Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

Everything Ashley Farley writes is a winner to me. It explains why she has such a devoted base of fans. This is a lovely and wonderful read by her.

Ellie Pringle has been left a house in Charleston by a grandmother who she hasn't spoken to in years. By returning to that house she is going to end up bringing back memories of her past and just may learn about her and her family things that she never knew. But will she end up in a better place after making such a big change in her life?

From the start I loved Ellie. She was such a great character and I was excited to go on this journey with her to find out the truth about her past and maybe to send her down a different future. I loved how the truth came out in bits and pieces and how it felt really honest each time Ellie learned something new and her reactions were just spot on. I of course don't want to say too much to spoil the plot points of the book, but there were quite a few times where I just couldn't believe what she had gone through and what she had mentally blocked from her past.

This book set up for the second one in just the right way that I immediately wanted to read it and find out what was going to happen next. I love it when after the first book in the series, I want to immediately grab the second and not take any sort of breather in between.

A heartwrenching early childhood has always plagued Ellie Pringle. And when she inherits the house where it all occurred and a very large sum of money, Ellie decides to move from CA to SC. The house has too many memories, it is maudlin and lacks comfort of any kind.

As she tries to remember more of her past, Ellie comes upon her mother’s joirmals from long ago. So many secrets are revealed and many memories brought forth as she reads them. While reliving parts of her past, she meets several people in Charleston that enamour her and she makes friends with.

As she makes changes within the house, within her life, and more revelations are brought forth, Ellie embarks on a journey that will literally change her life.

A realistic novel that engaging and absorbing. Full of flawed but wonderful characters and several backstories that bring everything together in the end...almost.

No cliffhanger. A truly enjoyable read.

Rating: 4.45
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love anything by Ashley Farley.

This was a book I could not put down. It held me until the end then of course I wanted the next book. It will keep you turning pages until you reach the end. Ashley has a way of telling a story that keeps you wanting more.

Thank you to #NetGalley #Ashley Farley #Magnolia Nights and #Kindle Press for this wonderful book

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my Kindle.
Ellie returns to the South when her grandmother dies, because she's the sole benefactor of her grandmother's estate.
Moving home and healing is good, but the details of why she has continuing nightmares and facing what really happened when she lived at her grandmother's house for the first 6 years of her life is very difficult.
It's a good book about healing by facing and dealing with the past plus there's a little romance, too.

This book started with a bang and the story sounded so intriguing. Ellie has no memories of her childhood and going back to the house left to her by her estranged grandmother, she finds a journal by her mother. She starts reading....
Till this point, I thought that the author, Ashley Farley has done a wonderful job, getting me invested in the story. Then it loses its plot with a love interest and the story loses its steam and goes off track with love making.
I liked the story initially then it felt too off-pace. I did finish the book, I did skim the paragraphs, I did skip pages of Julian to get to know about locked memories. I wanted this to be an explosive finish but the reason for the lost memories let me down.
On the whole, this felt a good read, if read without any expectations

Ellie is living in San Francisco and at the end of a relationship when she heard of her grandmother's death and that she had being left her estate. With nothing to keep her in San Francisco now she decides to move into her grandmother's house in Charleston.

It had been years since Ellie had seen her grandmother , She was only six when she left but there had always been some sorry of trauma in her mind that she can't reconcile, maybe now moving there she will be able to get to the bottom of it and move on. When she discovers her mothers journals she really feels that she will be able to find the truth...... but will she really want to!

A good storyline with plenty of twists and turns to keep your interest and some great characters making it more interesting by hearing their voices in different chapters

The trouble with a lot of fiction these days is that the narratives are overworked. This one is no different: there are details of moments that are totally unnecessary to write about (such as the dog ‘tinkling’ on the rug). These details add nothing to move the plot forward and should be considered more carefully in the editing process. In the same way the art of inference is removed from the reader with sentences that exactly state what we should have inferred moments before.

The plot had promise but it was as if the author could not decide if this was to be a ghost story, a haunting of some other kind, a love story or a tale about how not to behave during a hurricane! It felt like too much was attempting to be covered. The love story seemed convenient and oh too fast and the later plot developments increasingly bizarre. This had a lot of promise but I felt rushed through the narrative.

