Molly Harper is a new to me author and after reading this one, I'm wondering how I've missed her. Sweet Tea and Sympathy is packed full of the charm and wit that is so often associated with small-town Southern life. Margot's journey from working with the Chicago elite to a job in the family business is a completely engaging tale that I found impossible to out down. With quirky characters, a rumor mill that spreads news faster than any media source, and small town politics, I found myself laughing out loud, oohing and ahhing, and genuinely rooting for this sweet Southern family - sometimes all at the same time. This is an absolutely charming tale of life, love, family, and finding happiness and contentment in the most unlikely of places. This author has quickly become one to watch for this reader and Sweet Tea and Sympathy is a book that I highly recommend.
On a personal note, living in a small, Southern town (not quite as far South as Lake Sackett) and connecting with my own father late in life, I found so many things in Margot's journey that touched me in more ways than just an entertaining story. And I have to agree with Aunt Tootie - if you add sugar to cornbread, it's cake! (Just sayin')😉

Margot Cary’s life just fell apart. Hoping for a partnership with the elite event planning firm she’s given ten years of her life to, Margot finds herself fired and blackballed after an event for the upper crust of Chicago implodes with dramatic flare. Her only option for help is her estranged birth father’s family back in Lake Sackett, Georgia. Margot’s mom left Lake Sackett and her first husband behind when Margot was three. She remarried and her step-dad adopted Margot when she was four. Margot knows nothing about her biological father’s family.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy is everything I hoped for in Ms. Harper’s new Southern Eclectic series. On the “woman’s fiction” side of contemporary romance, the book is first and foremost the coming-of-age tale of Margot. Having lived under the constraints of her mother and step-father for years, Margot doesn’t know how to relate to her southern relatives. Moving to Georgia allows Margot to blossom and grow in ways she never would have expected.

The story works because Margot doesn’t show up in Lake Sackett looking down her nose at her southern relatives. She has questions and harbors hurts, but she doesn’t let those prevent her from swallowing her pride and taking up Aunt Tootie’s offer for help. She doesn’t let stereotypes and small town politics keep her from getting to know her family, and realizing she genuinely enjoys being around them. While she’s used to upper-crust, she doesn’t complain about her living quarters or jobs. It all works because deep down, Margot is a beautiful, caring person, with a bit of an edge and a lot of snark. She takes each day as it comes, and although she’s working hard to get out of Sackett, she doesn’t resent the need to be there.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy is also a slow burn, sweet romance. She does find a hot widowed dad, which raises some eyebrows when she’s seen in Kyle’s presence. While the lovin’ is not the major focus of the book, the romance is a huge part of who Margot becomes. I love their sweet walks and sexy kisses, but mostly it’s their honest friendship that makes it all work.

In the end, I found myself utterly engrossed in Sweet Tea and Sympathy. The story is a gentle romance, but also Margot’s story of finding herself. I laughed out loud in several places, and certainly was never bored. Ms. Harper created interesting characters that drew me in. The entire time I was reading, I wanted to know more, I wanted to see Margot succeed and find happiness, and in that, I was greatly rewarded.

My Rating: A- Enjoyed A Lot

4.5

Molly Harper begins a new series with Sweet Tea and Sympathy centering around the McCready family who have lived in Lake Sackett, Georgia for generations and somewhere along the way began operating a dual bait shop and funeral home.

When she was three Margot Cary's parents divorced. Margot's mother took custody of her, and they moved to Chicago never hearing from her father again who, admittedly, was struggling with being an alcoholic.

Fast-forward thirty years and Margot is an event planner, one of the best in the business. She works with one of the best firms in Chicago, that is, until one of the events she's coordinating goes terribly wrong. Now, fired from her job, a laughingstock within the business, and getting no responses back on her submitted resumes, Margot is at a loss for what to do next.

