Sweet Home Carolina: A Novel

Patricia Rice's SWEET HOME CAROLINA was a wonderful, fun read. On the surface it is a story of opposites attracting. Amy Warren is a hometown Carolina girl in a dying mill town, who's trying her best to reopen the textile factory. Jacques St. Etienne ("Saint Stevie") arrives to cherry-pick the closed mill's best patterns and take them back to Europe where he can market them and add to his fortune. These two people could not have more different agendas and personalities, but somehow -- to the great delight of the reader -- they find a way to fall in love. I devoured this book and went out to buy SMALL TOWN GIRL, the prequel.

Great author. I really enjoyed this story. Rated pg . . . relationships, history, and family are more important. Still a great love story. Very easy to read and enjoyable.

Novels about the South by southern writers usually appeal to me. Patricia Rice's books are always easy to read and very enjoyable. I recommend this one.

Amy Warren, recently divorced mother of two, needs a home and job. She's orchestrating the town's purchase of the recently closed textile mill in hopes of reopening the mill and putting the town back to work, herself included. When she learns there is another bidder, she's determined to convince the outsider to leave the mill alone. Unfortunately she keeps getting distracted by the handsome stranger's charm and kindness toward her children. Jacques St. Etienne has come to Northfork hoping to unearth historic weaving patters from the closed mill. He plans to buy the mill, keep the patterns and sell the equipment, but he's drawn to the small town and in particular the very persistent Amy. I loved how Jacques, a playboy world traveler becomes Zach to everyone in the town as he begins to put down roots. The sequel to Small Town Girl, Sweet Home Carolina brings us back to a small town in the North Carolina mountains. The town and its citizens play an integral part in the developing relationship between Amy and Zach. In Sweet Home Carolina Patricia Rice again weaves tried and true romance elements into a unique and memorable story that will resonate long after the last page is read.--Reviewed by Julie Opdyke