Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance 
Content: Strong language, a make out scene, a sex scene that is moderately detailed


Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business.

Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes tragically, spectacularly wrong. Now she’s blackballed by the gala set and in dire need of a fresh start—and apparently the McCreadys are in need of an event planner with a tarnished reputation.

As Margot finds her footing in a town where everybody knows not only your name, but what you had for dinner last Saturday night and what you’ll wear to church on Sunday morning, she grudgingly has to admit that there are some things Lake Sackett does better than Chicago—including the dating prospects. Elementary school principal Kyle Archer is a fellow fish-out-of-water who volunteers to show Margot the picture-postcard side of Southern living. The two of them hit it off, but not everybody is happy to see an outsider snapping up one of the town's most eligible gentleman. Will Margot reel in her handsome fish, or will she have to release her latest catch? 

I've read a couple of other books by Molly Harper that were from the paranormal romance genre, and I liked them. They were funny, and that's what I wanted when I picked up this book. This is the first contemporary romance I've read from her, and it was indeed funny at times. I loved the setting in the small Georgia town, the small town politics, the petty rivalries, the busybody neighbors who know too much, and the meddling family members. It had a nice folksy southern charm to it, and I had no problem picturing the cabins by the lake or the characters sipping sweet tea while they opined life's problems. I also thought the love interest Kyle, was dreamy, and I loved his kids, especially June.

I don't read a lot of contemporary romance, but when I find an author I like I'll keep reading, and that's what I intend to do with this series. If you like your romance sprinkled with humor then you might like this.

One other note- there's an Aunt Tootie in this book, which leads the main character to wonder why southerners don't know not to name their kids things like Tootie. This made me smile, because I had an Aunt Tootie when I was growing up. When we got older we called her Aunt Pat, but that was her nickname when we were kids.