Just love this author duo. Enough sass to make it feel "real," but enough charm to make me believe in humanity. Didn't live the cover a lot but loved the story.

Ava have her life planned out with her long time boyfriend, Skip. Everyone is expecting him to proposed to her for many years and Ava is confident he will only to find out that he could not complete his proposal on birthday in front of everyone. It was a shock to her and all she want was to disappear. This is at this moment Luke , a hockey player, come to her rescue and they begin a romantic fling.

This story is all about miscommunication and life may not a ouplan no matter how meticulously we ready Love the main characters especially Ava who trying hard to think and do things hee way after what happened and both Ava and Luka is vulnerable. Overall, it is a sweet read to me.

*review post scheduled to be posted on my blog on 19/11/22*

Ava Grace Fairchild has been drifting smoothly through her life, wondering when the rest of her life will begin. But when The Big Day finally comes around, it delivers quite a gut punch!. Now she faces a choice: continue to let others manage her life, and hope the next Big Day rolls around, or find out what happens when she utters that little word, “No”. As she realizes that she can get more independence and respect by standing her ground, Ava Grace slowly and steadily grows into a confident and successful woman.

Luka Zadorov is a Russian hockey player who makes no effort to acclimate himself to the South or his new team. Traded by his former team in Boston, his only wish is to get out of the “godforsaken land of football” where he now finds himself. When Ava Grace is dumped in front of what feels like the entire town, he comes to her rescue, and spirits her away to a quiet place. Although his goal is to protect her, he also ends up making her think that she is unable to take care of herself. Because English is not his first language, and Ava Grace speaks no Russian, they often have to explain things to each other in several different ways before understanding is achieved.

I love all of Alicia Hunter Pace’s books, and this one is no exception. If you haven’t read them, give yourself a gift and start today.

Beautiful addon to this series.

Ava Grace and Luka - ooh what a pair!

All the characters and story were well developed. We get to see the MCs of the previous books too 😁

Loved the epilogue especially

Overall - A shiny read 🤩

My first time reading this author, but not my last. I love a good small town, southern romance, and this one is filled with southern charm.

I loved Ava, she has layers, and her growth throughout the book was perfect. Luka, what can I say, he may regret rescuing Ava from her worse night ever. They just work as they get to know one another, working through struggles. I plan to go back and read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Carina Press and Carina Adores, for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

This is a Southern Romance, and this is the third book in the Good Southern Women series. I have read and reviewed the first book in this series before picking this book, but I think this can be read as a standalone without any problems. This book took me a little bit to really get into, and the characters had to grow on me. I did love the growth that Ava's character did during this book. I also really loved the ending of this book. I found the ending so cute. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Carina Press) or author (Alicia Hunter Pace) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Ava Grace and Luka. Ava Grace owns an antique shop. Like is a hockey player. Ava Grace is preparing to get engaged at a gala her family is hosting. Luka is attending the gala. As Ava Grace’s boyfriend is on one knee to ask her to marry him, he stops and says he can’t ask her. Luka comes to her rescue and takes her away. There is an instant attraction between them. They both have communication problems but work at it together and fall in love.

A huge thanks to Carina Press for my complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Shine Like Silver is the third book in the Good Southern Women series. The book follows Ava a good southern belle who is a people pleaser who is embarrassed at a charity gala when something she has always wanted doesn't occur. In a bid to escape from the embarrassment she hops onto Luka's motorcycle and for once doing something out of character. The friendships, the plot , the character development and the romance made this book endearing. Loved it!

I usually love hockey books so I thought this would be a great fit for me, but it wasn't. It was a struggle to get through as it felt like I was reading about caricatures rather than real people. More nuance required, for sure.

Shine Like Silver is a great addition to the Good Southern Women series. This is the perfect light, summer read! Shine Like Silver is not your typical predictable romance though. Finding yourself, believing in yourself, trusting yourself...these are all examined as this perfect Southern Belle realizes there is more to her life than being what everyone expects.
There were a few little twists and surprises I did not expect, particularly in the beginning when Ava Grace and Luka find themselves meeting. The characters were developed well and Alicia Hunter Pace gives the reader both character's point of view throughout. Seeing through the eyes of both Ava Grace and Luka as their relationship developed made me root for them even more. I was sad when the book ended because I want to know what happens to these characters next. But it is Ava Grace, and her growth from page one to the end, that is most satisfying.

