Denise Hunter: On Magnolia Lane

By Kelly Bridgewater

Pastor Jack McReady has secretly carried a torch for Daisy for two long years. She’s a member of his congregation, after all, and she’ll never see him as more than a trusted counselor. Jack’s best friend Noah has taken every opportunity to encourage his lovesick friend, but when Noah catches wind that Daisy has joined an online dating site, he takes matters into his own hands and orchestrates a meet-cute of the most unconventional kind.

Owner of the local flower shop, Daisy Pendleton is content with her small-town life, but she’d sure like someone to share it with. After several disastrous first dates, she’s about to give up—and then she finds a seemingly wonderful man online. Daisy gets to know TJ through a series of messages but finds herself spending more time with Pastor Jack outside of the church at the same time. What she doesn’t know is that her online prospect and Jack are one and the same. 

Just as Daisy’s love life starts to look promising, a mysterious woman appears in town. Daisy is faced with a revelation about her family that turns her world upside down, and she looks to both TJ and Jack for help.

Jack must find a way to reveal himself as her online suitor without breaking her heart and losing her trust. As Daisy faces Jack’s betrayal, she’ll have to learn to extend grace to herself, her family, and the man she’s grown to love.

https://www.denisehunterbooks.com/book-magnolia-lane.html

My Thoughts:

Denise Hunter is fabulous at putting two individuals, a male and a female, into sticky situations and watch them work through their growing emotions. With her latest series, it really hasn't worked for me. The final book, On Magnolia Lane, has a pastor for a hero and a flower shop worker for the heroine. While the story centers around searching for their dreams and looking for love through the facade of a on-line dating service. While the story moves slowly along, I had a really hard time staying focused on the plot. I really couldn't wait for it to be over. Of course being a contemporary romance, the ending is completely predictable, leaving nothing for me to guess. It was nice to see a different type of hero, such as being a pastor. Most people probably don't think of pastors in the realm that Hunter created Jack, but they have emotions and the desired to be loved by members of the opposite sex too. As for Daisy, the heroine, I really saw no redeeming quality about her. She doesn't stick out to me as anything special. She's a pretty cardboard character to me.

Overall, On Magnolia Lane is a bland, yet predictable contemporary romance. I had a hard time diving into the character's lives and the story didn't wow me. Fans of Melissa Tagg, Becky Wade, and Hunter's previous' writings might still love this book, this is just my humble opinion.

I received a complimentary copy of On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

About the Author:

From Amazon

 Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 30 novels, including "The Convenient Groom" and "A December Bride" which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader's Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.


In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn't orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest.

You can learn more about Denise through her website www.DeniseHunterBooks.com or by visiting her FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/authordenisehunter. (Taken from Amazon)