Review: Restless in Carolina by Tamara Leigh

From the Publisher:

She’s all about going green. Could he be her white knight—or will he make her see red?

Tree-huggin’, animal-lovin’ Bridget Pickwick-Buchanan is on a mission. Well, two. First she has to come to terms with being a widow at thirty-three. After all, it’s been four years and even her five-year-old niece and nephew think it’s time she shed her widow’s weeds. Second, she needs to find a buyer for her family’s estate—a Biltmore-inspired mansion surrounded by hundreds of acres of unspoiled forestland. With family obligations forcing the sale, Bridget is determined to find an eco-friendly developer to buy the land, someone who won’t turn it into single-family homes or a cheesy theme park.

Enter J. C. Dirk, a high-energy developer from Atlanta whose green property developments have earned him national acclaim. When he doesn’t return her calls, Bridget decides a personal visit is in order. Unfortunately, J. C. Dirk is neither amused nor interested when she interrupts his meeting—until she mentions her family name. In short order, he finds himself in North Carolina, and Bridget has her white knight—in more ways than one. But there are things Bridget doesn’t know about J. C., and it could mean the end of everything she’s worked for…and break her heart.

My Thoughts:
I started this book back in December, but between our holiday travels, an upcoming move, etc. it had been placed on the back burner since then. I think if I'd have had the chance to read the book without such interruptions, I would have been able to get into it and enjoy it much more. As it was, I found it to be very entertaining. It did start a bit slow I thought, though this could have been due to my limited reading time, but somewhere towards the middle of the book, I found it much more interesting and by the end I was wanting more and more. When we first meet Bridget, she is after 4 years, still in mourning over the loss of her husband, but when she loses it over reading the words 'happily ever after' to her 5 year old niece, she realizes it's time to make some changes, shedding her 'widow weeds' and learning to open her heart again, both to potential relationships and to God. During all of this we also meet Uncle Obe, who is selling his family home due to his ailing health and in an effort to make amends for past wrongs done by the family. All of these events are weaved together beautifully in what is truly a wonderful story about letting go of the past. There were a few parts in the story that I found to be rather predictable and would have preferred to be left wondering until the end, but it was a great story. This is also part of the 'Southern Discomfort' series, but while I had not read the other books, I found this stood alone just fine on its own. It was only after finishing that I found this out. Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. I hope to reread it in the future so that I can truly enjoy it as a whole as opposed to the snippets I was able to get.

You can purchase this book here.

*I received a copy of Restless in Carolina free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.