Review & Giveaway - - That Last Carolina Summer

That Last Carolina Summer

by Karen White

Publisher: Park Row

Release Date: July 22, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

As a child, Phoebe Manigault developed the gift of premonition after she was struck by lightning in the creek near her Charleston home. Plagued throughout her life by mysterious dreams, and always living in the shadow of her beautiful sister, Addie, Phoebe eventually moves to the West Coast, as far from her family as possible. Now, years later, she is summoned back to South Carolina, to help Addie care for their ailing mother.

As Phoebe’s return lures her back into deep-rooted tensions and conflicts, she is drawn to Celeste, whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Their connection brings comfort to Phoebe, while Celeste’s adult grandson Liam resurrects complicated emotions tied to Phoebe’s past.

But the longer Phoebe spends in her childhood home, the more her recurring nightmares intensify—bringing her closer to the shocking truth that will irrevocably change everything. Unfolding against the lush backdrop of the South Carolina Lowcountry, That Last Carolina Summer is an unforgettable story about the unbreakable bonds of family and the gift of second chances.

PJ's Thoughts:

Karen White paints a picture with her words of South Carolina's Lowcountry in her newest novel, That Last Carolina Summer. From the weather to the food to the topography, the southern turns of phrase, character traits, and more, the uniqueness of this region is brought to life on the pages of this book. I could feel the dense, sultry humidity of the air on my skin, hear the whispers of marsh grass swaying in the breeze, smell the brine of the nearby ocean, and tingle with electricity from incoming storms. And speaking of storms, there are more than a few, some created by the weather while others spring from long-held family secrets. 

This was such a compelling, immersive read. White kept me on my toes with these complex characters and their twisty, emotional journey. She plunked me right down in the middle of this fractured, three-generation family and the challenges facing them one turbulent summer. I never felt like an outside observer; I was right there with them experiencing each new revelation and the multitude of emotional reactions elicited. 

Then there's the masterfully constructed mystery element of the book surrounding an event at the core of those long-held secrets, a devastating truth with ripples still being felt many years later, with long-delayed answers just out of reach. I kept flipping pages long into the night trying to figure out if my guesses were correct and what, if any, impact those answers would have for the characters involved.  

If you enjoy multi-generation, Southern stories with rich authenticity, complicated family dynamics, romantic elements, and a twisty mystery, add The Last Carolina Summer to your summer reading list. I highly recommend it. 

Have you read any of Karen White's books?

What book have you recently read where you felt immersed in a particular setting?

I named some of the attributes that are unique to the Lowcountry setting in That Last Carolina Summer. What are attributes that would describe the region where you live?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM (EDT), July 25 will receive a hard cover copy of That Last Carolina Summer.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

 

Review & Giveaway - - The Author's Guide to Murder

The Author's Guide to Murder

by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: November 5, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists. 

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious. 

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death? 

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it! 

PJ's Thoughts:

I call this book the tale of two halves. I found the first half a bit too easy to set aside, which I did, on several occasions. It's the stage-setting portion of the book and, while interesting, it's not exactly attention grabbing. At least, it wasn't for me. A number of characters were introduced, creating confusion as to who was who and what their roles were in the castle/community/story. It took me a while to get them all straight and settle into the story. It also took me a while to warm up to the three main characters - the American authors - in much the same way as it took them time to warm up to one another. The highlight of the first half for me was the Detective Chief Inspector, a character we only see (in the first half) through the dialogue of his interrogations. Kudos to the author(s) who wrote those lines!

Part two of the book was a completely different story (pun intended). This is where the action picked up, the tension heightened, and the characters began to unravel...then slowly rebuild into stronger, more authentic versions of themselves. This half I could not put down. In fact, I read it entirely in one sitting, through dinner, and well beyond my normal bedtime. The authors (the writing ones, not the characters) kept throwing in twists and turns that had me gasping with delight and guessing right up until the final reveal. In addition to that, the second half is where the characters really came alive. Their public personas were stripped away, allowing readers to see the authentic, complex women underneath and allowing them to forge the bonds of friendship that would carry into the future. We also learned how they were connected to the deceased Brett Saffron Presley and the traumatic impact he had on their lives. Suffice to say, the not-so-dearly departed was not a nice man. 

