Althea Dailey has just made partner at her exclusive New York law firm, the only black person and the only woman to have done so. When she is sent to North Carolina on her first case as partner, Allie decides to drive a little farther south to check up on her grandma in Milford, Georgia. To her surprise, Jack Darwent, a white man she has never met, has become extremely close to her grandma. Jack left behind his career in law to create a documentary and about authentic southern food and has chosen Althea's grandma as one of the women to be featured in both. Althea suspects Jack is trying to swindle her grandma and sticks around to keep an eye on him.

Unfortunately, I would have to say that this has been my least favorite Hallmark book so far. I didn't like Althea or Jack, and personally, reading a book about main characters I don't like is about as fun as spending hours visiting people I don't like. I also thought this book was too heavy-handed on the “Money and big cities are bad; small towns and family are good” moral that so many Hallmark stories have. I also was not a fan of the narrator for the audiobook. The high-pitched voices of various women talking grated on me, and she seemed to have one generic southern accent that sounded fake at times.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Sweet tea was the perfect Hallmatk-esque pick me up that I needed in my reading journey. It is not often that I go for books based in the south or more specifically ones that held so much importance on cooking, southern hospitality and injustice that small southern communities face. I loved the character dynamic and the wide range of acceptance of "outsiders" and others that were extremely protective over their family and town.

T had made it out of her small hometown and was able to leave behind the pain and the history that she believed was holding her back, so she could become someone respectable or what she thought was so. It wasn't until T caught word that her Grandmother was possibly getting taken advantage of that she decided to confront her past, show the town how much she had changed and fight for her family. Upon returning to her hometown, T found that the gentleman that was threatening her family cooking dynasty was a trust fund baby by the name of Jack. In her eyes, Jack was there to steal her family recipes and give no credit for these creations and take all the financial gain for himself.

With a simple explanation, Jack would have been able to explain to T that what she believed was the furthest from the truth. He was there to document history, give credit where it is due and make sure those recipes never go away. Jack is trying to fix his life and be more than the wealthy snob others perceive him as.

Can T let her guard down enough to be authentically herself and make amends with her communist? Can Jack escape his family name and ties and do something he is actually proud of? And at the end, where and how do their stories entwine in a way that shows that they both may be worthy of family, friendship and possibly even love.

Thank you to @netgalley @hallmarkpublish for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
If you like the Hallmark movies, then you’ll like this book. It’s charming, sweet and romantic. The audiobook was okay: I didn’t like how Jack was portrayed in the narration. The legal plot was super simplistic. I appreciated the multicultural romance and interest. Listening to the food and the generational history of the recipes were interesting. Looking forward to trying the biscuit recipe included in the book.

3.5 Stars

I enjoyed Inger Tudor's narration of this story which was a good depiction of a southern romance. I especially loved the grandma's gentle voice because it reminded me of my own grandmother. I am so happy that Piper Hughley wrote a heroine that was clear to her purpose. Althea Dailey was determined to be the first black person to make partnership at her top ranked New York City law firm. When she was basically told that if she won her new case, she would be invited to join as a partner, Althea had to return to the southern roots that she had worked diligently to escape.

Althea went back home to Milford, Georgia where she met Jack Darwent, a friend of her grandmothers. Instantly, Althea disliked Jack as she suspected him of taking advantage of her grandmother. Jack gave Althea everything she gave him in terms of attitude, until he decided to kill her with kindness in an effort to end their cold war. This journey home allowed both Althea and Jack to reflect on their life's purpose, the family issues they were hiding from and what they ultimately wanted to do career-wise.

This hallmark book had snarky banter, thought provoking conversations, and words of acceptance. It felt realistic and reminded me of how family oriented southern people are. These characters finally got a place of peace and happiness. I love the title because Sweet Tea is satisfying and this southern romance was that.

