carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I didn't want this story to end! I was really excited to get my hands on this prequel novella to Molly Harper's Southern Eclectic series. The fact that I won this title in a Goodreads giveaway made it even a little nicer. I listened to the audiobook of another of Molly Harper's books earlier this year and really enjoyed it so I was really eager to give this new series a try. This turned out to be a very enjoyable read.

This really felt like Marianne's story to me. Yes, there is some romance between Marianne and Carl but this was Marianne's tale. Marianne left the small town she grew up in when she went to college because she was looking for something more. She found what she thought she wanted and has a life she likes and what she thinks she needs as she comes home for a little while before going to law school.

Marianne has a large and colorful family and they all live by each other. Some of her family works in the funeral industry and Marianne is there to help out since she is home for a while. She ends up putting some of her negotiation skills to use pretty quickly when a family can't decide how to handle a loved one's final wishes. It was fun to watch Marianne try to find her spot in her family and their business.

When Marianne left the small town, she left Carl. It is pretty obvious right away that Carl and Marianne are still very attracted to each other. They have a lot of unresolved issues to work through since their break up was pretty rough but I thought that they really seemed to fit with each other.

I would recommend this book to others. I will say that just as the romance started to get going the book ended. I guess the idea behind a prequel novella is to make readers want to start reading the series and I can say that this novella accomplished that goal because I do want to find out what happens next. Anyone who enjoys a fun romantic story filled with humor and great characters will enjoy this one. I can't wait to read more from Molly Harper soon!

I won a kindle copy of this book from a giveaway on Goodreads. 

Initial Thoughts
I didn't want it to end! Really...it was just getting to the good stuff and boom...it's over. It was a nice intro to the series. I thought it was fun and the characters were great. I had fun with it but would have really liked to see another chapter or maybe an epilogue.