Tag Archives: Lynette Austin

Every Bride Has Her Day by Lynette Austin – a Review

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Every Bride Has Her Day by Lynnette Austin – a Review

 

Every Bride Has Her Day
Magnolia Brides series – Book #2
by Lynnette Austin
Release Date: May 3, 2016

Every Bride Has Her DayAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description:
Can love revive a wilting heart?
Cricket O’Malley can’t wait to plant roots back home in Georgia, where she’s returned to restore an abandoned flower shop to its former glory. The only blemish? Her neighbor’s house is even more neglected than her old flower shop, and its occupant seems as surly as he is darkly handsome.

Devastated body and soul after a tough case went south, New York City detective Sam DeLuca thought he’d have no trouble finding solitude in the quiet Georgia town of Misty Bottoms, but his bubbly neighbor seems determined to shine happiness into Sam’s life. Sam is equally determined to close himself off, but his heart says otherwise…

 

Review:

Every Bride Has Her Day by Lynnette Austin is the 2nd book in her wonderful Magnolia Brides series.  I enjoyed the first book in this series, and am happy to say Every Bride Has Her Day was just as good, as it was a pleasure to spend time with those we met in Misty Bottoms , Georgia.

Sam Deluca, our hero, arrives in the middle of the night to the house his deceased Aunt Gertie left him.  Sam is a NY detective, who was undercover for so long, which ended badly and has left him injured and with nightmares.  Sam finds the house in shambles, but he needs time to rest and is determined to fix up the house.  Then Sam meets his cute next door neighbor, Cricket O’Malley, our heroine. 

Cricket is also fairly new to town, having moved to Misty Bottoms, and has bought the town flower shop.   Cricket has hopes to make her dream come true with her new shop, The Enchanted Florist, something that would work well with Magnolia Brides.  Misty Bottoms is growing, with a section of shops offering everything for brides.  When she meets Sam, she is immediately attracted to him, but she sees he is hiding something. 

Sam does not want to become involved, since he is only in Misty Bottoms to recover and fix the house.  He only plans to stay a short time, though in a short period of time he finds himself falling for sweet Cricket, as well as the small town atmosphere and new friends.  On top of that, a stray dog, that he names Hobo adopts Sam.  Hobo, was so cute, how he loved Sam, and was instrumental in bringing Cricket more into Sam’s life.  This was fun.

This turned out to be a beautiful romance, with Cricket doing her best to help Sam with his nightmares, and forcing him to open up about how he got hurt.  Sam, despite knowing that he loved Cricket, was a bit annoying in his stubbornness that he was only in town a short time, and didn’t want to hurt her.   It was also great to see those we met in the first book, who played a big part in this story. 

Lynnette Austin has created a great couple in Sam and Cricket, as well as all the other characters.  You can’t help but care about them all, especially Jenni Beth, Cole, Beck and even Jeremy.  This was a very heartwarming story, with two people perfect together, a cute funny dog, great friends, and a wonderful ending that lit up the pages.  If you enjoy sweet romances, with a beautiful ending, then Every Bride Has Her Day is perfect for you.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Best Laid Wedding Plans by Lynette Austin – a Review

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The Best Laid Wedding Plans by Lynette Austin – a Review

 

The Best Laid Wedding PlansAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description:
Jenni Beth Beaumont thought she left her broken heart in Chance, Georgia, when she moved away. But when she suddenly inherits her family’s beautiful, antebellum home, her dream of turning the residence into a wedding destination calls her back.

Cole Bryson, an architectural salvager and Jenni Beth’s former flame, intends to purchase and deconstruct the Beaumont family’s down-at-the-heels estate. To his surprise, Jenni Beth is more of a stubborn Southern girl than he thought. Cole will have to use all his sultry, steamy tricks to test more than the resolve of his sexy competition…

 

Review:

The Best Laid Wedding Plans by Lynette Austin is the 1st book in her new Magnolia Brides series. This was a fun and very nice small town romance, though a bit long.

Jenni Beth Beaumont gives up the job she loves as a wedding planner in Savannah to return home to be with her parents, who have not recovered from the death of her brother. Jenni Beth plans to fix up their home, and turn it into a wedding planning business. Her family’s financial situation, due to bad loans, forces her to ask for a loan to rebuild the house and start the business. The town is slowly falling apart, and Jenni Beth plans could be just the right thing to bring things back to the way they were.

Cole Bryson was Jenni Beth’s late brother’s best friend, whom she also had a crush as a teenager. Cole has sworn to protect Jenni Beth, though she wants nothing to do with him, especially after he stood her up at the prom years before. Cole enjoys his life, with his choice of many women, but he finds himself becoming deeply invested into Jenni Beth’s life.

It is Cole who will accidently discover that the banker offering the loan to Jenni Beth has plans of his own, which will hurt Jenni Beth and her family. Cole is determined to find out more about the land, and protect her. I do enjoy these small town and family oriented romances, and it was nice to see old friends of both Jenni Beth and Cole come and help. I also enjoyed how Jenni Beth worked on helping her parents get back on their feet, and become active again. Nice touch.

The story also becomes a mystery as to who is behind the sabotage as Jenni Beth plans her first small wedding. She races against time with Cole and other friends helping to fix the things destroyed in time for the wedding. But most of all this story is a sweet romance between Jenni Beth and Cole, which is slow to build. Jenni Beth finds herself falling for Cole again, but she cannot allow herself to trust him, and get hurt again. Cole doesn’t want to become serious, but he finds himself thinking about Jenni Beth all the time. Will they be able to open their heart to love each other?

The Best Laid Wedding Plans was a very nice story, with a little of everything….romance, family, friendship, small town, sorrow and mystery. I enjoyed this book, but did feel it could have been a bit shorter. Overall, this really was a fun read.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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