An uplifting Southern small town clean romance. Althea, better known as Tea just made partner in a New York law firm. Her first case takes her very close to her home town and the grandmother that raised her. She is surprised to find her grandmother has been befriended by a man wanting her southern recipes for a documentary he is filming. Tea insists that Jack cannot "steal" her grandmother's recipes as they are protected property and she is just the woman to make sure her grandmother is properly compensated. Oh, but she learns so much more from Jack. And she finds herself as well. Her true self, not the snooty New York courtroom version. I would love to see this made into a Hallmark movie. I absolutely loved this book. Excellent author and excellent narration by Inger Tudor. She has such a soothing voice and is quite good at changing her voice to accommodate the different characters in the book. This is going to be a best seller.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Sweet Tea
by: Piper Huguley
narrator: Inger Tudor
Hallmark Publishing
Sweet Tea is a multi-cultural, contemporary romance intertwined with historical family legacy. It flows softly like a Summer Southern breeze. The story, set in the small Georgia coastal town of Milford, is richly rewarding. From layers of complex family history to layers of red velvet cake and heirloom tomato sandwiches on crusty bread, Huguley's writing is about acknowledging, coming to terms with, preserving and sharing ancestry and heritage. Inger Tudor's narration of this audiobook is lovely, and she brings life to the story, setting, and characters. Tudor's vocal presentation of Huguley's story just makes it an even richer experience for those like me who love to listen to audiobooks.
Althea, also known as Tea, is a successful partner in a New York law office. After accepting a case on the ownership of a sweet tea recipe in Charlotte, North Carolina, she takes an overdue side trip to her home of Milford to visit her Granda, Miss Ada. Former attorney Jack is also visiting Milford for research on Southern Treasures, a cookbook and documentary film on preservation of family recipes and food heritage. He bonds with Tea's Granda to capture her legacy with the Milford College Cafeteria. Jack describes Tea as both sweet and tart, as she has unresolved, painful connections to her past in Milford.
As the relationships and futures of these three emerge, there is laughter, tears, fear, and anger as trust and reconciliation are explored. Homemade Southern food is central to the story, prepared by both Granda, Miss Ada, and others: angel biscuits, cornbread, fried chicken, and sweet potato butter, to name a few. Oh yes, there are colorful vegetables, fruits, and nuts of collard greens, green beans, okra, peaches, muscadines, and pecans. All meals are wrapped up with deserts of pound cakes, pies, and even buttermilk ice cream.
This memorable book has inspired me think about ways to preserve the legacy of my own Georgia family's treasured cooks, recipes and stories. Thank you to Hallmark Publishing and Net Galley for the advanced reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review of Sweet Tea in audiobook format.
#SweetTea #NetGalley

This is my first Hallmark Publishing book and let me tell you....THIS BOOK is just like a Hallmark movie. Small town, big city, wisdom, warm and cozy feels! I did listen to the audiobook and I loved the multi-cast recording. However it sounded echoey and not as crisp as I like audiobooks. I love the story and how it is fast past, but also very cozy and warm.

Ok so you guys already know that I had to read this book. It’s romance, black author and the title, Sweet Tea. My favorite indulgence…

I just knew I’d love this book, but I totally didn’t. I love Hallmark movies, especially during the holidays, but this didn’t give me the lovey dovey feels. I was not invested in any of these characters. I felt like I didn’t even truly know the characters. Althea worked my nerves. She’d basically forgotten about her elderly grandmother while living the hotshot life in NYC. And she suddenly grows an urgent need to rush to protect her Granda because she’s been so happy on the last few phone calls, while working with a new movie director?! Girl, bye!

The hate to love concept was just too overdone. Like a Tyler Perry film, where the actors do a lot of over acting. She was too mad, fake concerned and just pure unlikeable.

The love interest, Jack, was forgettable. I did like how he checked her and let her know that she hadn’t been actively checking in on her grandmother, like the rest of the family had been. The scene with their visit to his family flew by quickly and too peachy keen. I would’ve liked a bit of drama. The narration was ok, and I’m so thankful that I was able to get an advanced listener copy through Netgalley.

The only thing I enjoyed about this book was the Southern charm and delicious sounding down-home Soul Foods that made my mouth water. As a sweet tea fanatic, I’d love to get my hands on one of these tall glasses of sweet tea! I also enjoyed the history behind the recipes. For these reasons alone, I’m bumping up my rating to 3 ⭐️

As someone who prefers a physical book to an e-book and an e-book to an audiobook, I don’t know what possessed me to request an audiobook other than novelty. So I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, which, I suspect, has more to do with an engaging romance and lovely writing than audio narration.

