"Who would believe," Rose added, trying to perk up Stella, "that three quiet, peaceful women could get involved in such derring-do?"
Synopsis: A modern-day Scarlett has to save the Louisian plantation from drug runners and police corruption while facing lectures on romance from her maiden great aunt and her best friend. Oh, she's also searching Tara for a decades-old hidden treasure.
Stella St. Vallier is the last of the storied and land-rich St. Valliers. She leaves her tenure-track position at the big town university to try to figure out how to make the family's cane-sugaring operation profitable again. Shadow Oaks, the family manse, is filled with fine and decaying furnishings, Stella's maiden aunt Rose, and Rose's loyal companion Maman. Unfortunately, the land outside is filled with unprofitable cane and drug runners from the local titty bar, underwritten by the local good old boy sheriff, who has carried a very weird, very dangerous torch for Stella since high school. Add to this mix a hot, gray-eyed undercover Fed, a missing treasure and a secret room at Shadow Oaks and stand well back.
You know, this is my second romantic suspense outing (I don't know, the Hannaford's barrel tells me lies sometimes, or just throws shiny things at my head) and I have to say, it was pretty darn good. There's a strong h/c vibe for my h/c sisters out there, although one of my two complaints about the book is that there is a lot of hurt and not enough comfort. But hello, y'all know me. I am soft as socks. One of my favorite fanfics last year had puppies in it. Another really was about socks. So there was that.
The other was just that there are a lot of stereotypes in the book; little cardboard cutout characters running around saying cardboard cutout things. The exceptions to this are Rose and Maman. However! In this case, it doesn't actually get in the way of the plot. The plot's fun. It's shallow and fast-moving and...SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE.
Here is the thing: I totally enjoyed this book. I read the first 200 pages in one sitting. There's a lag period around page 250, but overall, this was a fun little read. And by "lag", I mean that the suspense portion overwhelmed the romance and was way too tense for me so I had to sort of fan the pages--now look, we've discussed this. I am socks. But if you are not socks, you'll totally dig this book.
Don't expect great things, but this was quite a good read--especially if you are not a sock.