She's given an answer when long-lost Aunt Tootie calls her and offers her a job in the family business. Having no other option Margot heads back to Lake Sackett, Georgia, a place that she barely remembers. As Margot grows close to the family she never got to know, and the father who she feels abandoned by, she'll start to question what exactly it is that makes her happy. Throw in an attraction to the school principal, a man still healing from heartbreak of his own, and Margot will find out what really matters in life.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Margot's journey was definitely heartbreaking in some spots especially her initial dealings with a father that she barely remembers who hasn't spoken with her going on thirty years. That relationship was the crux of the story, overshadowing the sweet romance.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy is about family. More specifically it's about fathers and daughters. As we see Margot and her father's relationship somewhat mirrored by the relationship between Margot's love interest Kyle, a widower, and his two young daughters. The latter's relationship is indicative of what could have been between Margot and her father had her mother not taken her away. At first it sounds really harsh, the idea of Margot's father not trying to reach out to her in all those years, and you somewhat see her mother in a not-so-pleasant light as well, you know, taking a child away from her father and not trying to bridge that gap between them. But as the story progresses it's clear that some perceptions are only surface deep, and sometimes you have to dig in order to discover the truth of the matter.

The McCready family is wonderful. Full of colorful characters each with their own unique quirks. None of them give Margot grief for possibly not wanting to stay in Lake Sackett if another job opportunity comes along, but they all welcome her with open arms even with the potential leaving hanging in the air. It's through their embracing, that she learns what families are truly all about.

There's a prequel novella Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck, that focuses on Margot's cousin Marianne. It takes place more than five years before Sweet Tea. Having read the novella previously, I was thrown by things that transpired off page, and the fact that so much time had passed between, but if you haven't read the novella there should be no problems getting into this full-length story. It would just enhance your reading.

I can't wait to see which McCready family member will get their story told next. And since they are a pretty close group, I look forward to checking in with the rest of the clan and seeing what trouble they can cause next!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars Such a fun story.
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One of the things I love the most about the writing style of Ms. Harper is her snarky, dry sense of humor. It reminds me of me… lol. But it also makes for a humorous look at life even when everything we have dreamed of goes down the drain in one impressive display.

While a pity party is definitely due, life does have to move on, and moving on is exactly what Margot has to do. But why be boring? Let’s move on to a completely different world and live with people we don’t know!

The family is quirky and a bit wild but you will quickly fall for them right along side of Margot. And Kyle – a blend of sweet and sad, and a perfect balance for Margot’s life. I love the wild passionate streak they have going on!!

Refreshing and fun, with bouts of pity party going on, Sweet Tea and Sympathy is a delightful read that offers a look at a second chance in life. From family to work, even to love, this book has it all. Absorbing and highly entertaining, you will not want to put this one down.

Can you get any more southern than Sweet Tea and Sympathy? This title caught my eye because it reminded me of Amy E Reichert:  The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and The Simplicity of Cider, both of which are super fun contemporary romances. I hadn't heard of Molly Harper before, but if the title was any indication, I was all in!

This is a bit of an "instruction manual for Yankees." There's a lot of explanations about what "Bless Your Heart" means, and how there's fat in everything, even carrot sticks. I tried really hard not be insulted by the Southern perspective on what a Northerner would think moving to small town Georgia. Maybe because I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, but I rolled my eyes at a lot of it. Maaaaaaybe just a bit over the top.

That's really my biggest complaint, though. The McCready's are completely endearing and Harper totally nailed that small town feel. And can we talk about how smoking hot the "sad lumberjack" principal is? I'll take a big bearded man over a clean shaven guy any day, and Kyle (maybe would have gone with a name other than Kyle for our lumberjack, however) is no exception.

I think you guys are going to like this one. Pull up your fried Hostess Cupcakes and peach flavored moonshine and get ready for some small town drama. We have a Founder's Day Carnival to plan.

After a spectacular fiasco that wasn't even her fault, Margot loses her job as an event planner for Chicago's elite, and nobody will return her calls. When she hears from a long-lost relative in Lake Sackett, Georgia, she is dubious about accepting a job offer with the family business – McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. With no other options, though, she accepts, thinking she'll work with the family she doesn't know while she gets back on her feet. As she gets to know the town and the people who live there, she begins to realize that Lake Sackett offers things that Chicago doesn't, and maybe it wouldn't be such a bad place to live after all.