Piper Huguley’s Sweet Tea is about a successful, single-minded young woman who has lost touch with her roots and heritage; now that she’s “made it” professionally and financially, she is ripe to discover how hollow success can be when not accompanied with a sense of belonging, meaningful work, familial connection, and a loving life-partner. Much as I enjoyed the romance, I enjoyed the heroine’s rediscovery of her roots, tradition, and heritage even more. Also, the food, pretty fan-yum-tas-tic! The blurb offers some further detail:

Althea Dailey has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. So why doesn’t she feel more excited about it? She’s about to become the only woman—and the only Black person—to make partner at her prestigious law firm in New York City. When she has to travel South for a case, she pays a long-overdue visit back home to Milford, Georgia. To her surprise, a white man she’s never met has befriended her grandmother.

Jack Darwent wasn’t interested in the definition of success dictated by his father and Southern high society. His passion for cooking led him to his current project: a documentary and cookbook about authentic Southern food. Althea’s grandmother is famous for her cooking at the historically Black Milford College, especially the annual May feast meal. But Althea suspects Jack of trying to steal her grandmother’s recipes.

Although Althea and Jack don’t have the best first impressions of one another, they discover they have more in common than they’d guessed… and even as they learn about one another’s pasts, they both see glimmers of a better future.

The hero, Jack Derwent, serves more as a foil to Althea, though he has his own story to tell. He meets Althea at a point in his life where he knows who he is, what he wants, and who he wants. It’s Althea for Jack from the moment he meets her. When the novel opens, Althea is given her first case as partner, an intellectual property dispute between a company making “sweet tea” and a claim that a small-time cook and restaurant-owner is copying their trademark product. This brings Althea home to the South and reunites her with her grandmother, who calls her “T”, a lovely play on the tile and nicely ironic, given how “un-sweet” Althea proves to be to Jack, at least initially. What starts as a business trip turns into something more emotionally challenging as Althea reunites with the grandmother she’s not seen in ages and encounters a suspicious thorn in her side, Jack, who has struck a great friendship with her grandmother. Althea’s grandmother is essential to Jack’s documentary attempting to preserve a tradition of Southern cooking and the women whose un-“codified” recipes would be lost otherwise. Althea suspects Jack of exploiting her grandmother and sticks around to protect her interests. Jack, charming, gentle, and funny, spends most of the first third of the novel wondering what bee has entered Althea’s bonnet and how to fend off her verbal blows. What really gets her? Her grandmother LOVES this guy. It makes for humorous scenes and great banter.

Althea brings the stress and suspicion of the big-city and cut-throat world of corporate lawyering to her hometown. One of the novel’s aspects I enjoyed most was Althea’s shedding of her appearance’s “layers”. In NY, she lightens her skin, plans a nose job, manicures and pedicures, wears muted colours, and straightens her hair. As Althea’s journey compels her to come to terms with her parents’ loss and her abandonment of home, she also lets go of those corset-like strictures on her appearance. It’s a lovely juxtaposition between inner and outer change and Huguley navigates it with humour and compassion. Though Jack’s journey is the lesser, he too contends with his mother’s loss, his love for the Black lady who brought him and his sister up subsequently, and his father’s disapproval about his professional choices.

Huguley employs her characters’ relationship with food to say something about their perception of heritage. As a documentarian and trained chef, Jack is present to observe, record, and most importantly, preserve a heritage he obviously respects and appreciates. As a great cook himself, his relationship with Althea’s grandmother is one of sharing and learning from a master. Althea, on the other hand, arrives in her hometown avoiding all “fried food” and sweets and there’s a marvellous scene when she eats an near-entire grape pie, one of her grandmother’s signature recipes. As she moves away from her citified ways, we also come to understand the pressure Althea was under, as a Black woman, trying to have a high-powered career. Althea is who she is and does what she does out of necessity, not mere whimsy. As Althea’s dietary strictures are shed, her wardrobe changes as she opts for colourful dresses and, thank goodness because this stressed me out, comfortable shoes. Althea is comfortable “in her skin” because she embraces it as a richness of heritage, not an obstacle to be overcome. Again, outer changes signify inner understanding and confidence. Thematically wonderful on Huguley’s part.

Another of the novel’s strengths is Huguley’s secondary characters, especially Althea’s funny, sharp, smart grandmother; childhood friend, Monique, is a hoot. From the Uber driver who shares the South with Althea to Jack’s sister Bethany, secondary characters are vibrant and engaging. Underlying the characters’ lives is also a strong faith. While the characters may possess gradations of faith, with Althea coming across as the least faith-based, once Althea is in the South, her grandmother’s church is a hub of community, comfort, and continuity.

