Monday, November 12, 2018

Tour Review - - On Magnolia Lane


On Magnolia Lane 
By Denise Hunter
A Blue Ridge Romance - Book 3
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Reviewed by PJ




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.

My thoughts:
This is a sweet, humorous, and heartwarming Christian contemporary romance set in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of northern Georgia. It's the third book in Hunter's Blue Ridge Romance trilogy but, while characters from previous books make appearances and I'm guessing Daisy and Pastor Jack have evolved over the course of the series, I had no difficulty reading - and enjoying - this third book on its own. 

One of the things that brought this story to life for me is Hunter's depiction of Daisy and Jack. Both are fully dimensional characters, rooted in their faith, but oh, so human, with all the insecurities, challenges, frustrations, and errors of judgment that encompasses. Jack, in particular, is such an endearing character. I liked him so much that I found myself giving him encouragement and advice as I traveled his journey with him, especially during those scenes where his shyness with women - Daisy, in particular - is on display. It took me a little longer to embrace Daisy. In the beginning, I wondered if she and Jack really could be a good match but the growth she exhibits during her journey, especially as it relates to an unexpected obstacle life throws her way, brought me into her cheering section as well. In the end, I happily embraced them both, individually and as a couple, with the confidence that their HEA will be filled with laughter and love - of each other, of their families, of their small community, and of their Lord. 


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Do you enjoy pastor heroes in the books you read?

Do you have any favorites you'd recommend?

Click to follow the rest of the TLC tour for On Magnolia Lane.






7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the first two books in this series & look forward to Pastor Jack's story, after all Pastors deserve a personal love story too.

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  2. Yes, I do - I have read one two but for the life of me, cannot even rem the authors who wrote them. I think one may have been a very old Sandra Brown romance.

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  3. yes:
    Here's some books that feature that theme
    :
    For the Love of God by Janet Dailey
    Saints and Sinners by Olivia Rupprecht
    Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr
    Baby for the Minister by Laurel Blount
    Tempst in Eden by Sandra Brown

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  4. I can't remember any titles, but I have read stories that have a minister hero. I like any story where the hero is a good guy, sense of humor, kind heart etc. Being a minister is, at times, simply a good step in the right direction. Thanks for the review and the introduction to another new author and series. Y'all are killin' me here.

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  5. Must Love Miracles by Melissa Storm. This is between a Pastor and a Rabbi. Momma asking her daughter why she couldn't find a nice Jewish boy. I loved this story.

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  6. I enjoy the occasional pastor in a book

    denise

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