Umm… why did this sweet, small-town Hallmark-style story suddenly turn into a "why choose" romance at around 80%? It felt completely out of left field. Honestly, the plot was already all over the place, and that twist was the final straw. I would’ve DNFed right then, but I was too close to the end—so I just skimmed the rest. Disappointing and confusing.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove for the eARC!
I enjoyed this! It was a little heavy on saying what songs were playing and I was annoyed by that, but other than that, I liked it. I kinda had a feeling of who Hattie was going to end up with, because I don’t feel like her and Lee really had a connection and she didn’t know what she wanted, and made it quite obvious she wasn’t sure she wanted to be with Lee or not.
The setting was perfect. I adore small town romances, especially old style ones on farms. I’m all for small towns, everyone knows everyone type of things, so i absolutely loved that aspect of it.
There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like, but I wish there was a little more action or drama than what there was.
Overall, it was pretty good.

Sing Me Home to Carolina is the second chance romance meets small town drama that will hook you from page one.

As her hometown is on the brink of insolvency, Hattie Norwood returns to Mountain View, South Carolina for the weekend to comfort her parents and their failing peanut farm. But emotions fly high when she returns home to find her childhood sweetheart, who broke her heart a decade ago, is back in town and still holds a flame for her. Divided between her successful city career, her love for her hometown, the one that got away, and a new mysterious resident, Hattie’s life gets upended in unexpected ways.

I loved the characters, small town drama and community feel of this book. I easily became invested in saving the town and reuniting Hattie and her first love. This was an easy and enjoyable read with a Hallmark Rom-com feel.

The one part that may have needed more development was the Hattie & Fox relationship. It was less believable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press and the author for an advanced digital copy.

P.S. Happy publication day! This one is a winner!

Excuse me one minute, this is Joy's first contemporary romance!? Love her as a HF author and now THIS beauty!? Sign me up for everything Joy writes forever and always!

When Hattie comes home to visit her home town of Mountain View, she is welcomed with open arms by family and friends who never left and an ex that was never supposed to come back. Cue: Instant Drama!

The family farm and founder's land is in peril. An athletic stadium is going to be built in one of two places and, of course, the farm land is being considered as an option. The people of Mountain View come together to sign petitions and stand united against this "progressive move" that they fear will ruin everything in their quiet little town.

Joy's roots and attention to detail shine through as this book has everything: spam (not the kind that shows up in your inbox,) ramps (not the kind that slope up and down,) streaking (not on snapchat,) and anything in between - including a triangle (not the one that rings you in to dinner.)

The romance(s) woven throughout this story are so rich and touching. I still find myself thinking about the characters, hoping they're doing well - they felt that real!!!

What an exceptional entry into the contemporary romance scene! Brava, Joy!!

Such a great story! I thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing style, and how she presented the story.
Joy Callaway did such a good job of bringing characters and their setting to life.
An excellent read that kept me captivated from the very start.

I love books set here in the Carolinas. Sing Me Home to Carolina by Joy Calloway is set in the fictional town of Mountain View, SC.

"Hattie is an event planner in the middle of her biggest project. She heads back to her home town of Mountain View from Charlotte to support her parents, who just found out their farm is dead. Mountain View is a potential site for the new Panthers stadium and Hattie seems to be the only one not opposed to the stadium coming in. The mayor asks Hattie to put on a musical benefit in her parents' barn for Founder's Day, just as Hattie's old flame, Lee Lockhardt, shows up. Hattie wants to go back to her life in Charlotte - pick back up with Lee - and get to know the new Fox running the Hardware store. But life has other plans for Hattie this time."

Callaway has an easygoing writing style. There's easy banter between characters. There are lots of hilarious moments (the first wedding in the 'event barn' with the couple leaving in an '87 Kia covered in Earnhardt stickers) These feel like real people and a real place. If you've ever driven through a small town with a boarded-up Main Street you'll understand. Hattie is not looking for romance and Calloway will surprise you. This book is about finding something that's bigger than yourself. The more I read, the more I found myself drawn to the story and the characters. I got a little teary at the ending Calloway gives us. I hope we'll see more from these characters.

Great story from Calloway.