This was my first book by Ms. Harper, but it will not be my last. I really enjoyed the way she turns a phrase, and her characters' dialogue made me laugh out loud more than once. I would love to visit Lake Sackett and stay in one of the cottages on the lake, and I can't wait to read more about the people who live there. While the story here was predictable, it was fun to see how all the twists and turns led the reader to the predictable conclusion.

I don’t tend to read too many romances, but when I do, I want them to be a complete escape from reality. And, that is just what I got when I read Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper.

I mean, how is possible to not get an escape from the chaos of this world and the upcoming holidays when you read a book that manages to combine event planning, funeral homes, bait shops, big Southern families, and romance? Simply put – it’s not. You have no choice but to escape into this world of hilarity and ridiculousness when you read it. And, for me, that is just delightful.

Short story – Margot is a big city event planner who ends up losing her reputation of an event snafu involving exotic birds and a shrimp tower. Her saving grace winds up being her eclectic, Southern funeral/bait shop owning family in Georgia who offers her a job when no one else will. To make it even more exciting, this is a family she has not seen since she was a wee little thing and her mom left town. So, she goes from planning elaborate events to funerals in a small town. Along with a hilarious cast of characters, she meets a dreamy widowed principal with daughters of his own.

I’d call it a mash up of Hallmark/Steel Magnolias/The Holiday. Basically, a fun little romp away from literary fiction without ending up like the scandalous pages of Harlequin paperbacks or the tear-induced Nicholas Sparks sagas. While some of the Southern culture was explained a little too much for someone born and raised in Georgia, I still appreciated what the author was trying to do here. I’m willing to bet quite a few of my friends and blog followers are going to enjoy this one.

Never read, will probably read it at another time. Good for readers of women southern chic lit.

I previously read SAVE A TRUCK, RIDE A REDNECK, Book 0.5 in this series. I’m not a big fan of novellas, just because I like to get more story, more characterization, than the shorter form allows. But I enjoyed it, so I was eager to try one of Ms. Harper’s full length novels and see how much deeper she can go. And she did not disappoint. 

Our heroine this time is Margot, a big city event planner who finds herself out of a job and shunned by the event planning community after a disastrous flamingo incident. We met Marianne, and her brother, Duffy, in SAVE A TRUCK. Margot is their cousin, though she’s never met any of the family. Her mother left her father when she was three years old, and her father has been completely out of her life since then. But Tootie McCready,, her father’s aunt and the matriarch of the McCready clan, contacts Margot out of the blue and offers her a job in the family business, McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. With no other prospects on the horizon, and about to not have anywhere to live, Margot reluctantly accepts. 

I very much liked Margot. She’d pretty much had the rug pulled out from under her, and her whole world turned upside down. Settling down to life in Lake Sackett, Georgia, was quite a culture shock for her. Not to mention meeting her biological father, for whom she, understandably, harbors a lot of resentment. She didn’t plan to stay permanently, just until she found a job that would take her back to Chicago or some other civilized city. Watching her navigate her new life was at times eye-wincingly funny. 

I loved Kyle, a widower with two young daughters. After a scorching make out session in his truck, he thereafter runs hot and cold with Margot. He doesn’t date much, and he never brings his dates around his daughters. Which is fine with Margot, for while she lusts for him she has no intention of becoming emotionally involved with him. She doesn’t know how to talk to children, and of course she plans on leaving town at the first opportunity. 

The first time Margot saw Kyle, she was drawn to his sad eyes and haunted countenance. It was a great way for Ms. Harper to introduce him, because he ticked my boxes also. Of course Margot ends up spending more time with Kyle and his daughters than planned, and some of her interactions with young June were hilarious. I also enjoyed her interactions with Marianne and another cousin, Frankie, who also worked at the funeral home. I really hope Frankie will be the heroine of a future book. 

As with the novella, I sometimes had a little trouble keeping all the family members straight at times, but that didn’t really impede my enjoyment of the story. There’s plenty of humor, which I love in a romance, but there was also some angst and ultimately some soul searching for Margot when she finally has an opportunity to leave Lake Sackett. 

Very enjoyable, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for other books by Ms. Harper.

