Brown takes a snapshot of the heart at it's most vulnerable and then puts it in our hands for safekeeping. The Family Journal dares to expose every emotion we're too afraid to face, but determined to conquer anyway. Lily and Mack are evidence that there is beauty in the heartache and wisdom in the lessons we learn from the experience.

Absolutely loved this book!! This is a heartwarming story full of life. There are compromises, family drama, small town life, friends and romance. This book was so well written and flowed easily. I read it quickly as it held my interest throughout the story. Highly recommended to all as Carolyn Brown does an excellent job.

The Family Journal was a great read that made me laugh and shake my head. I felt that the way Carolyn Brown began the book completely hooked me and as a mother of an almost preteen gave me the connection to want to read more. One is left wondering if Lily's decision to move back to her hometown will be the right one?

Carolyn Brown demonstrates in this book her ability to have a pulse on current society that makes one think and reflect. I also enjoyed the tie ins of the family journal as well because I find family histories interesting and hope one day to come across one of my own.

I have found a new to me author, whom I will be going back and reading her other works.

I have read many of Carolyn Brown’s books and have loved them all. But The Family Journal is my favorite so far. I loved everything about this book. The mother, Lily, is newly divorced with a ex who only wants to deal with the kids on his terms. So, what does she do? She takes things in her own hands and pushed the kids to fall in line. She makes the biggest decision for them but then she lets them find their own way while giving them the guidance they need to make their own decisions. She truly loves her kids entirely, but she doesn’t always like them which is something most mothers feel at many times in their lives.

Mack comes with the house that they move into since it was rented to him by Lily. I love the respect he shows both Lily and the children. I cannot imagine being a bachelor, living alone, and then having a family move in with you and over take your life. Although he is a teacher and use to being with children all day, he is use to coming home to his own peace and quiet. I think Lily is good for Mack also. She lets him rediscover what it feels like to open your heart and let someone or many someones in. Mack is good for the children. He opens them up to new experiences and supports them in a way a mother is not always able to do.

The characters in this book just fit. They respect each other, they learn from each other, and eventually they love each other. The farmhouse setting, the goats, the wonderful small town, and everything else in the story are perfect. I will happily recommend this book over and over again.

The Family Journal by Carolyn Brown is a stand alone, contemporary romance novel.
Meet Lily Anderson. She's a divorced mother of two and is at the end of her rope. She's had enough and to change her life she packs her kids and moves to rural somwhere.
Mack Cooper is her tenant, new roommate. The 41 year old teacher has his own issues with his family. He's better off alone, so he thinks.
These so different people have to settle in, rebellious teenagers, adults who're still finding their way and parenting is no small task it seems.
I started reading and was sucked into the story. I connected with the characters and the story gave me all the feels. I loved the writing, the storyline and the characters. I loved their struggle and the well deserved hea. 4,5 beautiful Stars.

I've read a few of Carolyn Brown's books now and I find them peaceful and pleasing. I normally read a bit racier titles but sometimes it's nice to slow down and enjoy a glass of sweet tea and a good for your soul story. Brown's stories appeal to me particularly having been raised in a very small Texas town much like the ones found in her stories. I haven't found my hometown in a book yet, but maybe someday.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and this one was lovely. The family journal wove so seamlessly in and out of the story adding a bit of information and reflection when it was sorely needed. Fate played a good hand in matching up Mack and Lily at the perfect time in their lives to make a good solid family foundation for Brayden and Holly.

I loved the town of Comfort and its fine folk. Small towns are a treasure. Thank you for another wonderful story Mrs. Brown, I am recharged.

I always feel as I’ve been hugged when I read a book by Carolyn Brown - Heartwarming.
Heartfelt small-town romance. Family love where the reader feels embraced and loved.
Lily returns to her hometown of Comfort, Texas after a long absence. With her return she brings her two children who have been out of control with a need in a change of scenery.
A family journal brings together mothers and daughters as we see times change and the strength of women in different circumstances.
Family is a recurring theme in Carolyn Brown’s books. You feel the love.

Single mom, Lily Anderson decides to move her kids back to her little hometown of Comfort, Texas after catching them on the wrong path. Tough love in the form of taking all electronic devices away from them along with moving from the city to a small town is drastic and doesn’t win her any popularity contests with her twelve and fourteen-year old. But getting back to her roots proves to be a smart move for their family. Mack Cooper, the renter at her family home is a stabilizing force for both Lily and her kids. His support and company are an unexpected gift, but it’s the spark of attraction that’s surprising to both Lily and Mack, since both had resigned to facing the future alone.