Hattie and Lee are high school sweethearts. Lee is a retired up Atlanta Braves player and Hattie is an up-and-coming event planner in Charlotte. It’s about their high school love but also about new love and how the heart changes. This is a great story for southern readers. Set in the heart of the South, it was a great, fun to read romance. Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Books for the advanced copy.

Hattie has to follow her heart!

Event planner Hattie Norwood had no problem building the Carolina Panthers new stadium in her home town of Mountain View, South Carolina after finding out that her parent’s peanut farm was usable for crops. Her plans changed when the Founder’s Day was moved to her parent’s barn because it was the original home of Ronald Robinson, the founder of Mountain View.

Hattie’s only intended to stay a week changed when she found out that her high school boyfriend was back in town and he had retired from baseball was starting to be a country music star and her biggest help was Fox Ryan who had bought the hardware store.

Usually in a romance you have a good idea who the two main characters are going to be but in Sing Me Home to Carolina there will a choice that Hattie has to make about following her heart and finding out is the best part about the reading the book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A heartwarming, cozy, small-town, romance with Star's Hollow and Sweet Magnolia vibes. Wonderfully colorful characters that keep you entertained reading, laughing and completely engaged page after page. This is a wonderful feel good story with the perfect southern backdrop. So well written, filled with thought, compassion, humor, heartache, joy and romance., anyone who picks up this book is going to love it! I definitely did! An amazing read!

Reading this book feels like a warm summer night on the front porch with your favorite country music playlist on the radio. It's the feeling of comfort and home. Fans of Southern small towns, sweet love stories, and country music will enjoy this book!

The town of Mountain View, South Carolina only has one stoplight, is surrounded by farms, and the only nightlife happens at the hardware store on Fridays. But the Carolina Panthers are targeting land in the town for a new stadium, threatening its very existence. Hattie Norwood, content with her life as an event planner in Charlotte, on a visit home to visit with her parents on their failing farm is faced with not only her ex-boyfriend Lee Lockhart but the question of whether saving Mountain View is worth giving up everything she's worked for.

I enjoyed the cast of characters in this story, and the history of the town was very endearing. I also thought the love story was sweet, but would have liked to see Hattie's feelings explored more. Parts of the story were predictable but that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

Hattie came home to her parents home to help them figure out what to do when their fields quit producing the peanuts they have grown for years She was very surprised to see Lee back home, as he had been playing baseball. They had been in love once, but had broken up when they went their separate ways. Did they still love each other or is it time for someone else.? The story had lots of twists and turns but it kept me entertained all the way through.

I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

This was 10000% a case of judging a book by its cover. I mean, how gorgeous is it!?

Unfortunately for me, the book went downhill from there. I love the small town story, a little stars hallow or hart of dixie, that is absolutely my jam. And when Hattie comes back from the big city to her small home town to help her parents when they learn the family farm is failing and runs straight into the one that got away, the story had all the makings of my favorite rom com.

The story was hard to get into, hattie spent the whole book woe is me related to her job and having to be in her hometown, all the while fighting her undeiniable attraction to Lee for about 90% of the book before running across statelined in the the arms of another man who she's actually apparently in love with from very minimal interactions? Like I'm sorry, but her and Fox came quite literally out of absolute nowhere.

There wasn't resolution for Lee's story line, there wasn't chemistry that we got to see or root for with Fox, and Hattie's attitude got more insufferable as the book went on.


I have a couple other books from this author's backlist on my TBR and I absolutely want to try another one of hers, but this one just didn't work for me.



Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Sing me home to Carolina is the story about Hattie, a girl who comes home to help fight for her hometown, help her parents keep their farm alive - all the while blundering her way through old friendships, and juggling her resurfacing emotions for her old highschool boyfriend and her growing attraction to the new guy in town.

I really enjoyed this book, but there were a few things keeping it from getting a higher rating from me.

- Hattie. The MC of this book (told solely from her POV) seemed to be very selfish and self-centered. She treated her so called friends like garbage, consistently put her life and her work above her family (even admid a health crisis), and she strung guys along like they were there to worship her.