Title and author: Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper
Series: Southern Eclectic – Book 2
Publisher: Gallery
Releases: November 21, 2017
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/y9kaozvn
Genre: Contemporary
Author website: http://mollyharper.com/
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Life with all its ups and downs is portrayed with amusement and sincerity in the latest book of the Southern Eclectic series. Molly Harper is known for writing hilarious scenes, and her unique sense of humor is evident all throughout the story. Comments are constantly witty, while the distinctive personalities of characters are demonstrated during lighthearted instances. But there are also plenty of circumstances where feelings are displayed with honest emotions. I felt as though I was reading about a real family at times, as any interaction between its members seemed so genuine. There are countless laughs in SWEET TEA AND SYMPATHY along with an equal number of heartfelt moments.

As an event planner, Margot Cary has dreams of working with a leading company in Chicago whose influential clients will help to make her more in demand. But one wrong decision by someone under her direction leaves her career in shambles. Now she is out of work with not a single prospect in sight. Luckily for Margot, a relative in Georgia saw the embarrassing video about the unfortunate incident, and the elderly woman wants her to help promote their two family-run businesses. Though she has no idea what the new job will entail or really anything about these people, her situation is too desperate not to accept the offer.

When Margot arrives in Lake Sackett, she has some big doubts about the new direction her life is taking. The place is too rural, and she certainly has no knowledge about fishing or funerals. Yet her family members make her feel immediately like she will fit in, and one male resident has even grabbed her attention. As Margot begins to settle into a routine, she cannot help but wonder where she really belongs.

If I see the name Molly Harper on the cover, then I know the story will be totally entertaining. This author has a way of drawing in the reader with her downhome folks who face some real-life problems. In SWEET TEA AND SYMPATHY, a woman has lost just about everything, but family members whom she has never met come to the rescue. What happens when someone raised in the big city goes to live in a town where secrets frequently spread quicker than wildfire is captivatingly told with humor plus some unexpected seriousness, and I was always affected regardless of what was happening. I laughed repeatedly, especially when some of Margot’s relatives were making a statement in an earnest manner, but the meaning definitely came across as comical. Numerous citizens in Lake Sackett appear from time to time, and these individuals often made the story more noteworthy because of how they reacted.

What I will remember most about the book is the scenes dealing with family. Though a person cannot pick their relations, they can be thankful when devotion is freely given. I really enjoyed seeing Margot meet her new family and then discovering how everyone would respond. Even her first encounter with school principal Kyle Archer is memorable, and what transpired afterward was realistic and sometimes even moving. I do not know what direction the Southern Eclectic series will go, but I truly wish for there to be many more books.

I voluntarily reviewed the book from the publisher, and all comments are my honest opinion

I received this arc from Netgalley for an honest review.
I was first drawn to this book by the cover. I was busy at work and looking for something that wouldn't be a difficult read and would be enjoyable. This book had me laughing out loud in some part and tearing up in other parts. I liked all of the characters even the antagonist, who got what she deserved but I would also love to see where they go. I know that this is book #1 and have high hopes for the book that follows.

I am a fan of Molly Harper and this book perfectly matched my expectations. It is funny, sweet and a real page turner.
The very big family, the children and the entire cast of characters were very enjoyable, the heroine went from big-city-nuisance (at least for me) to human being and that was interesting and fun to read.
Hope to read soon another book with the story of Morgan and Kyle and the McCrae family.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy is, indeed, sweet. It's a contemporary romance, but in many ways the romance is a secondary story line to Margot Cary's story of finding a new career and family after a disastrous end to her life in Chicago. Margot is contacted by a relative she's never heard of- from her father's side of her family, who her mother uprooted her from decades earlier- asking her to come back, work in the family business, and meet a whole family full of relations she has no memory of. Along the way, Margot connects with widowed principal Kyle, and they do develop a relationship. This is not a super steamy romance- it's fairly gentle story, and in a way, fairly realistic- they take their relationship somewhat slowly, acknowledging the challenges that exist between them, and there are neither quick declarations of undying love nor constant jumping in bed. The story is full of quirky characters and a charming town, much like a cozy mystery. Thoroughly enjoyable and comforting.