I don’t know that I will be devouring audiobooks the way I do physical and e- ones, but I did enjoy listening to Sweet Tea. At a little over seven hours, it was easier follow the narrative thread. I enjoyed Inger Tudor’s narration, for the most part. She was strong on the female voices: Althea; her secretary; friend Monique; and especially grandmother was terrific. She was weaker, I thought, on Jack, when she dropped her voice’s timbre to simulate Jack’s maleness. It always sounded like he was whispering. I think Tudor was aiming for a Southern drawl, but it didn’t quite convince. With Miss Austen’s help, I would say Piper Huguley’s Sweet Tea, whether you listen to the audiobook, or read it with your eyeballs, offers “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Piper Huguley’s Sweet Tea is published by Hallmark Publishing. It releases today, August 10th, and may be found at your preferred audiobook vendor. I received the audiobook from Hallmark Publishing, via Netgalley, for the purpose of writing this review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Sweet Tea in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to be able to provide a four or even five star rating, but sadly this book falls in the two star category for me. The contemporary fiction/romance genre is tough because it can border on cliche for me and this definitely was the case in Sweet Tea. A young successful attorney in NYC is pulled back home to her southern roots when she fears her grandmother is being exploited by a trust fund filmmaker. This is my first book by Hallmark Publishing and yet was not surprised when the attorney and filmmaker turned the story into an enemies to lovers trope. There were parts of the story that were sweet and engaging and I really enjoyed the characters of Althea and her grandmother, but Jack left much to be desired. I also found the author’s attempt at discussing law cringey with major red flags and conflict of interest issues. The silver lining of the book however was the exquisite detail given to the description of all the southern food. Biscuits, gravy, cornbread, pie, and sweet tea will all be on my menu this week.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thanks to @netgalley @dreamscape_media and @hallmarkpublish for the ARC! What a perfect summer read! Such a sweet story that definitely feels like a perfect hallmark movie! So much detail in the scenery, and the food that is the focus of this story. The biscuit recipe at the end was a perfect little wrap up!

This was my first novel from Hallmark Publishing and while I have seen tons of Hallmark movies, I had never read one of their books. Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley was so much more than I thought it would be, I fell in love with Althea and her fierceness from page one. A woman who seemingly had it all but didn't realize exactly what she was missing until she came home.

Althea Dailey has more success than she could have ever hoped for. She just made partner and has landed her first big case as partner. Now, Althea must head back down south for the case involving sweet tea and notices that she will only be a few hours from home. She decides to head to Milford, Georgia to see her grandmother but finds out she has befriended a white man and that doesn't bode well with her. What kind of man would want to befriend a woman in her 80's for anything other than to get something out of her?

Jack Darwent didn't do what was expected of him and become a lawyer, he wanted to become a chef. Eventually he did finish his law degree but, on his terms, not on his fathers and having been able to follow his dreams and become a chef has left Jack more fulfilled than he ever thought possible. Working on his recent documentary and cookbook has brought him to Milford, Georgia where he has started to feel as if this little town could be a home that never knew he was looking for.

Jack & Althea don't have the greatest first encounter of one another but as each of them circle one another wondering what the other is up to they start to realize that they might have more in common than either of them originally thought.

Inger Tudor did a beautiful job at narration for each character. There were severe distinctions between each of them, so I never had to worry about who was talking and her interpretation of Jack was pure southern gentleman. The real show stopping voice was Althea though, I can't imagine her character as any other voice other than Inger Tudor.

A story drenched in southern history, sweet tea and family recipes Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley will give you all the warm feelings of home (if you are a southerner like me) while enticing you with its beautiful history of a small town in Georgia.

unfortunately this was not a great book for me. narration was ok, but the story just kind of dragged and wasnt my favorite. i'd definitely try this author again though!

I already have a review posted for the book but after getting the audiobook, i realize i need to adjust my review. The narrator was perfect and really translated the love of Black grandmothers, southern cooking and even HBCUs throughout the book. I really had a side-eye about Jack as a white man who, like a lot of typical cooks, look at Black folks in a very "on safari" way and wanting to "colonize" our food stuffs. But he knew his stuff, he was a student of the craft and had a respect for the food and its origins.

This book def was better via audiobook (and my ebook was a bit messed up the times I tried to finish the last half).

This is a feel-good southern romance that is deep in southern family roots. I listened to this audio through Net Galley. This book has a strong main character who thinks she knows what she wants. Loved it!

