Oh what a gorgeous cover! It certainly drew me in, and, as with every book I’ve read by Denise Hunter, the plot, message, and characters followed suit.

Sweetbriar Cottage is a heartbreaking and powerful story. If you’re looking for a fluff story, this isn’t for you. The relationship and growth between Noah and Josie has depth and pain and will pull you through many emotions.

I love how the characters are flawed and real. Nothing feels contrived. The spiritual aspect gives them an authentic, full feel that makes it easy to relate and sympathize with them.

Ms. Hunter is a talented author and I recommend any of her books. This one is one of her best.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and BookLook.

Another great book by Denise Hunter! The only reason I didn't give it five stars was the predictability of the story. That said, it is a great storyline.
A story of how ones childhood can have a great impact on the future. Josie had a sad and traumatic childhood after her mother passed away, leaving her step-father to raise her. What happened to Josie after that had a huge impact on the future years for Josie. They shaped her into someone she really wasn't. She inherited money from her biological father, whom she had never met, and moved to start over where no one knew her. She opened a barber shop. Needing work done on the shop, she met Noah, who had put in a bid for the work.
When Noah began to have feelings for her, she couldn't believe she deserved a man as good as him. Eventually, they married, and she still felt undeserving and kept waiting for the other foot to drop and it eventually did, though it was Josie's fault. The marriage ended in divorce, which two years later they learned the judge had never signed the final papers.
Event after event threw them together in very close quarters. A story of hurt, betrayal, forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation
I was given an ecopy of this book to read from the publisher HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review..

I have enjoyed some of the twists that a romantic story between a married couple can bring. You end up dealing with some of the issues though, that married couples face which make this a book that is not one that you would generally hand your teenager to read, unless you were wanting to discuss some of those issues. 

While a bit cliche in areas, this book was highly enjoyable as well as cause you to stop and think. The couple had some major issues that were real problems, but seeing how each of them was forced to face them and deal with them was very good. 

If you are looking for a married romantic story, this is a good one to pick up!

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter is an emotional story of reconciliation. Noah receives a letter from the IRS claiming that he is still married to Josephine (Josie). She missed the last step in the process. Noah has bought a horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia. When Josie brings the papers out for him to sign she thinks she is helping. She never imagined that she would get stranded at his cottage during the worst snowstorm in years.
It is Josie’s fault that the marriage didn’t work but I still liked her character. The author introduces us to Josie in a way that we connect with her before she starts making all of her very bad decisions.
As they are stranded together Noah fights his anger and attraction to her. He realizes there are more things about her that he doesn’t know and a husband should.
Sweetbriar Cottage is one of the better stories of reconciliation that I have read in quite some time.
Sexual Content: they are married and there is some sleeping together without details

Noah Mitchell is less than impressed when he finds his ex-wife is actually still his wife—she forgot to file their divorce papers, so the divorce was never final. Now he has to get those papers filed to get the IRS off his back. But getting them filed means visiting Josephine Dupree Mitchell again—not something he’s looking forward to.

Josie knows how much Nate doesn’t want to spend time with her. And why would he, after what she did? So she decides to be helpful and save Nate a trip into town by driving out to his ranch to deliver the signed papers. She can get his signature, file the papers with the judge, and the divorce will be done. At last.

Only things never work out as planned, because a snowstorm hits as Josie arrives at the ranch, and she’s trapped there with Nate, the ex-husband she still has feelings for. Then things get worse …

Sweetbriar Cottage is a sweet (!) yet powerful exploration of the nature of unconditional love. It starts in the present, but has flashbacks to three and a half years ago, when Nate and Josie first met, and to Josie’s childhood—the childhood she never discussed with Nate. The flashbacks gradually reveal what she did—but they also show why she did it.

It was always obvious Nate was the one who had instigated the divorce, and this got me wondering why. How can you meet, marry, and divorce in just three years? (This seems unbelievably fast, partly because I live in New Zealand where it takes at least two years to get a divorce.) What had she done that he couldn’t forgive? And why did he marry a non-Christian in the first place?

It was also obvious that Josie was one emotionally messed up woman, and that whatever she’d done was the result of her messed up teenage years (triggers!) and her subsequent belief that there is no such thing as unconditional love. Spoiler: there is. But that’s something they both need to learn.

