Kristie Woodson Harvey’s The Secret to Southern Charm is like a refreshing ocean breeze on a hot, humid day. Her characters delight and their storylines leave the reader begging for more! Woodson Harvey takes the reader through a twister of emotions: fear, dread, forgiveness, and hope. This novel was southern charm to the fullest extent!

I loved Slightly South of Simple so much I wasn’t sure I would love the sequel as much, but I did! Kristy Woodson Harvey wrote another story about the Murphy women that I throughly enjoyed and loved. I was engaged in their struggles and joys. This time, it was told from middle daughter, Sloane’s perspective as well as mother, Ansley. I love that we get two perspectives in these books. This family is close and I find myself not wanting the summer to end in Peachtree Bluff so they don’t have to go back to their lives. I’m also ready to read a third book...it’s time for Emerson’s story!!!

I’ve been reviewing Kristy Woodson Harvey’s work since Dear Carolina, in 2015, and I’ve never been disappointed. This book, The Secret to Southern Charm, is her first sequel, continuing on from last year’s Slightly South of Simple. If you’re at all worried that you have to be familiar with the previous book, don’t be. This novel works as a standalone, though you’ll probably want to go read the earlier story. Similarly, if you’re the type to be concerned that sequels are never as good as book one, you may put those concerns to rest. Harvey is as strong as ever. In fact, I feel like in this novel, her voice has become fully realized.

Harvey’s novels always involve strong female characters who take all the southern stereotypes and pulverize them. Her characters are richly painted and dimensional. You really feel for them, especially for Sloane with her two kids and her militaary husband who is MIA.

In fact, it’s in Sloane that I believe Harvey has done some of her best work, showing the combination of hope and fear and grief that Army wives experience whenever their partners are deployed. What could have been angsty, was poignant, and as Sloane’s experience changes, it’s as if we’re glimpsing the soul of a real person.

Which isn’t to say that the entire book wasn’t wonderful – it was. Harvey is extremely adept at capturing the mother-daughter dynamic. Ansley, Sloane’s mother, is the perfect example to this. Essentially the second lead in this story, she’s mother to Sloane and her sisters, grandmother to their children, and a daughter herself, caring for an aging mother (whose lack of filter often provides beats of humor).

If you want a believable, relatable family drama – if you want to read a book that is full of vivid descriptions and characters who are, for the most part, truly charming, then the answer is simple. Read The Secret to Southern Charm.

Goes well with iced tea and chicken salad on a bed of lettuce.

I just had a difficult time with the health issues of the grandma. It was too personal for me.

This is a great beach read. The characters are interesting and well-developed. The multiple plot lines are interesting and don’t leave the reader wondering. All in all a fun read.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Am I the biggest Kristy Woodson Harvey fan in the world? I like to think so after LOVING Dear Carolina, Lies and Other Acts of Love, Slightly South of Simple and now The Secret To Southern Charm.

The Secret To Southern Charm picks up where Slightly South of Simple left off and we are all up in the middle of some Peachtree Bluff drama.

What I Liked:

How real Sloane was. Yes, she was a basket case. Yes, she did some overindulging in shopping therapy. While I am not a military wife or girlfriend- I, once upon a time, dated someone that was no longer in the military and often talked about going back to enlist again and while I encouraged him to follow his dreams- it did cross my mind as to how I would handle him being away, overseas, putting his life in danger. So, Sloane to me was real. She handled things in the best way she knew.

The letters between Adam and Sloane. The written word always makes me feel warm and fuzzy and I could see Sloane clinging to them and her children while waiting for news.

The cover. Well actually both covers. I loved the original one, but now I even like the navy blue bathing suit SO. MUCH. BETTER. More eye-popping!

The sisters. I love Caroline, Sloane and Emerson. Love their fights, how they support each other. They are the cat’s pajamas when it comes to sister relationships.



Bottom line: If this book is not on your spring or summer reading list- you are missing out!



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

**The Secret To Southern Charm is an April #FuturisticFriday selection from Traveling With T.**

Kristy Woodson Harvey takes readers back to Peachtree Bluff, Georgia. A quaint coastal town with a family of sisters that will captivate the readers attention. The Secret to Southern Charm is the second book in Harvey's Peachtree Bluff series. You'll laugh out loud, definitely cry a little and come away feeling very satisfied with this great women's fiction tale of second chances and secrets. If you are looking for that perfect beach read, this might be it.



What I liked:



As many of you know, I live in the South. So when it comes to reading books that are touted as 'southern fiction' I have some pretty high expectations. I'm always interested to see an author's take on the south and whether they get it right or not. Kristy Woodson Harvey, certainly knows what's it like to live in our little corner of the world. I love the fact that her stories, reflect southern hospitality and small town charm. Her characters are realistic and relatable. I think this one certainly lives up to the hype.