- The ex-boyfriend. While there were major red flags with him and this relationship, she keep up this ridiculous push/pull that was just cruel. The whole thing was just toxic on so many levels. This part of the story was dragged on. Way. Too. Long. To the detriment of the rest of the story.

- Name dropping. Everyone in the book seemed to be or know a ton of famous people. Which is fine, but for a whole town to know so many, and yet the town to not be in any map just felt a bit of a stretch.

With all that said, I did love the Hart of Dixie/Stars Hallow town vibes this gave off. Growing up in a tiny town, the week long festivities leading up to Founders Day definitely had me thinking of all the memories. It's definitely worth a read, and I will definitely check out future works if the author.

**Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

Sing Me Home to Carolina is like a warm summer breeze wrapping you in a hug. A small town story of love, family, and redemption. Sometimes it's all about finding your "home".

A love triangle between Hattie and Lee (high school sweethearts) and Fox (the new hardware store owner). Throw in some good old western twang, and every country fan will fall in love with these characters. Hattie is fighting to save her family home and the town from being taken over by a huge development, while she is caught between her current life in Nashville and where love will lead her.

I loved this story. It had quirky characters, aging parents, high school friends and that overall small town feel.

"He taught me how to love, but I love you."

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 10 June 2025

When Hattie Norwood returns home to her small town as a show of support for her parents' failing farm, she doesn't plan on staying long. Except she gets pulled into helping save the town itself from outside development projects. Complicating matters is Hattie's love life with the return of an old flame and the new owner of the hardware store showing her romantic interest. With her home town watching, Hattie must save the town while also following her heart

I love a good small town romance, especially when it involves a high school romance that is rekindled. While this is one aspect of Sing Me Home to Carolina, the author added an interesting twist to the 'home town boy returns' trope, with the addition of a very sexy local hardware store owner with a mysterious past.

I must admit, I am solidly on Team Fox, even though there is nothing that made me dislike Lee. The love triangle/why choose storyline is one I have never encountered in a closed door romance and it made me a little uncomfortable with Hattie at times. Both Lee and Fox were good guys, both loved Hattie, she loved them both in return, and it upset me that she was going to have to hurt one of them.

I enjoyed very much Mountain View's characters and the Save Our Town campaign. It made me want to move to a little farming town, myself.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC of Sing Me Home to Carolina. The opinions in this review are my own.

Event planner Hattie Norwood is in to Mountain View, South Carolina to support her parents when their farm is found infertile. It seems that the Carolina Panthers are looking for a place for a new stadium and she thinks it will save the small town. Since Hattie will not sign the petition to stop the stadium everyone is mad at her. Lee Lockhardt her former high school boyfriend is back in town his career in the MLB has ended. Lee is attracted to Hattie, but the new guy Fox in town is also interested. When Fox suggest that the Norwood use their barn to hold a Founders Day celebration. Wonderful story of going home and trying to decide if you need to stay or go back the Charlotte.

Joy is one of my favorite authors, and I just adore her lovely historical fiction novels. Her newest novel is her first contemporary book, and it is just as compelling! I felt like I knew Hattie inside and out since I grew up in a small Carolina town similar to Mountain View. The push and pull of a small town, from the people who know you all too well to the memories that you can never seem to get away from, are at the heart of this novel, and I enjoyed every minute. Joy knows her Carolina slang as many of the phrases her characters use could have come out of my mouth when I’m back in my hometown.

This book is an emotional and heartwarming tale of what it truly means to be at home whether it’s a location or a person. If you’re looking for a swoony romance with a fun cast of truly unique characters and a strong sense of place, this is the book for you! I hope Joy continues writing both historical and contemporary novels as I can’t get enough of her writing!

Honestly DNFd this book at 21%. Hattie and Lee were annoying and the book already seemed longer than it needed to be.

A second chance romane in a small town divided over a possible football stadium. Hattie has come home. She didn't expect that her high school flame Lee would be there too or Fox, the new owner of the hardware store. Nor did she expect to become involved in the community debate about the construction of an NFL stadium, The stadium could be good for her parents but what about for everyone else? Callaway has a nice way with characters, creating people you can relate to (even if they are former MLB players) and a good small town atmosphere. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is an easy read for a lazy day.