The Lilac Bouquet by Carolyn Brown Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Published by Brilliance Audio on March 28, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 8 hours, 31 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
Come hell or high water, Emmy Jo Massey will have a wedding. After three generations of Massey women with children out of wedlock, she wants the whole town of Hickory, Texas, to witness the legitimacy of her union with Logan Grady. But dream weddings aren’t cheap. So she accepts a highly lucrative stint as a home health assistant to retired realtor, and town recluse, Seth Thomas—a decision her great-grandmother Tandy is dead-set against.
Seth isn’t happy about it, either. The eighty-two-year-old doesn’t want a “babysitter”—much less a Massey—something he makes clear when Emmy arrives at his house, an empty mansion built for the woman who broke his heart. But as Emmy stays and the two eventually open up to each other, she learns the reason behind a feud between Seth, Tandy, and Logan’s grandfather Jesse Grady that goes back six decades. She also uncovers a secret that forever changes how she sees her past and her future…
Lilacs are my favorite flower. When I first started listening, I thought oh no, The Lilac Bouquet is going to be kind of stupid. It was unrealistic fiction with some people acting ridiculous until Emmy Jo went to work for Seth. As they got to know each other, everything got real. I loved the honest support and friendship they gave each other. Logan and Tandy were a bit developed, and maybe even more, Mary.
That would be my only issue here is Diana didn’t feel like a best friend or just wasn’t enough of a formed character. And that the story ended. I really wanted more about their lives after the wedding, and the home they created for unwed mothers. I’d love to see Seth with many great-grandchildren. I’d even like to see how Jesse Grady ends up reconciling with his past.
Brittany Pressley did an amazing job with the narration. I felt the accents and ages and genders all fit well to the characters. She made it easy and engrossing to listen. I chose the 1.25 speed. Her performance brought forth my emotions and I found myself crying more than once. But I also had some laughs and squees of delight.
The quirky characters of a small town with its long history and traditions, the mystery of a long standing feud, a new and unlikely friendship, and a romance with a wedding are all here. Highly recommended.
About Carolyn Brown
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown was born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma. These days she and her husband make their home in Davis, Oklahoma, a small town of less than three thousand people where everyone knows everyone, knows what they are doing and with whom, and read the weekly newspaper to see who got caught.
A plaque hangs on her office wall that says I know the voices are not real but they have such great ideas. That is her motto and muse as she goes through the days with quirky characters in her head, telling their stories, one by one, and loving her job.
She has been married almost half a century to a retired English teacher that she calls Mr. B and he does not read her books before they are published because she cannot afford a divorce. They have three grown children.—and enough grandchildren to keep them busy and young.
When Carolyn is not writing she likes to sit in the back yard and watch the two tom cats protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, other cats, spiders and blue jays.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Anne: 2017 Audiobook Challenge
- Anne: 2017 New Release Challenge
- COYER Winter Switch