This series is about a woman and her three daughters, living in the south and how they cope with everyday life, the good times and the bad. Those little secrets people like to keep buried in the closet and how family means just about everything. I used to be one of those readers that just wasn't interested in women's fiction. It just didn't seem like it was for me. I was more into the romance angle of things than the stories that were more focused on other things. But books like this one have changed my mind. There is romance, but there is also a deeper layer of emotion that is expressed in this type of writing. Harvey is one of those writers that makes you think about things and I've decided I like that.



I loved Caroline's story in the first book, Slightly South of Simple and now we get to read Sloane's story in The Secret to Southern Charm. This young military wife is in for quite an ordeal when she learns her husband is missing in action. The love and support of her family is the only thing that will get her through. Harvey does such a wonderful job of giving readers characters that are facing some of the same things they may have on their own plates. I loved that fact that this book and series is also multi-generational. You have the daughters, the mom and now the grandmother in this story. It reminded me a lot of my own family and our close knit relationship. The bonds that Harvey creates here are simply magical.



It's not just about the sister's though. Mom, Ainsley has a lot of issues going on in her own life. And I loved that her story was also a focal point. Sloane was certainly the primary character, but Ainsley's story is also very important to the overall arc of the series. She has some secrets in her closet that could completely change the dynamic of this family and I like that Harvey was able to develop that angle of the story along with the main focus. Ainsley needs to just go for it Jack (the neighbor) lol...



What I didn't like:



There wasn't too much I didn't like with this one. The pacing was good. The charm and the wit Harvey uses within the story was perfect. Her characters were spot on. She did her homework and it helps that shes a North Carolina girl. This a book that can be read as a standalone but I can guarantee most readers will go back and pick up the first one. And they won't be disappointed with it either.



Bottom Line:



Kristy Woodson Harvey gets an A+ in southern fiction and in women's fiction. I'm really starting to get into these kinds of novels. When you have an author that really seems to take the time to make her writing authentic and approachable, it's hard not to get on board. I look forward to seeing where Kristy Woodson Harvey goes with the next book in this series and with her career as an author. Definitely, one to keep your eye one.

This is the second book in what will almost certainly be at least a three-book series, and whose author is a very worthy new contender in the “chick lit, southern style” category. The book involves a mother (Ansley) and three sisters (Caroline, Sloane and Emerson) and their life in Georgia now that all have returned to the family home to manage their complicated life situations. The second book of the trilogy involves Sloane, the middle daughter, whose military husband is MIA after a helicopter crash in Iraq.

As I said with the first book, I like that Ansley gets to have romance in her life at 58, which also makes this series of broader appeal, since it’s not just the women in their 30s dealing with romantic dilemmas. Sloane is more likable than Caroline, although I think she was also a little indecisive and didn’t seem to have the same strength of character (her strength came from having to respond from a difficult situation, rather than really coming through in other ways, if that makes sense.)

The ending pretty much compels you to read the next book in the series, which will presumably involve Emerson, the youngest daughter, whose story line has not yet been addressed in full detail, but was alluded to here. I will look forward to that book being available and completing the series, and to many more books on an annual basis from the author.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Southern charm definitely describes this book. It is a story of family—tragedy, heartache, and sisterly love. While one sister is fighting to be strong while her husband is missing in action, another sister is overcoming the betrayal of her husband's affair, and the other finding love and support during an uncertain medical prognosis, the mother is pushing away the man she has loved since she was a teen, and the grief of losing their mother/grandmother, this family turns to and finds the love and support they need from each other. It is a book that embraces you in a warm southern hug...knowing that all will work out because they have each other to rely on. This is a book about women—for women. (I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.)

Sometimes life throws you a curveball. When that curveball brings your family together and together you work through all the issues, life becomes good. The strength in this family is unreal and as the hits keep coming life still goes on for them.

I felt the story was intriguing and really made me take a look at my life. You really feel how family needs to stick together.


** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

The Secret to Southern Charm is the second book in the Peachtree Bluff series. If you haven't read the first book, Slightly South of Simple, read it now. It is so good! Plus, it will help this book make more sense. The books follow the mother, Ansley, and then each of the daughters. The first book is every other chapter about the mom and then the oldest daughter Caroline. This book is every other chapter about the mom and the second daughter, Sloane.

When Sloane finds out that her military husband has gone missing and is a suspected P.O.W. the only thing she can do is lean on her family. While staying at her mother's house on the coast of Georgia Sloane is surrounded by those that love her when she is given horrible news. Her mother, grandmother and sisters step up to help care for her two small boys while Sloane tries to figure out how to live her life with terrible grief.