I’d been a little apprehensive about reading Sweetwater Cottage, but it captured me from the beginning and never let up. A great second chance romance with some deep Christian themes.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Sweetbriar Cottage – Denise Hunter

I love Denise Hunter! I love stories set in my home state of Georgia! This book was a no-brainer to read! This is the story of Noah, who is still reeling from a harsh divorce from Josephine. Unbeknown to them after about a year and a half they are still actually married. Josephine grew up in a hot mess environment! She can’t seem to do the right thing when it comes to Noah.
They are trapped together during a horrible storm. They go without food and power. Then things got worse. One theme is that people aren’t always who they appear to be. Another one would be to just be honest – even with the hard stuff!
I love a happy ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but it may or may not end that way. If I had anything to complain about regarding the story is that I find it hard to believe that someone could become that secluded for that long in North Georgia. It makes me want to go visit my sister in Blairsville, a main city in North Georgia, and figure it out!
I was given this book with the option of reviewing it. I loved this story and I would highly recommend it.

Noah and Josephine Mitchell once had a beautiful love story. Now, after an ugly betrayal and a quick divorce, they have only ashes left. Noah buys himself a ranch up in the Blueridge Mountains and Josephine works in her own hair salon, supporting herself.

When Noah receives a letter from the IRS, he expects it is nothing more than the usual government paperwork. To his horror, however, when he reads the letter he discovers that the divorce was never finalized and he and Josephine are still married.

Josephine is equally shocked but determined to put an end to the marriage once and for all. When she goes up to Noah's ranch to deliver the paperwork, an unexpected spring storm traps her and prevents her from going back home.

Tensions ignite as Josephine and Noah are forced to confront the past. Peace may come, but it will come at a price.

Sweetbriar Cottage at first seemed like it would be a light and somewhat shallow story. I was interested, however, to find the author exploring far deeper themes than I had anticipated. Josephine's past had a strong influence on her actions towards Noah. Interestingly, her behaviour is well documented in fact; it is not uncommon for women with Josephine's history to cope with their pasts by behaving the way she did. I found Sweetbriar Cottage to be both enlightening and realistic in these aspects.

However, at the same time Sweetbriar Cottage did resolve matters far too quickly and easily to be believable. I would have liked to see a more lengthy conclusion. I would therefore rate it a three and a half out of five stars.

I received a complimentary copy of Sweetbriar Cottage from Thomas Nelson Publishers for the purpose of writing an unbiased review.

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter is the story of divorced couple Noah and Josephine. Like many divorced couples, they want nothing to do with each other. But unusual circumstances reveal that their divorce was never finalized and a blizzard brings them together in order to survive. Sweetbriar Cottage has the great storytelling that Denise Hunter is known for. However, there is more to this story than meets the eye. There are raw, vulnerable moments that are difficult to read as a character remembers difficult childhood moments. All in all, it is a great read and I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

SWEETBRIAR COTTAGE isn't my favorite Denise Hunter book, sadly, and I did so look forward to reading it. It is filled with sexual tension, a strong faith message, and redeeming grace, but wow. Josephine....

All I can say is it opened my eyes as to why the girls I went to school with who had her reputation might have gotten it. Made me wish I had been a little kinder to them, instead of keeping my distance--as all the good girls did. I never thought of things like what happened to Josephine happened back then. But maybe it did.

I warned my fifteen year old that it is a bit graphic is places but if she wanted to read it, it would be an eye-opener. More conservative readers might be offended by some drinking, "soft" swear words, and more blatantly described scenes than most Christian writers use. But the faith message is strong. Tearfully strong. And even though I had serious trouble with Josie (though I 'get' her) I loved Noah, and understood his anger when he lost control. He is a manly man, and so wonderfully kind.

A good book, even though it is rough, gritty, and has some parts that were offensive to me (a conservative reader). I received a copy of this book free. My opinion is my own.

First off let me start out by saying the cover is what drew me to this book first, ( It's absolutely gorgeous) then I saw it was by one of my favorite authors and I knew I had to read it. My only complaint is the cover, gorgeous as it is it doesn't fit my perceived notion of what the cover should look like. The majority of the book takes place during a surprise Spring snow storm. Sweetbriar Cottage is a wonderful book that will bring out so many emotions in you. These true to life characters could be your neighbors or friends down the street. The book is just that real. I enjoyed the dual time line approach in this book as the before time explains why things are the way they are now. Very informative and helpful in the story. Crackling with tension and chemistry this book will have you racing through it but yet not wanting it to end. Highly recommended!
Pub Date 13 Jun 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson--FICTION for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thoughts:

Inside SWEETBRIAR COTTAGE by Denise Hunter, we belly flop into the aftermath of love gone wrong, as a divorce is already over. Or is it?

