The Magnolia Inn – Carolyn Brown

“Know what you do when life gives you lemons? You add tequila.”

The Magnola inn by carolyn brown

📖”Inheriting The Magnolia Inn is a fantasy come true for Jolene. After living with the guilt of failing to rescue her self-destructive mother, Jolene knows her Aunt and Uncles B&B is the perfect jumpstart to for a new life. There’s just one hitch: Tucker Malone. He’s got half interest in the Magnolia Inn, and he is planting his dusty cowboy boots squarely in the middle of her dream. Since his wife’s death, Tucker has his own guilt and demons that have left him as guarded as Jolene. Restoring the Magnolia Inn is the first step in restoring their own hearts. Will they be able to let go of the past and trust each other to do it together?” 📖

⭐️⭐️💫
2.5 STARS

I was horribly disappointed in this book. I usually love Carolyn Brown books, but this didn’t even seem like her voice or style. I almost DNF this book.

What I did like:
-I liked the character of Tucker. I think he may be the only reason I finished this book and gave it more than 1⭐️. He is a well developed character that has a deep and moving story.
-I also liked the overall storyline to this book. A great premise, just wasn’t executed well.

What I didn’t like:
-I did not like Jolene. I found her to be extremely whiny and SO fixated on her mom’s drug/drinking issues and also on Tucker’s weekend drinking. We NEVER heard the end of it. I swear we read something about it on ever page.
-I found that all the extra characters were unnecessary to the story. Would have been fine with less.
-I didn’t find Aunt Sugars point of view necessary.
-This didn’t read much as a romance. This read more like women’s fiction, with them getting together in the last 40 pages. And it was underwhelming. I’m all for slow-burn romance, but I felt it dull and lacking.

Overall I think this was a underwhelming and not well thought-out book. The overall storyline of fighting ones inner demons and finding hope and moving on from those battles was good, but the writing wasn’t captivating and the characters were dull.