This book was awesome. I couldn’t put it down. I loved that Ava Grace was her own person an finally realized Luka did love her. The more books I read of Alicia Hunter Pace., the better they get. You’ve got a big fan Keep the awesome work up. Can’t wait to read the next one you write!

Shine Like Silver is the third book in the Good Southern Women series by Alicia Hunter Pace. I absolutely loved the first two stories in the series and was excited when Ava Grace's story was posted. Even after reading about this group of three friends for two books, I didn't really have a good grip on who Ava Grace was. It ended up that Ava Grace and the reader went on a journey together to learn about herself.

Ava Grace is a people pleaser. She spends her entire life waiting for life to happen to her. She's dating the person she thinks she supposed to. Waiting for the proposal on the night she is told to expect. Preparing to wear the wedding dress that is expected of her. All that turns upside down when Skip backs out of the proposal while he's giving it at a charity gala. Ava Grace needs to escape from the chaos surrounding her. When Jackhammer hockey star, Luka, offers to take her away from pandemonium she hops on his motorcycle and rides away without a second thought. Ava Grace has never done anything spontaneous in her life. What would happen if she starts to live life by her rules and opens her heart to a sweet but sometimes overbearing hockey player?

I really loved seeing all the friends and their partners together. We get to see the continuation of their stories throughout the book. Robbie designing Hyacinth's ring had me laughing out loud. This ended up being a little instalove but I liked it none the less. I really enjoyed seeing Ava Grace become more confident. I loved how they spent their time together cooking and playing scrabble to practice his English. The way Luka interacted with Alex was so endearing.



*****************************************Spoiler********************************************************************



I have to admit that I was kind of surprised at the surprise baby! I liked that the third act conflict didn't come from the fact that she becomes pregnant but because of cultural differences related to familial expectations. As soon as Luka finds out she is pregnant all he wants to do is take care of her the only way he knows how; offering to marry her. Unfortunately, his way of taking care of her is a trigger. People in her life always made her feel incompetent. She wants Luka to understand that she doesn't need him to take care of her. She wants them to be partners and take care of each other.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alicia Hunter Pace, Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin) for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

#netgalley #aliciahunterpace #shinelikesilver #carinapress #carinaadores

Shine like Silver is a cute romance.

Ava Grace is anxiously waiting for her engagement, the night it is supposed to horn should be the happiest of her life but….not very ending is happy. Her soon to be fiancé backs out as he is on his knee in front of the entire town.

Luka the Russian hockey player for the local hockey team just so happens to be there to rescue her from the humiliation she is facing.

Their story shows the struggle of language miscommunications as well as age and the desire to be different from what you were expected to be.

It’s a cute hockey based romance!

Ava Grace’s life is marching along exactly as you’d expect of the life of a Southern Belle. Until she gets rejected at the Christmas Ball…right in the middle of her engagement proposal… with all her family, friends, and the whole town watching.
Local hockey player Luka never wanted to play for a Southern hockey team and is doing his best to get traded back to a team in the north where hockey is revered. He too was rejected by the love of his life a long time ago so he understands when Ava Grace just needs to get away from everyone.
And so, on the night of Ava Grace’s public humiliation, Luka comes to her rescue and they begin a romantic fling. Little Vikings, silver spoons, babies and vlogs ensue. But can their fling turn into a real relationship?

This is the third in the Good Southern Women series by the writing team known as Alicia Hunter Pace. I loved Luka in this book, sometimes he is clueless and other times is right there with whatever Ava Grace needs. But throughout hey is a good man. Ava Grace is an appealing heroine- even though she is the quintessential pampered Southern Belle she is trying to think and do for herself. Both of them can be quite vulnerable as they fall in love but above all, they are sweet and this is a sweet read.

This could be read as a stand-alone but you’d miss the rich backstory and characters from the other two books.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Carina Press in exchange for an honest review.