Sloane's mother, Ansley, is already caring for her ailing mother, trying to run her business and now also has two little boys to care for. Ansley thought this was going to be her time to catch up with her lost love and possibly rekindle the flame, but instead she is overwhelmed with her life. Jack must convince Ansley that their time isn't lost, that he is there to help her through the good and bad times.
As I watched the wild horses graze, I realized maybe it didn’t matter that we were all destined to be forgotten. Maybe all that mattered was what we did while we were here, how well we lived, how much we loved, how hard we tried with all our might to care for the ones around us. I turned to kiss Jack. Instead of living for tomorrow and worrying what the future would hold, I had to live for today.
Just when I thought things couldn't get much more dour, Ansley's mom (Grammy) drops a bombshell on the family that she only has a short time to live. Somehow Kristy Woodson Harvey wrote this portion of the book so that it wasn't too sad to read. Instead, she focused on the very Southern matriarch and the beautiful life she had lived. The family gets to spend her last days together on the coast in the family house they love. It was truly a beautiful part of the book rather than being tragic.

This was one of my favorite paragraphs from the book:
Grammy had said earlier that the accent was the secret to Southern charm. But she was wrong. This putting on a brave face, carrying on, helping others, being kind and humble and giving, believing with all your heart that the world could be a better place and that maybe you could make it that way...that was Southern charm. Looking around at these women who all embodied those qualities so well, I had to think that maybe Grammy was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t a secret at all.
The Secret to Southern Charm is a charming story about the Southern women in one family, their tragedies, losses and love. I highly recommend that you add the Peachtree series to your TBR list. This would make the perfect beach read. These books are hard to put down and would be perfect to devour in long stretches.

I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed her first one. This is an easy read with a bit too much predictability for my liking but most will enjoy it.

So many storylines wrapped into this book and they all came together so smoothly. Definite page turner. Definite tear jerker

Note - this is Book 2 in the Peachtree Bluff series. You need to read these books in order to get the most enjoyment out of them.

"This putting on a brave face, carrying on, helping others, being kind and humble and giving, believing with all your heart that the world could be a better place and that maybe you could make it that way...that was Southern charm."

The second book in the Peachtree Bluff trilogy takes us back to Georgia and the family that we loved from book 1 - Ansley, the mom, and her three daughters - Caroline, Sloane and Emerson. Book 1 centered on Caroline's life and book 2 centers on Sloane but both books are about the issues facing a family and the love and unbreakable bond between the family members.

This is a fantastic book by a wonderful author who always writes believable characters. I live in the South and I know these people in my day to day life and I was so happy to have them back for book 2 and can't wait to read about them again in book 3. Once you get to know the family, you'll laugh with them and cry a few tears and think about them long after you read the last page.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

I just loved this! I was so happy to return to Peachtree Bluff on this cold New York week! I enjoyed Slightly South of Simple very much earlier this year but The Secret to Southern Charm blew me away! At the end of SSoS, Sloane gets some bad news about her husband who is stationed away on active military duty - he’s gone missing. The first book alternates perspectives from Mom Ansley and eldest daughter, Caroline and this one switches to Ansley and Sloane. Learning the love story behind Adam and Sloane’s relationship juxtaposed to Sloane praying for Adam will pull at your heartstrings and you will be pulling for the Murphy girls once again. My only complaint is that I’m done and don’t want to wait any longer for Emerson’s story!

Thank you to Gallery Books for an advance copy. All opinions are my own

I have a soft spot in my heart for southern literature. In college I had to read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and that book actually revived my interest in reading. At that time I hadn’t picked up a ‘for fun book’ in about five years so when I read that book even though it was for a class, I remembered how much I loved books.

One of the things that I loved about that book was the unique southern charm. Now that book was obviously not chick lit or women’s fiction and I am most certain that it was not meant to be ‘charming’ but the setting really stuck with me and since then I have read a number of books set in the south which brings me to this book and the Peachtree Bluff series!

So many things about this series scream southern charm! The characters, the setting, even the covers just remind me of sweet tea! When the first book in the series came up for review, I couldn’t say no. It just sounded so summery and fun and I absolutely fell in love with it. I have read other books by Woodson Harvey and she writes with such confidence in the genre that it’s hard for me to pass on any of her books! Since reading her first book, Lies and Other Acts of Love, then I have been eager to read anything by Woodson Harvey!

After finding out her military husband is missing in action, middle sister Sloane’s world crumbles as her worst nightmare comes true. She can barely climb out of bed, much less summon the strength to be the parent her children deserve.