Five years since her husband left her Lily was sort of on autopilot with work taking up much of her time, but her kids getting into trouble was a wakeup call. Lily struggles with that knowledge as well as guilt over not taking more time with her mom before she passed away. Coming back to Comfort helped her stand back and take stock of what’s important in life. The discovery of an old family journal chronicling the struggles and challenges of her ancestors provides a view into the lives of women spanning decades into the past. The journal touches Lily’s heart and bolsters her in her efforts to put her family back on the right path.

I just loved Carolyn Brown’s 100th novel! The Family Journal touches on situations and feelings a lot of women can relate to. Lily’s struggles, and self-doubt are the kind most mother’s have felt at one time or another. I loved the idea of simplifying and focusing on what’s important in life, and I appreciated that Lily stuck to her guns and made her kids learn the lesson of consequence for actions. She did it in a loving way, though, and I think that helped win her kids over quicker than anything.

Frustrated with her children's friends influence on them she decides to move them to her childhood hometown. Her family home comes with Mack high school principal and longtime renter. Lily's children have been stripped of their electronic devices and not happy.
Lily finds a family journal passed from mother to daughter for over 100 yrs. This may be what it takes to reconnect mother and daughter.
Carolyn Brown has another hit on her hands

Put on your comfy slippers, grab a cuppa, curl up in your chair and dive into this story. It was such a wonderful read, so real I felt like I was there.
This is the author's 100th book I hear, well done it's a winner.
Lily is a great character, she comes from a line of strong women not afraid to correct their mistakes...that would be the men in their lives. A fresh start with two children, away from peer pressure and her ex.
The discovery of the journal, would it change their lives? Knowing your ancestors thoughts for over 150 years and realising times change but not actions and thoughts. Most made mistakes but moved on. The other characters in this story also made a delightful read. I really enjoyed this book.

The Family Journal is another hit by Carolyn Brown. This is a contemporary story of Lily Anderson, a single mother with two children. When her children act out she decides to take away their electronic devices and move the family to her small hometown of Comfort, Texas. There is only one slight problem. Her family home is being rented by a friend, Mack Cooper. In a small town, this is fodder for gossip and at first, Lily’s children don’t care much for Comfort. Lily finds an old family journal, dated back to the 1800s and this journal becomes a bound bringing the family together. Ms. Brown once again tells a story as a friend would. She shows that things aren’t always insurmountable and good things do happen to good people. Great read and I would definitely recommend it for those that like contemporary fiction.

THE FAMILY JOURNAL by Carolyn Brown is her 100th novel and it is my favorite to date! This is a wonderful, heartfelt and endearing story of a divorced mother who has decided to make a new start with her children in her childhood home in rural Texas.

Lily Anderson has had enough. She caught her disrespectful teenage daughter smoking a joint and has found out her preteen son is sneaking out to drink beer and smoke cigarettes with his friends. Her ex-husband gave Lily full custody in the divorce, so she has taken all their electronic devices and is packing up and moving out of Austin to her rural childhood hometown of Comfort, Texas. Lily is desperate to get her children back on the right path.

Mack Cooper has been renting Lily’s home since the death of her mother and raising goats on the property while also teaching ag classes at the high school. Lily is willing to share the house with Mack until she decides if they will be staying or moving back to Austin when the school year is over. Never married and having been cheated on not once, but twice Mack is happy with the company, but wary with his heart.

As Lily and her children begin to find a new normal, friends and reconnect, Mack plays an active part in their lives. Lily is also able to bond with her daughter over an old journal found in her mother’s desk. Passed down in her family for generations from mother to daughter, Lily and her daughter learn of all the strong women in their family’s past in their own words.

Will Lily be able to make this move work for herself and her children? And will she stay in Comfort to take a chance on a new man to make her house a home?

I curled up on my couch to start this book after lunch and I could not stop reading until the end. Having raised my son as a single mom, I could easily empathize with the trials Lily was going through with her children. Mack was a strong and steady hero for both Lily and her children and I feel the cozy romance was written perfectly for their situation. All of Lily’s childhood friends in Comfort added depth to the story. The most intriguing parts for me were reading the journal entries. I had to keep turning the pages because I was as interested in the women’s stories as Lily and her daughter.

This is an all around wonderful story of family love that I can highly recommend!

This book was so much more than a love story between Lily and Mack, an old high school friend. It was a beautiful story of the strength of women and family, and the bonds that tie us together as family.

