connection, and maybe…a way forward.
The Love Triangle That Tore Me Apart
The tug between Lee and Fox is more than a romantic dilemma—it’s a battle of identity. Lee represents history, passion, and the unresolved ache of a first love. Fox offers steadiness, compassion, and the unknown comfort of someone new. Watching Hattie navigate this tension is as gripping as it is gut-wrenching. You feel her heart split with every glance, every gesture, every whispered what if. I had my favorite early on, and I was holding my breath until the very end. The payoff? Worth every single page.
A Journey of Strength and Self-Discovery
Hattie’s evolution is powerful and deeply moving. She doesn’t just find love—she finds herself. Her journey is muddy and real, like the dirt roads she once ran down barefoot as a child. She faces hard truths, makes messy decisions, and rises again—each time stronger, wiser, more whole. By the final chapter, I didn’t just admire her—I believed in her. This story isn’t just about choosing the right man. It’s about choosing the right version of yourself.
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A small town girl turned big city businesswoman returns home to help her parents, only to find her heart being tugged between her old flame and the town’s mysterious new guy.
This witty and effervescent novel is perfect for readers of Viola Shipman and fans of Sweet Magnolias and Hart of Dixie.
Event planner Hattie Norwood only came back home to Mountain View, South Carolina to support her parents as they receive word that the family peanut farm is infertile. This news doesn’t come as a surprise to Hattie, and she plans to return to Charlotte at the weekend’s end.
But then the town councilwoman begs Hattie to use her event-planning prowess to help Mountain View put on a musical benefit to stop the construction of the new Carolina Panthers stadium—a project Hattie is actually in favor of, much to the dismay of the locals—and she finds herself agreeing to stay until the town’s Founder’s Day celebration a week later, just as her old flame, former MLB standout Lee Lockhardt, materializes in town after a career-ending injury.
When the hunky and mysterious new owner of Fox’s Hardware, Fox Ryan, suggests the Founder’s Day celebration be moved to the Norwoods’ barn in an attempt to reinvent the failing farm as a music and event venue, Hattie agrees, unaware this move will thrust the town, her love life, and the brewing tension over the stadium into a very public spotlight.
Fans of small-town romance and quirky casts of characters will be rooting for Team Lee or Team Fox as Hattie decides if love, like most music, is meant to fade or last forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joy Callaway
Joy Callaway is the international bestselling author of The Grand Design, The Fifth Avenue Artists Society, and Secret Sisters. She lives in Charlotte, NC with her family.
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