Denise Hunter: Carolina Breeze

By Kelly Bridgewater

A jilted bride. A struggling innkeeper. And a romantic mountain getaway that changes everything.

Rising Hollywood star Mia Emerson is looking for a safe place to land in the wake of a public breakup and scandal, and she finds it in the lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina—the location of her canceled honeymoon. She wants nothing more than to hide and wait for the tabloids to die down.

Soon after her arrival at the Bluebell Inn, Mia meets Levi Bennett, who runs the inn along with his two younger sisters. Drawn to one another from the start, Mia trusts Levi to keep her location from the press, and Levi confides in Mia about the financial state of the inn—a secret he’s been keeping from his sisters.

When Mia and Levi discover an old journal that hints at a rare diamond necklace hidden in the inn, they set off on a treasure hunt to find the long-lost heirloom. What they don’t expect to surface are feelings they thought were safely locked away. Mia and Levi must decide if falling in love again is too big a risk—or if it will uncover a treasure of its own instead.

This Bluebell Inn romance takes us to a quiet North Carolina retreat that holds more secrets than it shares.  

From Goodreads

My Thoughts:

A mountain getaway on a lake with no worries at all. What a dream vacation! Oh yeah, someone has to pay for that to happen. Must keep working. Anyways, Denise Hunter's newest novel takes readers back to the Bluebell Inn with Molly, Grace, and Levi. In the first installment, readers became familiar with Molly and her love, Adam. In this addition, readers learn more about Levi and what he is sacrificing to bring this inn to life for his parents. Alot. Then Hunter threw in the heroine, Mia, and all her problems of becoming a famous movie stars. Lies. Deceit. Boyfriends. What a mess! It all comes crashing down in this sweet tale of love and hunting for a precious necklace that belonged to Mia's grandmother. Overall, Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter is a great beach read or when readers take a vacation up in the mountains. It is delightful and a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours.

I received a complimentary copy of Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter from Thomas Nelson Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Denise Hunter: Lake Season

By Kelly Bridgewater

A lost letter, a new love, and old secrets beckon this summer at the Bluebell Inn.

When their parents die in a tragic accident, Molly Bennett and her siblings pull together to fulfill their parents’ dream: turning their historic Bluebell, North Carolina home back into an inn. The situation would just be temporary—three years at the most—then they would sell the inn and Molly could get back to chasing her own dreams.

Adam Bradford (aka bestselling author Nathanial Grey) is a reclusive novelist with a bad case of writer’s block. Desperate for inspiration as his deadline approaches, he travels to the setting of his next book, a North Carolina lake town. There he immediately meets his muse, a young innkeeper who fancies herself in love with his alter ego.

Molly and Adam strike up an instant friendship. When Molly finds a long-lost letter in the walls of her inn she embarks on a mission with Adam to find the star-crossed lovers and bring them the closure they deserve. But Adam has secrets of his own. Past and present collide as truths are revealed, and Molly and Adam will have to decide if love is worth trusting.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Lake Season by Denise Hunter has a little bit of backflash to show the story that Molly and Adam are trying to find dealing with the letter. The romance was cute. What girl wouldn't want to meet her favorite author, especially if it is a guy writing romantic heroes worth swooning over? Molly and Adam's romance had its up and downs. But they stuck it out and earned their happily ever after. As for the plot, the idea of hunting for a missing letters owner to try to figure out if Benjamin ever heard how LIzzie really felt about him was interesting to see. The story worked itself out by the end of the pages. The idea of grief from losing parents suddenly really hit home for me. I really enjoyed the scene where Molly was crying in her parents' bedroom. The hurt doesn't go away like many authors portray in their novels. We, who have lost a parent suddenly, lost learn how to cope with every day. Not that we don't think of them and miss them all the time. Overall, Lake Season was a fun read that I think fans of contemporary romances will love. It was well-written and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

I received complimentary copy of Lake Season by Denise Hunter from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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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 almost 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.)