Having a hard time with her teenaged children, Lily packs them up and moves them to her rural hometown. But rather than kick out her tenent, Mack, the four become a motley crew of roommates. That is how the romance blossoms between the old friends, but it's the family journal that Lily finds that helps her heal her relationship with her daughter. And in a way, heal herself, as she's forced to face some truths she'd turned a blind eye to.

This story is wonderfully written, with rich characters and a gripping tale of love and family. I received an advanced copy via NetGalley from the publisher and voluntarily left a review.

Wow! One hundred books released and dare I hope for many more to come? Carolyn Brown’s The Family Journal was a fitting book for hitting her century mark with its unique look back at the distant past through the maternal family journal, to the present where things are at a low for the heroine before she takes her life by the horns, and into a future if she can trust that all men aren’t like her cheating, manipulative ex. Carolyn Brown’s country charming style full of family, friendship, wry humor and no-nonsense romance is a feel-good moment that I’m ever eager to experience.
Review

The Family Journal starts with appalled and stressed out Lily Anderson getting a wake-up call. She caught her fourteen year old daughter smoking a joint in the library restroom and her twelve year old son has been sneaking off for beer and cigs with his friends. Time to get out of the city and head home to those simple country roots that she was so eager to escape when she finished high school. Back to the old stone family home with its shared bathroom and lack of wifi, her best buds, small town gossip, and a man who has the same loneliness and broken-hearted past in his eyes just like she.

I love this author’s books and this one was no exception even with the challenge of misbehaving teenagers included. It was an interesting story of family heritage when Lily found the journal that went back six generations of women to connect her to others who had to deal with hardships and came through them and also connected her with her daughter, Holly, who needed to get in touch with her family roots. Mac and Lily’s romance is one of friendship to love, building trust that this person won’t hurt them as they were hurt before. Lily’s domineering husband cheated and left her while Mack’s two ex fiancees left him for his handsome, suave twin brother because anything Mac has Adam tries to take.

Through a montage of daily life scenes and events, The Family Journal shows people healing and coming together. It was sweet and a little sassy with its gentle pacing. It was a crossover between women’s fiction and romance the way it focused on several feminine relationships in the story: Lily with her daughter, Lily coming to peace with her deceased mother, the connection to the women in the journal, Lily and her friends, Holly attempting to make friends, and Holly with Granny Hayes.

But, that romance was just the thing to weave through the women’s story. Mac is stalwart, quiet and very humble after growing up the twin of a flashy brother who dominated their high school scene and was the seeming golden boy so that not one, but two of Mac’s loves fell for his tinsel charm. He fears that Lily will do the same until she shows him that she knows the difference between the player and the real thing. He’s no fancy bank president wearing thousand dollar suits and driving a sports car. He’s an agricultural teacher and runs the 4-H club, he raises goats, wears beat up boots and drives an old truck. But, he is just the guy to fill in the wounds that Lily and her kids have after Wyatt does his number on them for years. I envy Lily her Mac.

All in all, it was another golden story for me and I can recommend it to those who enjoy contemporary western romance or small town women’s fiction.

The Family Journal by Carolyn Brown is a contemporary romance that is a huge milestone marker in the fact this is her one hundredth book. Yes, I typed that right…a big one zero zero. Wow. Do I need to say anything on an author’s writing when having that many books in circulation? Well, I guess I will tell a little about this one….

Lily Anderson has been raising her two children on her own since her divorce from a cheating husband. Lily’s ex pops in and out of the kids lives when it suits him having remarried a rich woman who does not want children so Lily has done her best to be mom and dad. However, Lily’s best doesn’t feel good enough when her young teen daughter is caught with a joint and her not even a teen yet son is smoking and drinking himself.

At the end of her rope Lily decides to put her foot down and really lay down the law with the kids before things get even worse. First go all of their electronics and in order to get then out of the big city environment and away from the bad influence “friends” Lily decides to move back to Comfort, Texas where she was raised. The one catch, Lily owns her mothers home in Comfort inheriting it after she passed but she’s rented it to Mack Cooper who she grew up with so hopefully there will be room for them all.

Right off the bat I couldn’t help but root for Lily when her focus was on her children and what would be best for them, a little tough love that went a long way. Finding a journel in the old house added an extra layer to the story showing family bonding across the generations. Then add an extra good guy into the mix to make a whole family and this was one heart warming read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of ‘The Family Journal’ by Carolyn Brown in exchange for an honest review.