If I had to describe this story (and the fun) for fans of Molly Harper – it would be exactly the story you’d expect Jane Jameson to tell (with some input from Andrea on the wardrobe advisory end). Those who don’t know Jane and Andrea – bear with me – if you like ‘fish out of water’ stories set in a small southern town full of characters, drama manufactured and not and a touch of romantic spark – this may be just what you want. Focusing on Margot – a high end event planner in Chicago, until an event went pear shaped when flamingoes provided for ‘color and atmosphere’ went rogue all over a shrimp tower that was not on the brief. Now jobless, near homeless and embarrassed, Margot has to find a way to survive the professional humiliation until she can find another event planning company willing to take her on. Hoping against hope that her last big event wouldn’t be her last splashy event in a big city, hopes are soon dashed when social media turns her moment into a meme. At the point of no return, she is contacted by Tootie, a woman claiming to be an aunt, offering her a job, housing and the chance to get to know her family – family she didn’t remember as her mother spirited her from the small Georgia town when she was little. With no options and the attitude that a temporary job will be better than nothing as she waits for the fallout from her last event to die down, she flies to Lake Sackett Georgia, ready to take her place at the family business: the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop.

Margot’s arrival in Georgia can be expressed in 3 words: overwhelming culture shock. From the remote location to the masses of heretofore unknown relations, the noise, humidity and EVERYONE referring to her as “Stan’s Girl”, she’s uncertain and unsure – far from her competent and in charge persona in her professional capacity. Then, she finds herself inundated with Aunt Tootie’s dogs, cousins, everything fried, coffee that would remove paint and a closetful of inappropriate shoes (heels) and designer suits. Completely out of her element, she’s determined to bide her time and send out resumes, hoping to find another event planning position in an area with more than one grocery store, a mall and the relative anonymity she’s used to. With plenty of new experiences and stories that often contradict her mother’s version of her father, his family and her future had they stayed in Georgia, Margot is continually fighting what she thinks she knows with what she sees. When her cousin pushes her to step in and take charge of the annual Founder’s Day festival – the town’s one chance to shore up the flagging economy and bring more tourists back to town – Margot starts to feel a bit more comfortable, until Stella. Those familiar with Harper’s Half Moon Hollow series will know Ophelia – Stella is Ophelia without the fangs, or the abject knee-shaking allegiances. Stella is a home town girl – staged a coup to take over the PTA, and is “in charge” of the planning committee - and is instantly suspicious and hostile to Margot. And then we have Kyle – principal of the elementary school, widower with two young children and the man that Margot “met” on her first night in town after a moonshine moment. Kyle’s got his own set of issues with Stella and her dominating ways, the former principal undermining (in that passive aggressive, if not outright aggressive) his decisions and changes, and his own grief about the loss of his wife and struggles with being the only parent to two young girls.

When you add in Margot’s attitude and anger with her father, her discomfiture with the town’s news grapevine and her increasing affections for her family members, as well as a ‘something’ with Kyle that scares her to the bottom of her toes, with laughter, home truths and some utterly ridiculous moments Harper shows Margot’s slow-growing roots, searching for somewhere to land and take hold. When people can be described as “Loyal to a fault – that fault meaning they can’t see that he’s a jackass”, you have to love the poker-playing church ladies who gather at Tootie’s house, and the sheer exuberance of her family and their determination to provide her love and support because “that’s what family is.”. Surprisingly deep for a read that is ostensibly lighthearted, with plenty of laugh out loud moments – Harper manages to bring us a heroine who could have remained closed to the joy around her, but was also desperately in need of a pace and a place that would allow her to poke her head out of the very solid box she lives in. Take a chance on this one: the McCready family is a hoot, everyone knows your name, and as Margot told June “your ability to speak in all caps is astonishing”.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9tv/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

This is such a fun and funny story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are so easy to like and makes me want to hear more from them. This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will be reading more of her books. Margot has been disgraced and the only people that will hire her is her father's family is in a small town in Georgia. They want her to help with their funeral home and bait shop. She doesn't know these people, but she needs a job. Then she meets a man who looks so sad and lost that she just feels the need to comfort him. Kyle is a widow with two girls. He isn't ready for any kind of relationship, but he is so drawn to Margot. She has no plans to stay in Georgia, but she is also drawn to Kyle and his girls. Will she stay?