“Magnolia Nights” is a novel that had great potential but appeared to run out of steam through the last quarter of the book. The story begins by introducing us to Ellie, who has recently inherited her estranged grandmother’s estate in Charleston, South Carolina. We learn that her mother is deceased, and she didn’t know her father until she was 6. Ellie, escaping from a bad relationship in California, moves into the old house and begins debating on whether she should stay or sell.

Over the course of her life, Ellie has tried to remember what happened during the early childhood years she spent with her grandmother and mother. Through therapy, she becomes convinced that something traumatic must have happened to her and that by being in that house again she might be able to conjure her suppressed memories. For decades Ellie’s grandmother had employed Maddie, a housekeeper/servant/you-name-it kind of employee, and when Ellie inherits the house she continues her employment. Because Maddie was a fixture in the house for so long, Ellie is hopeful that Maddie will be able to help her discover what happened to her so many years ago. Maddie is reluctant to help, but with the discovery of her mother’s journals Ellie soon has enough back-story to go on.

I thought the premise of the story was great. The idea of having suppressed memories released through the discovery of Ellie’s mother’s past is a captivating plot, so the book engaged me quickly. After Ellie began reading her mother’s journals things got a little sticky for me. It wasn’t entirely clear to me whether we were actually reading her journal entries or if the journals were just a plot device used to get us to Ashton’s life. I would assume the latter if not for one remark in an early Ashton chapter when she said something like, “you remember when…” which makes me feel like she’s talking to someone. I thought it would have been more effective to have Ellie in the first-person role and for us to read Ashton’s journey in the third-person instead.

During Ellie’s search for truth, the author adds in a romantic interest, Julian, which further causes the story to spiral downward. The dialogue between the two is cheesy and clunky, and the speedy onset of their relationship felt entirely implausible to me. Though I did like Julian’s character, I wasn’t impressed with the way the author threw him at Ellie so easily so that they could “make love” all the time. Additionally, I think the writing here demonstrates that the author is not comfortable writing sexual scenes because anytime the characters had sex it was very much written like this: “Then they made love. She got up to get food and then they made crazy love again. And again.” There are no details, no feelings—nothing that should be included when one decides to make sex a part of a story. I think that it was a mistake to add this extremely intimate relationship so quickly.

Aside from the clunky romance subplot, the story was actually decent at this point. I was fascinated by how horrid the grandmother was revealed to be, and I truly thought that the author was going to deliver some crazy plot twists that would impress me. Unfortunately as soon as Ellie makes her final big discovery from the journals, the story is obliterated. Ellie embarks on a quest to find someone she didn’t know existed, that person ends up being awful, and then the story leaves us with our mouths open saying, “What?” It felt as though the author was tired of writing, so she took what should have been a large plot development and rushed through it in a couple of short chapters. There is no real resolution. We never truly learn all of what happened to Ellie during her first years. The author has dropped a stop sign on us in the worst possible way.

It wasn’t intriguing writing on her part that led her to write this ridiculous ending: It was either laziness or that she ran out of time. The last 30 percent of the book really ruined the entire novel for me, which is a shame since I had expected such good things. In the future, I would hope that the author realizes that she needs to close out her plot points rather than add absurd new ones at the last minute.

Ok, this book drew me in from the very first page. For me it had intrigue, mystery, suspense, heartbreak, and great joy. I really had a hard time putting it down and the little "cliff hangers" at the end of each chapter kept me wanting to find out what happens next. The setting in Charleston, SC was descriptive of the historic homes and some of the "secrets" hidden in them. I loved the character of Ellie and her search for answers from her past so she could face happiness in her future. I will recommend this book to my reading friends!
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. TY

Magnolia Nights is a wonderful story that takes us through three generations of women set in beautiful southern town, with large antebellum homes and a mystery to uncover all wrapped up together, and Farley’s writing pulled me in the start. After the few chapters, I knew this was going to be one of those books I couldn’t put down.