I was introduced to Carolyn Brown’s work from a previous NetGalley and fell in love with her style of writing and the small town southern settings. ‘The Family Journal’ reminds me of everything I love in a cozy romance: heartache, love, family, friends, and a small southern town. The journal that Lily and Holly read through was a fun glimpse of their lineage. I actually wish there were more journal entries throughout.

I look forward to future works from Carolyn Brown

Libby returns to her hometown in hopes of helping her children who are getting into increasing trouble in the city. She arranges to share her childhood home with Mack, a local teacher, she had been renting her house to. At the house, she finds an old journal dating back to before the Civil War which was written by her female ancestors.

This was a sweet, small-town romance. I enjoyed seeing Libby and Mack's relationship develop as well as Mack becoming a father figure to her kids. One of my favorite parts of the book is the journal. Through the entries, you see the hardship the women went through in love and the world around them. You feel you know these women through their sorrows and joys. I liked that reading the journal together strengthened the bond between Libby and her daughter Holly.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy a light romance. Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for an advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Book Info
Paperback, 298 pages
Expected publication: November 12th 2019 by Montlake Romance
ISBN 1542015375 (ISBN13: 9781542015370)
Other Editions (3)
Source:Netgalley EARC
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BOOK BLURB

Join the millions who have fallen in love with New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown in her landmark hundredth novel.

At the end of her rope, single mom Lily Anderson is determined to move her rebellious children in the right direction. That means taking away their cell phones, tablets, and computers—at least temporarily—and moving to the house where Lily grew up in the rural town of Comfort, Texas. But Lily has a bigger challenge than two sulking kids.

The house comes with Mack Cooper, high school teacher and handsome longtime renter. The arrangement: just housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids starts to warm Lily’s resistant heart. Then Lily finds an old leather-bound book in which five generations of her female ancestors shared their struggles and dreams. To Lily, it’s a bracing reminder about the importance of family…and love.

Now it’s time for Lily to add an adventurous new chapter to the cherished family journal—by embracing a fresh start and taking a chance on a man who could make her house a home.
My Thoughts


Once again one of my favorite contemporary authors proves to be a veritable fount of knowledge about what a family should be, regardless of blood or not.

Everyone deserves a second chance so when faced with rebellion from her two teenaged children, Braden and his older sister Holly, Lily Anderson gives them that chance by leaving behind temptations causing their behavior and moving her little family to Comfort Texas where she grew up.

A wise parenting choice of tough love that at first results in cold shoulders from both teens but turns into one of the greatest times of all their lives!

New start, new school, new friends and more importantly newly adjusted better attitudes are the results that Lily was hoping for all along.

Not only new beginnings for Braden and Holly however because there are some wonderful benefits to moving home again for Lily as well.

Old friends are reconnected, new friendships start and most unexpected of all a second chance at lasting love is something Lily cannot let pass her by.

Along with all these comes an extra gift, the chance to meet long gone generations within the pages of an old journal passed down from mothers to their daughters that Lily finds to read.

The journal contains even more than just a look into these past events, it creates a deeper understanding between Lily and Holly than they have ever had and gives them both hours of pleasure in reading the book together.

Filled with angst, drama, family time, humor and just plain old realistic look at life and what we make of it this is a read for all ages to enjoy.

I could not have been happier than reading this eloquent testimonial to not only one modern woman’s ability to overcome her circumstances but that of those gone before her in time from the recounting of her families history as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early read opportunity of this particular tale, it was enjoyable, heartwarming, infuriating and most of all very well thought out and carried out very realistically from start to finish.

[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

A novel of healing and embracing who you are, loving your self and the people around you. It's of coming home, and it's never too late for that! It's about the journal of all the woman that have come before and how similar their lives are when it comes to the things that matter. Strength and the fortitude to keep going on even when it seems impossible. Coming home to her mother's house, that she never even got around to cleaning out, was harder than Lily thought it would be. Her children are angry with her for forcing them to move and she is sharing the house with Mack a man she feels sparks with. She has her friends again, life is simpler and her kids will come around, she hopes. It's a story of the simple life, small town Texas and family and enduring friendships. It's an emotional read at times, for me atleast, and I really enjoyed it. It was a wonderful way to spend my day and I have nothing but praise for the author and her story. Thank you for another story that took me away and another life I got to live.

A women's fiction story about Lily, a divorced mom of two. Who decides to move them all to her small home town when she realizes her children became out of control. Ofcourse without little or no help from her ex husband.

Good plot of family drama with a gentle pace. Well portrayal of love and generation of strong women. Will reccomend for fans of contemporary romance.