Wildflower Season by Michelle Major is the first book in her new Carolina Girls series. I loved Major’s last series, The Magnolia Sisters, and was thrilled to learn about this new series that will continue to take place in Magnolia, North Carolina.

We meet Emma Cantrell, who is Ryan’s sister (previous book hero); she has purchased the mansion that our previous Magnolia Sister’s deceased father owned. Emma has moved to Magnolia, to start a new life, away humiliating divorce and from her domineering wealthy mother, and plans to renovate the dilapidated mansion and make it into an Inn. She has limited funds, since her mother has threatened to disown her, if she does not return to the family business.

To help with the renovation, Emma meets Cameron Mitchell, a former contractor/carpenter, who is in seclusion and a loner, still grieving on the death of his wife 5 years ago. Cameron, though a very good carpenter/builder, has no plans to help Emma, but when he learns his sister-in-law, Holly is getting married, and is desperate for help, he will agree to work with Emma.

The Wildflower Inn is the name Emma gives her Inn, and slowly with working (saving expenses) with Cam, things start falling into place; and she decides she needs help to bring in others, to help make the inn successful and promote the wedding of the century. We meet along the way, Angi, who loves to cooks, but is stagnant working for her mother in a pizza place; Mariella, who is a former wedding dress designer, will agree to partner with Emma and Angi, to run the Inn.

Slowly, Emma and Cameron begin to have feelings toward each other, and a slow burn romance begins; but Cameron blames himself for his wife’s death, even though it was not his fault, but he is determined not to hurt Emma. They were great together, and Emma did wonders for Cameron’s confidence, as well as moving on from her own issues of the past. Will Emma and Cameron find a way to stay together?

What follows is a wonderful heartwarming story with both Emma and Cameron dealing with their past issues. Michelle Major also created a wonderful group of secondary characters, as well as giving us a glimpse at the ladies we loved from the previous series. Wildflower Season was written so very well by Michelle Major, with a great couple, and so many wonderful characters, many of the townsfolks, and the cute animals. I suggest your start this series, and if you have not read The Magnolia Sisters, you should start that one too, though this new series reads very well on its own.

The Carolina Girls series is a spin-off of The Magnolia Sisters series. It's set in the same small town of Magnolia with nods to the original sisters, but can be read as a standalone romance.

Emma is a transplant to Magnolia. She fell in love with a house and wants to turn it into an inn. She's basically there to reinvent herself, but she quickly makes friends. Cam grew up in Magnolia, but has tried to avoid people since the death of his wife. When Emma approaches Cam to help her with construction at her inn, sparks fly. Cam and Emma's relationship was sweet. Their start at co-workers helped develop a strong friendship (with benefits). I loved how they influenced each other to accept the past and move on from it.

One of the fun things about this book was the small town setting. It made the connections between all of the characters fun. Everyone knew everyone. The couples from The Magnolia Sisters series popped up here and there. A bunch of new characters were introduced. I liked seeing possible relationships that could pop up in future books. Although, there were times that all these introductions felt like it slowed down Cam and Emma's story. I guess maybe that's understandable for a first book in a new series.

Overall, Wildflower Season was a good read. The North Carolina setting was beautiful. Both the main characters and the side characters had depth. I enjoyed that everything wrapped up nicely at the end. It was a good start to the series.

Wildflower Season was an overall enjoyable and quick read, albeit with a familiar plotline and characters. We're introduced to Emma Cantrell, who experiences a huge fallout in her marriage and looks to following her dream of opening an inn in Magnolia in North Carolina. She meets Cameron Mitchell, an unwilling builder who eventually agrees to help Emma with the repairs to the building. Despite his insistence on being left alone, the two eventual grow close and learn to help the other heal from their earlier wounds.

While I appreciated the characters and writing, the plot just felt a little too cliched and predictable, with far too many coincidences or random events that had little to no explanation.