Ellie has recently inherited her Grandmother’s rather large estate in Charleston. She hasn’t seen nor heard a single word from this women since she was a child, so it was all really stranger to her. Now, Ellie doesn’t remember much from her childhood before she went to live with her father, and some of what she does remember though is filled with fear and events that seem to be a blur. No matter what therapist she went to, it was like her mind didn’t want her to know. Some of her memories don’t make sense, so of course she goes to Charleston, against her father wishes to find out why this women has left her all the estate. When she arrives, her memories do start to resurface when she begins settling in the house.

The characters were well developed, Ellie especially, she had been through things as a child that she didn’t even know about. She had this independence about her that I admired. It took a lot of strength to pack up and move across country to a home that held the truths behind her childhood. Ellie determination kept her looking for whatever answers she could get to piece her life together. Her father was caring, and he loved her. He wasn’t aware of the events that happened to her either, but he also didn’t want her to have any more pain than she already did. This was a great cast of characters, now there were some that I just wanted to smack some sense in, and then there some who I enjoy immensely.

The chapters are alternating between a few of the characters, which I think was a brilliant way to see every side of this story. It gave little clues here and there and when what really happened in that house was revealed, they were all shocked. I know I was! They were left wondering how could this possible happen? How do we all move on, or can we? During all of this Ellie does meet Juan, and there is a hint of romance, it sweet and sensual and he stood by her though all the turmoil. How could I not just adore him. The ending was sorta bittersweet and that is all I will say, but it did leave some room for more, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Magnolia Night was engrossing story of a family plagued with secrets and betrayals and learning to forgive and love again. It is one that I can’t recommend high enough. Pick it up…

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Ashley Farley, and Kindle Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

This novel is a fast read and a great mood lifter. Though the story line is a bit worn - a woman attempting to get past the trauma of her early years - living with the wicked grandmother and dying mother before she was rescued by her father - the tale is colorful and well presented. Charleston, SC is really the star of this show.

this story is very suspenseful and intriguing. Ellie is returning to her mother's home that is a rundown decrepit mansion since her grandmother left her the house in her will. Ellie hasn't been there since she was 6 years old and her father took her away. She can't remember anything about living there, her memory from that time frame is gone. What she discovers is unbelievable and how she handles it is the basis for this book. Keeps your attention.

I loved how visually descriptive this book was. I was able to clearly see the detail of this old house and understand the obstacles that lay before our main character. I loved how the story played out but was slightly disappointed with the ending, I feel like it left a few things unresolved for me but I am hoping there is a follow-up book to this story as I would love to see how our character grows there.

This is a fast paced book, wonderfully written to convey the emotions of the characters in true form
Charleston, SC is the setting in this mystery/romance of a woman seeking answers to lost memories, memories that have plagued her for decades. Ellie has only fragmented and horrible memories of her early childhood fraught with the recall of a tyrannical grandmother and a sickly mother. The only saving grace is a loving housekeeper who managed to inject some love and warmth into Ellie’s lost, lonely existence.
When Ellie is notified that she has inherited the estate of her wretched grandmother in Charleston, she travels back there and back into a time of lost memories, of before she was sent to live with a father she did not know existed. There is a horribly wrong story in Ellie’s past that she bravely seeks to learn.

This was such a great read it hooked me and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.Well written with a fantastic storyline i really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read more from Ashley in the future.

Immersed myself in this southern mystery. Exellent blending of story telling from mother and daughter perspective. Controlling, domineering grandmother, jealous friend and bewildered father this story has something and someone for everyone. Ending was a bit abrupt but no complaints, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of MAGNOLIA NIGHTS in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, how I loved this book. I read it in one day. The description for me, didn't do the story itself justice, so don't let that deter you from picking up this gem. This felt like a strange marriage of The Winter People and The Roanoke Girls, melded with plenty of original storytelling. Oh the mysteries, and secrets that were unveiled. Romance, deceit, and did I mention secrets? This one is a must read! I will be recommending this one to everyone I encounter. Grab a copy and enjoy!

I liked author's writing.The way things started between Ellie and Julian, and meeting with Lia built up the plot well but it was not explored very well. Lia's past and reason for her behavior should have been described in more detail.Towards the end it makes you feel as if you have read an incomplete story still waiting for things to clear up.