Her mother, Ansley, provides a much-needed respite as she puts her personal life on hold to help Sloane and her grandchildren wade through their new grief-stricken lives. But between caring for her own aging mother, her daughters, and her grandchildren, Ansley’s private worry is that secrets from her past will come to light.

But when Sloane’s sisters, Caroline and Emerson, remind Sloane that no matter what, she promised her husband she would carry on for their young sons, Sloane finds the support and courage she needs to chase her biggest dreams—and face her deepest fears. Taking a cue from her middle daughter, Ansley takes her own leap of faith and realizes that, after all this time, she might finally be able to have it all (summary from Goodreads).

I love how real and honest Woodson Harvey writes. She doesn’t try and make her characters and their lives look all pretty and glamorous. If she did I feel like the characters would ring false. It’s her ability to create real characters with flaws, secrets, issues, and real life problems that makes them so endearing and entertaining. She adds in this great mixture of humor to her stories that even though the issues some of her characters are facing are tragic and sad, there is always a hint of humor which I think helps balance out some of the tragedy that’s going on. While this book has some seriousness to it, for me it was still a beach/summer read though, so don’t let the description fool you. I know reading about a military wife who’s husband goes missing etc doesn’t sound like a beach read but I promise that it isn’t bleak. Rather than give away too much, just pick it up and read it and you will see what I mean!

This book picks up where Slightly South of Simple left off but I don’t think you would need to read that book first to enjoy this one. Sure there are some references to the first book, but this book stands on it’s own so you could easily pick this one up and start there. Each book is about one sister (there are 3) so each book is each sister’s platform rather than one long narrative if that makes sense.

If you are taking a vacation and need something light to read and get lost in, Peachtree Bluff is a great place for that. Woodson Harvey’s writing is refreshing, confident, and knowledgable and I love watching her stories unfold. Each one is just as good or better than the one before!

Challenge/Book Summary:

Book: The Secret to Southern Charm (Peachtree Bluff #2) by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Expected publication: April 3rd 2018 by Gallery Books
ASIN B075LPF23X
Review copy provided by: Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review.
This book counts toward: NA

Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 4 out of 5

Genre: chick lit, women fiction, southern lit

Memorable lines/quotes:

I am hooked on Kristy Woodson Harvey’s southern charm. While reading I was actually hearing the characters with southern accents, picturing them in their houses with wraparound porches, and drinking sweet tea.

The Secret to Southern Charm is the second book in The Peachtree Bluff Series. I think that the books are better read in order. Book two starts off exactly where book one ended. The storyline continues with Ansley, Caroline, Sloane, and Emerson all back in Georgia together.

We learn about Sloane’s life as a military wife and the fears she had when she was first married. I saw Sloane’s strength when dealing with her husband’s MIA status, while she needed a little push to get out of her own head and back into the real world I could see her figuring out how to put one foot in front of the other getting back to living. She took care of her children, she painted again, and she found out what was missing of herself even before the MIA.

While this is mostly Sloane’s story the spotlight is shared with the rest of her family. I loved catching up with Ansley and her long ago love Jack, seeing Emerson and Mark being together, and watching Caroline figure out if James is who she is meant to be with. These are storylines that are not quite done. There is more in store for each of these characters.

I am excited for more of Peachtree Bluff series and the amazing Southern Charm.

Great follow up to the first book--definitely a series that I love and will continue to read!

THE SECRET TO SOUTHERN CHARM by Kristy Woodson Harvey picks up where her enjoyable first novel leaves off. The focus of this book is Sloane as she tries to cope with her MIA husband while continuing on as a mother, sister, and daughter. We learn more about their relationship as a couple and their history. Sloane turns into a very relatable character in this novel. We also find out more about Ansley and Jack's history and Emerson becomes more of focal point. I can only assume that the third installment will focus on her as the first two focused on Caroline and Sloane. This book has humor and heartbreak and captures sisterhood and parenthood at multiple ages quite well. For those that enjoyed the story and writing style of the first novel, Slightly South of Simple, will enjoy this one too.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I opened this book this morning and was immediately sucked in and absolutely could not put it down until I turned the last page. What a gorgeous story, so beautifully written and absolutely stunning in the emotions and relationships it portrays.

I identified so much with Ansley. Being in that sandwich generation, worrying about aging parents, grown children and grandchildren and trying to keep something for yourself in the midst of all of those who need you. Ansley’s struggle felt so real to me and I found myself crying right along with her many times.

Sloane’s story of courage and rising to the occasion was beautiful to read as well. As were all of the side stories of Ansley’s children. I so enjoyed coming to know them all.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, however I am going to go back and do that now. I didn’t feel like that took away from the enjoyment of this book for me though.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of family drama, a little romance, and brilliantly written setting and characters. I feel like I walked right along with them and it was such a beautiful journey.