Sing Me Home to Carolina by Joy Callaway
Publish date June 10, 2025 - Alcove Press
Rating: 3/5
Spice: 0/5
Plot: 5/5
Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb: 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.
Tropes:
- second chance romance (-ish?)
- small town romance
- love triangle
- hallmark movie vibes
My Thoughts:
If you want a book with heavy southern themes, zero smut and an absolute ton of drama, grab this one up! I wouldn’t say that the plot is incredibly unpredictable but it is good. This book conjures up the vibe of the song Big Yellow Taxi. Add in some quirky southern folks, a lot of farmers whose land has impoverished soil, a small town country band with dreams of making it big, and a very small town with a big amount of charm. The characters of the town are very entertaining and I loved the idea of the plot but the romance fell flat for me. It’s not that the story/book is bad, I just don’t think it’s for me. I’m not a big love triangle girlie, too much angst. If love triangles are YOUR thing however, pick this up and give it a read because the town and the characters in it are very cute.
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