Restless in Carolina by Tamara Leigh

The third is a series of books dealing with the women of the Pickwick family of North Carolina, Restless in Carolina took a little bit of persistence to get into. Readers of Leaving Carolina and Nowhere Carolina would have no problem as many of the characters are already introduced.

However, do not let that discourage you, dear reader. Bridget Pickwick Buchanan is a tree-huggin’, animal- lovin’ widow who is still recovering from the death of her husband four years previously. Like no one you probably have never met, she has a history of doing outrageous things (outrageous to everyone but her) and so no one is really surprised by the way she lives or what she holds dear. Content to live in her widowhood, that state of life is ultimately challenged by her young niece and nephew. Happily ever after does not exist for Bridget and God isn’t fair in His dealings with her. On top of all of this, she takes on the job of helping to sell the family Biltmore style home and estate so her uncle can repay debts to families that the Pickwicks have treated unjustly in the past.

Enter J.C. Dirk, a developer from Atlanta who sees the possibility of developing the land while keeping with an eco-friendly development favored by Bridget. What no one knows initially is that J.C. is the descendent of a family who had been taken advantage of.

As I progressed through the four month period this book covers, I found it increasingly difficult to put down. I wanted to find out what happened next as Bridget and J.C. interact and eventually realize they have fallen in love. There are enough twists and turns to keep you, the reader, interested as you discover the motivation and plans of a second developer, meet members of the Pickwick family, discover lost relatives and find both Bridget and J.C. moving beyond their past, learning to forgive and let go of hurts/wrongs done and into a future together. Humorous with romance and a message of hope and healing, I recommend this book to readers of Christian fiction.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.