This read was ADDICTING for me. I love a semi southern themed love story; the small town cuteness and rugged outdoorsy male lead. I am behind it all. The story is sweet and welcoming, would make for a great Hallmark movie (in a good way)

I only have 2 criticisms. 1) There is all these looming town issues about Dana's accident and personally, I want more details. I want a dramatic breakdown from Cam about what happened instead of just saying her accident and never going into detail. Kind of annoyed me.
2) This isn't even part of the book, but why is the preview of the author's next book basically a prequel? I could have used that book first if trying to set a series. Just a thought!

Loved this read. Will recommend!
Thank you Michelle Major, Harlequin, and Netgalley for the amazing ARC.

3.75/5 stars.

Michelle Major’s new story is a quick read! It was a little slow to build, but once I started connecting the characters together, I felt like I was watching friends bet it all to be successful.

𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 1/3 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

This book definitely has the potential to be a series if the author wanted it to as the ending could definitely be made into at least one more book.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @harlequin for my first ARC!

Book review on Instagram scheduled for 4/25 per publisher time request @sweetcoffeereads

Like many series romances, Wildflower Season is a return to a comfortable familiar environment. Emma is the sister-in-law of Meredith, one of the sisters in the Carolina Sister series. She buys the sisters' father's house and plans to renovate it into a bed and breakfast. In doing so she meets Cameron who is still mourning the loss of his wife. They are trying to finish the renovations in time for the wedding of Cameron's sister-in-law and by working together, guess what happens?

While no literary classic, this book was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon and the HEA left me smiling. Grade: B.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.

We’ve definitely read this storyline before - probably more then once. Girl moves to new town, starts renovations, needs a handy man & it turns out he’s the love of her life. I liked how there was a broody background to Cam, the carpenter. Grief is different for everyone & I felt that his feelings of guilt were real & relatable in a sense.

There are many other characters in this book as “supporting cast” and it was somewhat difficult to keep track of them all. However, I did like that they all were dealing with their own struggles & insecurities.

It was extremely difficult for me to believe a US Senator fell for someone with a HS education & worked as a nail tech. It also seemed like the cemetery, as grounds for Cam & his mother in law “making up,” was very unlikely. Suddenly he decided to go for a run & just happened to end up there?

Overall it was a quick read. I like how the relationship progressed when Cam & Emma. The ending left me feeling satisfied because so many of the “issues” that came up along the story were resolved by the end.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

This was almost a DNF for me. So much of the story just wasn't plausible. Emma, an heiress, is willing to risk everything and be disinherited because she fell in love with a dilapidated house in a small town in North Carolina and wants to make it an inn. She has no experience running an inn, but hey, that's worth giving up your fortune for? Right? Cam i a former carpenter wallowing in self-pity because his wife died five years earlier and it's all his fault. Except, really it's not. It was a car accident and he was not involved. In the meantime, his wife's little sister, a nail tech with a high school education, is getting married to a U.S. Senator. She needs a wedding venue, Emma needs a carpenter to fix up the house, and Cam to the rescue.

There's a huge cast of supporting characters - just waiting for their own book. You can tell this is intended to be the start of a series. Got a little hard to keep track of them all - the wedding dress designer from New York that doesn't want anyone to know she's in town, the local waitresses turned chef, the dog rescue chick, the even-broodier-than-Cam florist.

The ending wasn't bad. I did like that the pieces didn't come together immediately, there was a little bit of resistance.

Anyhow, as always, I am grateful to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a start of a new series, and after reading this book - I'm glad, it will be fun to follow up on some other interesting character's lives.

A sweet romance with the typical happily ever after ending.

Emma is new to town after buying a fixer-upper she plans to turn into a B&B. After a huge storm, she's in need of getting it turned around quickly for a wedding she committed to hosting. Holly, the bride-to-be, is in need of a new venue and has the name of a contractor. Together they team up to put together a wedding beautiful enough to wow her soon to be mother-in-law. Cameron is the contractor, but he hasn't done that kind of work since his wife died. He's struggling to get on with his life and meeting Emma helps!

Cute small town romance, with lots of great supporting characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in return for my review.