While there were tough topics discussed in this book (date rape being one), the overall tone was one of cheeky humor wrapped in gothic mystery with justice prevailing in the end, and women wronged who not only survived but thrived. Those three women with whom I could not connect in the first half of the book? By the time I turned the final page, they felt like dear friends and I could not have been happier for them. And that Detective Chief Inspector I couldn't get enough of in the first part of the book? Well...I'll let you find out what happens to him yourselves but let's just say he gets even better as does the unexpected happy ending awaiting him. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Have you read Williams, Willig, and White? 

Do you enjoy British/Scottish police procedurals  (either TV or book)?

Who else enjoys the twists and turns of a compelling Gothic romance?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, December 18 will receive a hardback copy of The Author's Guide to Murder. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Review - - Dreams of Falling

Dreams of Falling

By Karen White

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

Larkin Lanier left Georgetown, South Carolina, nine years ago. Four years at Fordham University and another five as a copywriter at an ad agency has given Larkin a life of sorts in New York “where people seemed to care only about where you were going, not where you’d been.” She has returned to Georgetown only for an obligatory Christmas visit when she could not escape one, and she doesn’t even answer the phone calls of her father who disillusioned her so thoroughly that she cannot forgive him. However, when the woman she thinks of as her grandmother calls to say that Larkin’s mother has disappeared, Larkin knows that she cannot refuse to return to the place that still claims her, regardless of the miles and the years that separate her from home.

Ivy Madsen Lanier, Larkin’s mother, is found by her daughter in the wreck of Carrowmore, once the legendary home of her mother’s family, the Darlingtons. Carrowmore was destroyed by the fire in which Ivy’s mother, Margaret Darlington Madsen, perished and which two-year-old Ivy survived. As Larkin searches for the reason her mother was in the shell of a house and uncovers secrets that stretch half a century into the past, she also learns secrets of her mother’s life and finally comes to terms with the events from her own past that have left her hiding from life and from home.

Sessalee “Ceecee” Purnell, daughter of a Methodist pastor and his wife, Martha “Bitty” Williams, daughter of educators, and Margaret Darlington, only child of the wealthy Darlingtons have been best friends since first grade. In 1951, just after their high school graduation, they celebrate their new status as adults with a trip to Myrtle Beach where they meet brothers Boyd and Reggie Madsen. The lives of all five young people are forever changed. Margaret dies in a fire, and Ceecee, with assistance/interference from Bitty, rears Margaret’s daughter Ivy and loves her as her own and protects Margaret’s secrets.

The novel moves between the twenty-first century (2010) where twenty-seven-year-old Larkin cannot move beyond key experiences of her youth and Ivy drifts between life and death and the mid-twentieth century where Ceecee, Bitty, and Margaret learn hard lessons about life and friendship and loss.

Karen White gives her readers another evocative novel about women’s relationships as friends and as mothers and daughters. Secrets and the complicated bonds of family and friendship are recurring motifs in White’s novels. The skill with which White handles these themes and her lucid prose with its wonderful lyrical moments made my first response to this novel fangirl enthusiasm. She also has an enviable sense of place that gives her settings an appealing dimensionality. A second, more critical assessment forced me to acknowledge that the three narratives are uneven in power.

The 1950s storyline is the strongest. White’s characterization of the three friends—the introverted, ambivalent Ceecee, the artistic, unconventional Bitty, and the privileged Margaret—is vivid and engaging. It is even more remarkable because she makes Ceecee and Bitty real for her readers both as young women and as septuagenarians. Ivy is a much less substantial character colored by loss and regret to such a degree that she seems more ghost than character. Some may see this as fitting given her physical state, but I wanted to know more of her. I had mixed reactions to Larkin. I found her sympathetic as a character who never had the connection with her mother that she needed, and her relationships with Mabry and Bennett were also compelling. However, she seemed a very young twenty-seven to me and largely untouched by her college years. The high school trauma as defining moment, a popular trope in women’s fiction and romance, always leaves me alternately scoffing “Really?” and wondering if my own high school experience was lacking since shaping experiences came before or after that period.

Overall, I recommend this book to readers who have enjoyed other Karen White books, to fans of Southern fiction, and to readers who like women’s fiction that demonstrates with Faulknerian grace that the past is never really past. The characters will interest you, and the plot will keep you turning pages. Nevertheless, I don’t think this one reaches the five-star level of The Beach Trees, The Time Between, and some of the Tradd Street books.

Sea Change Winner

The winner of a copy of SEA CHANGE by Karen White is

QUILT LADY

Congratulations!  Please send your full name and mailing address to us at theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your book.

It's a Date!