Noah Mitchell stops to get his mail, and his day goes downhill from there. After all, a letter from the IRS is always lump in your throat inducing, and it usually describes money owed rather than money coming to you. True to form, this letter is addressing his recent tax filing, but the problem is that they are wrong. He’s a divorced man filing as such. How could they make this into something?

It doesn’t take long for Noah to understand that he is wrong, and the anger over his ex-wife’s mistakes flare all over again.

Josephine Dupree Mitchell is busy running her barbershop but has not exactly moved on in life. She is in counseling for both faith and mind. For her situation, this is the best she can do. Maybe she’s not over Noah Mitchell, but she is trying to understand herself and her faults. Is she the only one in this failed relationship trying to get a handle on everything?

On a rush of cold air, the man she always thinks about walks in demanding to see her copy of the divorce papers. His eyes are flashing red, and she does not understand his problem, well, until she does.

Now two people who thought that they were officially divorced come to an understanding. They are still married. This is not a good thing. He never cared to understand the problems, and she walks a narrow path trying to find her way out of issues which stem from horrific abuse that came to be long before the wedding day.

The edgy vibe of their emotional storm is intense, but the weather may add another twist to their intact nuptials!

Will either survive to see the end?

***This opinion is my own.***

Preview:

SWEETBRIAR COTTAGE by Denise Hunter introduces Noah Mitchell and Josephine Dupree Mitchell.

Noah settles on a mountain ranch away from his ex-wife, his former home, and many townspeople who seem to know everything. The peace of the Blue Ridge Mountains gives solace and a place to hide. He goes to town infrequently and makes the most of his time by doing errands and keeping busy. The post office is just one of those items on his list until it becomes a problem.

Part of his past and present creeps up to front and center by way of a government agency. Now his anger is set to boil, and he goes to the woman who causes all the trouble.

Yes, Josephine Dupree Mitchell causes the end of her marriage, and she is still living with the guilt. Emotionally damaged, she's not over the loss of the man who walks through the door to blame her for the IRS!

Once she finally understands what she did wrong, this time, Josephine will make it up to Noah.

She vows to expedite the end regardless of the pain she is bringing upon herself. She drives to the ranch to bring Noah signed legal papers. However, the weather is not cooperating with her, and instead of doing him a favor of expediting, she becomes stranded with him in the storm.

These two have heaps of yet unidentified issues within the marriage, and each had their own baggage they brought to the end as well. Meanwhile, the snowstorm hitting outside only intensifies the fury on the inside along with the good and bad memories.

While God loves us unconditionally, does everyone love each other in that fashion or is there always a condition?

What a sweet sweet book! Denise Hunter, primarily a Christian fiction writer, tells a sweet and heart warming tale with this one. I don't often read Christian fiction, but every so often, it's nice to read such a wholesome book. Now, some would argue about the wholesomeness, given that the heroine of the story, Josephine, was raped as a teenager, but I personally felt that they didn't delve TOO deeply into that. Just wanted to give a warning to those that would struggle with those kinds of topics.

Noah and Josephine were married for a couple of years when she cheated on him and he filed for divorce. Come to find out, the paperwork was never properly filed and they're still married. She drives out to him so that he can re sign the docs and they get stranded on his property, in a snow storm. Unhappy about this in the beginning, the more time they spend together, the more they open up to each other and break down their walls, leaving room for reconciliation and forgiveness.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1981194997

This book was amazing! Honestly I knew it would be because all of her books are but I really, really, really loved this one.

I'll admit it ended about the way I expected it to. But I never would have guessed what she would put her characters through! I really loved Josie and Noah. I especially loved getting to know them at different times in their lives too. The flashbacks were so well done. I especially appreciate when an author truly spells out when the flashback is taking place. So I loved the time frame headers on the chapters. And the glimpses into their lives when they first met vs present day were wonderful. I love young love. Sometimes it makes me roll my eyes but I still love it. It is so fresh and full of promise. The views into Josie's childhood were not my favorite because of how awful her childhood was but I appreciate authors that take those awful memories and turn them into new chances in their books. I love that Josie got to learn about forgiveness and unconditional love. I also love that she turned to God.