Margot Cary’s career as an event planner in Chicago ends with the biggest splash in Chicago’s elite society and her name becomes synonymous with failure. What she needs is some time off for people to forget what happened, and for her to dust off her resume and find a new job. Out of the blue, her great Aunt gives her a call and asks her to come help run the family business, The McCreary Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. Yep, you wouldn’t think the two would have anything to do with each other, and no, they did not use someone’s toes as bait. Margot is skeptical about the job and doesn’t know anything about her father or his side of the family, but desperation and the need for a job makes her accept the job, at least temporarily. However, along with the job comes a family that she never knew she wanted, and a father who she thought didn’t want her.

This novel is a little bit family saga and a little bit romance. Don’t let that hint of romance fool you, this novel is about a girl who never knew she was lost, until she was found. I loved the contrast of Margot’s fish out of water city girl attitude and the kookiness of her small town family. They had a ton of heart and the way they melted Margot’s endeared them to me and made me relish those scenes.

When Margot and Kyle meet, Margot is drawn to his sweet sadness. I don’t want to say their love story was lackluster, but it was certainly secondary to her need to learn about this new family and get to know a father that she felt abandoned her as a child and that didn’t disappoint me at all. Kyle was certainly wonderful, but he had a lot going on in his head too. I liked how the gentle Southern pace of their romance allowed the reader to focus on the other more central story line about family and roots and also made Kyle’s journey of acceptance of this new relationship feel real.

The name of this book, Sweet Tea and Sympathy was certainly apropos both to the southern roots of Margot’s family and also some of the challenges that needed to be overcome by both Margot and Kyle before finding happiness.

Sweet Tea & Sympathy by Molly Harper is a 2017 Gallery Books publication.

Cute and funny contemporary romance-

For the most part, Molly Harper, is known for her offbeat and delightful paranormal romance novels.

While this new series is vastly different in terms of genre and settings- the cute, sweet and quirky elements you know, and love, are still prominently featured.

When event planner, Margot Cary's career takes an overnight downturn, she finds herself out of work and nearly homeless. When she is contacted, out of the clear blue sky, by her great-aunt on the McCready side of her family, who offers her a job in Lake Sackett, Georgia at the family funeral home/bait shop, Margot feels she has no other option but to accept.

Once she arrives in Georgia and begins to meet her estranged father’s family, the culture shock is spectacular.

Not only that, she knows that sooner or later she will have to stand face to face with her father, Stan, a man she hasn’t seen or heard from since she was a small child.

But, it really is only temporary. She’s sending out her resume at every available opportunity. So, as soon as she gets a new job, she’ll be right back in the city where she belongs… right?

The big city girl adapting to small town life might be a familiar fable, but it never seems to grow tiresome.

In this case, hilarity is mingled with family drama, cute dogs and kids and sweet romance, peppered with just the right amount of spice, to give the story plenty of originality.

In one or two places I guffawed out loud, and once I had to put the book down because I couldn’t stop laughing. Suffice it to say, the McCready family is a real hoot.

Of course, there are some tender moments, too, especially between Margot and her father, who is trying unsuccessfully to build a relationship. The romance between Margot and Kyle, the widowed school principal, is very sweet and touching, as well.

The characters develop nicely, and of course, Margot will discover that small town life has its advantages.

Overall, this is a very light and fun southern style contemporary romance that will definitely brighten your day and lighten your mood!!

4 stars

As usual Molly Harper delivers a sweet and sassy romance. I look forward to reading her books because it is like visiting with an old friend. The way she writes and her characters are one of the main reasons why her books are so great. Sweet Tea and Sympathy is a fun, flirty Romance that at times I wished had a hundred more pages. Molly Harper's books are like being an old friend for a drink and then not ever wanting to go home again.

This story about an over stressed and over worked girl thrown into small town life was so endearing. I really enjoyed the characters and craziness in this story was well developed. There was a bit of just about everything but the way it comes together really works.

What a fun read! I could easily see this being a movie. Funny, lovable Southern characters abound! If you like Southern literature and romances, you're going to love this!