If you're looking for a lighthearted and sweet summer romance then this one will definitely be for you. The small town atmosphere coupled with the sense of community was done really well in this story.

I enjoyed the romance that flourished between Jack and Althea. I thought that it felt organic and wasn't rushed. I really enjoyed Jack's relationship with Althea's grandmother even though I was just as dubious as she was when it came to Jack's intentions surrounding the making of his documentary.

One of the things that didn't work for me was the pacing in this story. I felt that there were times were the dialogue just acted as more a filler without a lot of plot propelling the story forward.

Overall, it was still a great read and made me so hungry!

This is a sweet story and one that made me hungry for pie and biscuits. The actor who voiced the audiobook was incredible; as a Northerner, I loved hearing all the different accents of the characters.

The back story regarding the founding of the town and the school was wonderful, those details really grounded the story and gave it more nuance than the typical big city career gal reluctantly goes back home trope. So I was thrilled to learn that Piper Huguley wrote a series of books on the founding of Milford and Milford College and look forward to reading more about Mama Manda and Papa Virgil and their legacy.

The descriptions of the food were mouth watering and so vivid that I could now I want to try and find muscadines to make grape pie! Though I wonder if they could find ripe grapes in the woods in May but understand how this recipe needed to be part of the story despite the season.

I liked both of the main characters, Althea and Jack separately but I don't know if I liked them together. The concept of Jack's Southern Treasure project was interesting. However it took Tea's expertise in intellectual property to ensure that the woman he features are compensated and credited. I kept thinking Tea could do better than Jack. (LOL)

I especially loved Miss Ada, Tea's beloved Granda whose reputation as a cook is how Jack find his way to Milford in the first place. Tea's childhood BFF, Monique, the college's librarian was a fun character and I hope a sequel focuses on her. I do wish we got an epilogue to find out how Connie, Althea's former assistant, and her twins are doing!

There was one editorial error that I hope is caught before publication. In Chapter 29, Jack refers to going to law school at Vanderbilt but earlier in the book he went to there for undergrad and Duke for law school.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.*

The best Hallmark book I've read/heard, I hope it gets turned into a movie!!! I love strong female characters and that this one is a colored lawyer makes it even better! The interracial relationship was just the cherry in my piñja colada. Deliciously written, the story of embracing your roots and finding yourself leaves a cozy feeling in your stomach, I want to read more from this author!
I listened to this in audio and the narrator was phenomenal!

3.5 stars rounded up

A sweet Southern romance with amazing food descriptions that really does feel like a Hallmark movie. Althea left her small town Southern roots in search of success in New York. Now she's a perfectly coiffed, sanitized version of herself in order to succeed in the predominately white and male field of law. She's finally made partner and has plenty of money, but something is clearly missing. A case takes her back to the South and she becomes concerned about the young white man spending so much time with her grandmother (a famous chef with secret recipes). She's convinced he's trying to take advantage so she heads home to investigate, for the first time in years.

Jack Darwent is the son of a well known civil rights attorney, but he wants to find his own path cooking food and preserving the treasures of great Southern cooks before they are lost. Althea and Jack butt heads from day 1, but more eventually begins to develop between them.

In complete transparency, I found Jacks quiet version of arrogance to be just as frustrating as Althea did! He's always a gentleman but doesn't give an inch and sidesteps most of Altheas questions and concerns. It would be immensely annoying. I do wonder how much of this is the affected voice the narrator uses for him though since I listened via audio.

But they're interesting together because they've run away from opposite things and both need to find balance and reconnect with their roots. This also explores issues of law and ethics with the idea that lawyers can either work for the wealthy and powerful, or be a force for good and protect the little guy. Like I said, this certainly feels like a Hallmark movie and it can be cheesy at times, but I liked a lot of what it was doing and think many readers will enjoy it. The narrator did a decent job, though at times the accents of side characters....left something to be desired. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Sweet Tea: A perfect heartwarming romance from Hallmark Publishing by Piper Huguley
Narrated by Inger Tudor
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Genre: Multicultural Interest | Romance
Publication Date: August 10, 2021

Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley is a sweet coming home romance. This will make an exceptional beach read for this summer!

This book is a such a great addition to the Hallmark family! The story is enjoyable and the characters are relatable! I really enjoyed the self-discovery of Althea and Jack.

This was such a great book! I recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet read! I look forward to reading more from this author!

The narration by Inger Tudor was incredible!

I'm so grateful to Piper Huguley, Hallmark Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.