Aside from amazing settings and characters I'd say that Hunter's biggest gift is truly passionate relationships. Sometimes the passion isn't love though and it is neat to see how other emotions can also illicit passion in a book! I loved all the different emotions and situations passion came out of in this book. If you enjoy a good romance that is clean I think you'll love this book!

But more than anything I truly love when a Christian author uses their faith when writing the book and in the character's lives in their book. I love how constantly Noah turned to God. To me that characteristic he had made him all that much more appealing as the hero in the book. I'm so thankful for authors that seek God's guidance as they write their books.

One final thing I really loved about this book was the element of suspense thrown in. Typically you don't find suspense in Hunter's books but this one did it so well. I was truly getting anxious and nervous and freaking out for awhile. And the dialogue and descriptions during those moments was spot on and truly made my emotions rise as I was reading about the dangers.

I truly cannot tell you a single thing I didn't like about this book. Except maybe that it ended! I could have read about Noah and Josie all night!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Noah and Josephine are still married. The divorce papers they had filed months before were never signed, so they were still legally married. Josephine tries to fix the problem and save Noah a trip back to town, so she decides she’ll bring the papers to him and drop them off to rectify the situation. The only problem is the weather doesn’t cooperate, and strands the two together. During this time they must either ignore each other, or try to settle the unspoken problem between them.

This was a heart wrenching story between these two characters. Josephine made a mistake and was trying to make up for it. Also given her background which we learn more of as the story goes along, it can be seen why things happened the way they did. There were some intense parts of the story and not just emotional ones. It was a great read; I enjoy Denise Hunter’s stories

This was yet another absolutely wonderful book by Denise Hunter! The majority of the book happens in the span of a few days, yet Denise masterfully makes Sweetbriar Cottage a riveting read as she plays into the characters deep emotions and feelings for each other. The romance illustrated on the page is sweet and deep.

Even though Josephine could be an unlikable and unrelatable character, as she has a sordid past, she is both likable and relatable from page one. That sordid past is integral to not only the events happening, but to her current spiritual life.

Funny story about this novel: I pre-purchased this novel back in March, but chose to read and review the ARC instead because she is such an amazing author and the storyline sounded so intriguing. Let me tell you, it was worth it! So, yes, I did receive this book in exchange for a review, but the thoughts in this review wholeheartedly represent my views and mine alone. Just got my real copy on the release day (June 12, 2017), think I might read Sweetbriar Cottage again!

A very emotional book that deals with the healing of a painful childhood. This book helps one understand the pain of juvenile sexual abuse and it's lasting effects. It emphasizes counseling in a positive but subtle way. Noah and Josephine's story will speak volumes to girls that have been hurt in this manner. Highly recommended.

Denise Hunter always meets my expectations. Josephine and Noah are strong protagonists. Sweetbriar Cottage is a story of forgiveness that would only be possible through God. Josephine has many emotional hurts but receives healing through the love of God and Noah. Experience running out of gas on a snowmobile during a snowstorm and having to walk for help. I highly recommend Sweetbriar Cottage to others.

Josephine and Noah find out they are not divorced like they thought they were. Josie, Noah's nickname for her, decides to take the divorce papers to him and save him a trip down the mountain. She didn't check the weather and gets stuck at his cabin in a Spring ice/snowstorm. They are then forced to communicate and try for a truce. There are twists and turns that come along. Josie has a past that she has allowed to dictate her present. Noah isn't perfect either. Will being stuck together allow them to learn and move on? What will their future hold? Honestly I could not read this fast enough. I devoured it. Such a well written book and it flowed so well. Your heart goes out to these two and I found myself getting quite emotional. Highly recommend this book!

It is hard to write a review of Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter. Not because it is so bad but because it is so great. Ms. Hunter made a character I would probably have judged in real life into one I wanted to give a hug and be a friend too. To say this is impressive is an understatement. I have read one or two other books by this author but none grabbed me by the heart refusing to let me go like Sweetbriar Cottage did.

The divorce that didn’t go through starts this story of childhood abuse, destructive behavior, healing, forgiveness, love and redemption. Gently Ms. Hunter shows God at work even when one feels hopeless and underserving. A thoroughly accomplished writer who has given us a brilliantly written story in Sweetbriar Cottage.

Such a heartwarming story with deeply flawed, human, yet likable characters who love and forgive in spite of and marvel in the wonder of second chances.