The Magnolia Inn by Carolyn Brown #bookreview #contemporary #romance

Title: The Magnolia Inn

Author: Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Publication Date: January 15, 2019

Page Count: 286

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown brings together two wounded hearts in a Texas romance of second chances and twice-in-a-lifetime true love.

Inheriting the Magnolia Inn, a Victorian home nestled in the East Texas pines, is a fantasy come true for Jolene Broussard. After living with the guilt of failing to rescue her self-destructive mother, Jolene knows her aunt and uncle’s B&B is the perfect jump start for a new life and a comforting place to call home. There’s just one hitch: stubborn and moody carpenter Tucker Malone. He’s got a half interest in the Magnolia Inn, and he’s planting his dusty cowboy boots squarely in the middle of her dream.

Ever since his wife’s death, Tucker’s own guilt and demons have left him as guarded as Jolene. The last thing he expects is for his new partner to stir something inside him he thought was gone forever. And as wary as Jolene is, she may have found a kindred spirit—someone she can help, and someone she can hold on to.

Restoring the Magnolia Inn is the first step toward restoring their hearts. Will they be able to let go of the past and trust each other to do it together?

The Magnolia Inn by Carolyn Brown is a slow burning contemporary romance. The story brings two flawed characters together for their shot at a happily ever after over the course of several months time.

Jolene Broussard found out that her aunt Sugar was going to give her half of her bed and breakfast, the Magnolia Inn. As excited as Jolene wanted to be she knew she was dead broke and that the inn was going to take a lot of work to get into shape and her cousin Ruben who now owns the other half was the last person she waned to go into business with.

Tucker Malone used to be in law enforcement before his wife died in a tragic accident, now Tucker is basically a hermit in his trailer and a weekend drunk mourning his wife. When Tucker hears the inn is for sale he decides to invest the insurance money putting use to his carpentry skills. While Tucker is much better to partner with than Ruben, Jolene and Tucker find themselves navigating their new partnership slowly but surely.

For a change we have a romance novel that didn’t push the romance (or the characters into bed) within the first few pages. The couple in this story each had their own issues to deal with and that was done slowly while remodeling the inn. I will say what I also enjoyed the most in here was the side characters, Flossie, Dotty and Lucy, the trio of elderly ladies had been friends with Jolene’s aunt for years and were like extended family and always good for a chuckle which definitely helped make this one a cute story overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist with more than ninety published books, which include women’s fiction and historical, contemporary, and cowboys-and-country-music romance. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else and knows what they’re doing and when. And they read the local newspaper on Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. Visit Carolyn at http://www.carolynbrownbooks.com.