Wendy & Karen

 A couple weeks ago I received an email from Yahoo Upcoming Events announcing a Book Your Lunch event with authors Karen White and Wendy Wax.  Having never heard of Book Your Lunch, I really didn't know what to expect but a few things caught my attention.  First, the event was being sponsored by Fiction Addiction, a local independent bookstore and I always do my best to support local businesses.  Second, Karen White and Wendy Wax are two favorite authors who write southern womens fiction and womens fiction set in the south (yes, there is a difference) respectively, and having met them at a previous Georgia Romance Writers conference in Atlanta, I knew they would be entertaining.  Finally, the event was being held at The Lazy Goat, a terrific Mediterranean cuisine restaurant I'd heard about so I knew we'd be well fed.  (I have my priorities!) Favorite authors, fellow readers, terrific food and a chance to support a local indy bookstore?  Total win!  I bought my ticket and two days ago attended my first, but surely not my last, Book Your Lunch event. 



Jill, Wendy & Karen

They warned me my GPS wouldn't find the restaurant and they were right but I knew the general area and eventually got to the right place.  After circling the parking garage a few times I found an open parking spot then set out to find the right exit to the restaurant.  I had only gone a few steps when I encountered a friendly woman who looked like she knew where she was going.  Turns out she's a fellow blogger by the name of Kathy Roberts who runs a site called Bermuda Onion's Weblog and she's a regular at these events. The next person I met was Jill Hendrix, the owner of Fiction Addiction.  If you're in the Upstate of South Carolina, drop by this great indy bookstore and say hello and don't forget to check out upcoming events at their website. 

Jill is a wonderful hostess, immediately putting her guests at ease.  I was delighted to discover that I had been seated at a table with Wendy Wax and looked forward to chatting with her over lunch but first, we all settled in to listen to Karen and Wendy talk about the ins and outs of writing, being critique partners and their separate journeys to their current releases: The Beach Trees by Karen and Ten Beach Road by Wendy.



Table-Mates Mary Alice and Evonne

 Karen writes an average of two books per year and has published fourteen books over the past ten years.  She describes her writing as the kind that "makes you laugh, cry and not want to stick your head in an oven."  In other words, she'd never be an Oprah pick.  She always writes about the south because that's what she knows and loves.  She especially likes the Lowcountry of South Carolina and has used that area as the setting for several of her books.  One of the things Karen is known for is the relationships between women, especially sisters, in her books.  While Karen has only brothers, her mother has sisters and as a child, one of Karen's favorite things to do was sit quietly under the kitchen table and listen to her mother and aunts talk.  Those memories became the inspiration for the "southern voices" and sister relationships in her books today.

Karen's 2010 release, On Folly Beach spent five weeks on the NYT Bestseller List and is a finalist for this year's RITA for Novel with Strong Romantic Elements and her newest release, The Beach Trees, debuted at #15 on the NYT Trade Paperback Bestseller List.  It's apparent that many new readers are discovering the wonders of this very talented author.  Click here to read Janga's 5 Star review of The Beach Trees, posted yesterday at The Romance Dish and watch the video below to hear Karen talk about the inspiration for the story.

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A journalism major, Wendy Wax worked in television and radio, including hosting a radio show called "Desperate and Dateless," before turning her talents to writing novels.  She started out writing romantic comedy, publishing books with appropriately amusing titles such as her all-time favorite, Leave it to Cleavage.  A couple years ago, changes at her publishing house caused Wendy to change agents, publishers and the direction of her writing.  She switched from romantic comedy to women's fiction and never looked back.  Her first womens fiction novel, The Accidental Bestseller, a 2010 RITA finalist, is one of my favorites.  Her current release, Ten Beach Road once again explores relationships among women and the journey they embark upon.  Here's the story blurb:

Madeline, Avery, and Nikki are strangers to each other, but they have one thing in common. They each wake up one morning to discover their life savings have vanished, along with their trusted financial manager- leaving them with nothing but co-ownership of a ramshackle beachfront house.


Throwing their lots in together, they take on the challenge of restoring the historic property. But just as they begin to reinvent themselves and discover the power of friendship, secrets threaten to tear down their trust-and destroy their lives a second time.
 
During the writing of Ten Beach Road, Wendy, who says no one in her family is allowed to own tools...for their own safety and the safety of others...became addicted to HGTV's home improvement shows and made a video about it on Youtube.  Click below to check it out.
 
 

 
 
I hope you all enjoyed this peek into my first author lunch adventure.  I had a wonderful time and am already looking forward to my next one and, after hearing Karen and Wendy speak, I'm more excited than ever about reading their new books!
 
Have you ever attended an author lunch or an author talk? Do you have events like these where you live?  What author or authors would entice you to attend one?  Have you attended any of the livestreaming author talks that have been on the internet recently? 
 
We have two books to give away today to two random visitors thanks to the generosity of Heidi Richter at Penguin, Karen White and Wendy Wax.  Just leave a comment to be eligible to win a signed copy of The Beach Trees or a signed copy of Ten Beach Road.  (U.S. / Canadian addresses only)
 
~PJ

Guest Review - - The Beach Trees

The Beach Trees
By Karen White
Publisher: NAL Trade
Release Date: May 3, 2011

Karen White calls her fiction “grit lit,” women’s fiction with a strong Southern accent, but in the case of her latest release, The Beach Trees, “grit lit” may serve as well to describe the fortitude of her characters, major and secondary, who prove themselves survivors in the face of profound loss. Sense of place is high on the list of qualities that define Southern fiction generally, and it’s high on the list of things that White does exceedingly well. Her descriptions of New Orleans and Biloxi are so richly evocative that the reader can almost feel the steamy heat, smell the water, and see the scars left by hurricanes and an oil spill. But place is more than mere setting in this novel; it is also a character, as tenacious and resilient as the people who call this region home.

Another convention of Southern literature is an awareness of the past and its intrusion on the present. White shows this intrusion with all her characters, native Southerner and outsider alike. Julie Holt’s life is shaped by an event in her past. Seventeen years ago, her younger sister, Chelsea, disappeared on the watch of twelve-year-old Julie, who watched her family splinter as her mother devoted her life to finding Chelsea. Since her mother’s death ten years ago, Julie has been consumed with doing what her mother could not do. But it is not her own past that brings her to Biloxi; it is rather the past of her friend Monica Guidry, dead of congenital heart defect at 28. Monica, who was estranged from her family, leaves Julie a beach house in Biloxi and the guardianship of Beau, Monica’s five-year-old son. When caring for Beau causes Julie to lose her job at a New York auction house, she sees the house in Biloxi as her only option.

The beach house provides no sanctuary, however; it was destroyed by Katrina. Julie’s resources are thin when a mysterious painting leads her to Monica’s grandmother, Aimee, and brother, Trey. Aimee persuades Julie to stay at the family home to give Beau a chance to know his mother’s family and encourages Julie and the reluctant Trey to rebuild River Song, the beach house. Julie, believing that Beau needs his family and intrigued by the painting that links her family to the Guidrys, agrees. The painting, the work of Julie’s great-grandfather, is a portrait of Caroline Guidry, Trey’s great-grandmother, another Guidry woman who disappeared.

From this point on, White seamlessly weaves together narratives of past and present. Aimee shares her story with Julie, bringing to life the beautiful, unconventional Caroline, her controlling husband, and their two sons, both of whom Aimee loved. As they work together to rebuild River Song, Julie’s adversarial relationship with Trey gradually transforms to a partnership, a friendship, and eventually something more. Secrets long buried are revealed, and questions about Monica’s disappearance, as well as Caroline’s, are answered.

Karen White has been an autobuy author for me since I read The Memory of Water in 2008 and immediately tracked down her backlist. I love her layered characters with their tangled relationships, her evocation of a region I know by heart, her lucid prose with its lyrical passages, and the Southern Gothic touches that flavor but do not define her books. The Beach Trees contains all of these things and more. It is the story of a woman’s journey from shadow to substance, from rootless seeker to one grounded in her place, from a woman owned by the past to one eagerly anticipating the future. It is also a love story—love for a child, a man, and a home. But The Beach Trees is not only Julie’s story. It is also the story of family and place, the story of survivors. Early in the novel, Julie asks Aimee why people rebuild after a hurricane rather than leaving. Aimee responds:

“Because this is home.” She waited to see if the words registered with me, but I just looked back at her, not understanding at all.

After a deep breath, she looked up at a tall oak tree beyond the garden, its leaves still green against the early October sky, the limbs now thick with foliage. “Because the water recedes, and the sun comes out, and the trees grow back. Because” — she spread her hands, indicated the garden and the tree and, I imagined, the entire peninsula of Biloxi — “because we’ve learned that great tragedy gives us opportunities for great kindness. It’s like a needed reminder that the human spirit is alive and well despite all evidence to the contrary.” She lowered her hands to her sides. “I figured I wasn’t dead, so I must not be done.”

I give this book my highest recommendation.

~Janga