Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter Series: Blue Ridge #0
Published by Thomas Nelson on June 13, 2017
Genres: Fiction / Christian / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / Clean & Wholesome, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
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They thought their love story was over. They thought their divorce was final. They were wrong.
Following his divorce, Noah gave up his dream job and settled at a remote horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, putting much-needed distance between himself and the former love of his life. But then Noah gets a letter from the IRS claiming he and Josephine are still married. When he confronts Josephine, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.
Josephine is no happier about the news than Noah. Maybe the failed marriage—and botched divorce—was her fault, but her heart was shattered right alongside his, more than he would ever believe. The sooner they put this marriage behind them, the better for both of their sakes.
But when Josephine delivers the final paperwork to his ranch, the two become stranded in his cottage during the worst spring snowstorm in a decade. Being trapped with Josephine is a test of Noah’s endurance. He wrestles with resentment and an unmistakable pull to his wife—still beautiful, still brave, and still more intriguing than any woman he’s ever known.
As they find themselves confronted with each other and their shared past, old wounds surface and tempers flare. But when they are forced out into the storm, they must rely on each other in a way they never have before. Josephine finally opens up about her tragic past, and Noah realizes she’s never been loved unconditionally by anyone—including him. Will Noah accept the challenge to pursue Josephine’s heart? And can she finally find the courage to trust Noah?
From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom and A December Bride (now beloved Hallmark Original movies) comes this charming romance full of second chances and rekindled love.
“Sweetbriar Cottage is a wonderful story, full of emotional tension and evocative prose.” —Francine Rivers, New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love
“Sweetbriar Cottage is a story to fall in love with. True-to-life characters, high stakes, and powerful chemistry blend to tell an emotional story of reconciliation.” —Brenda Novak, New York Times bestselling author
- Sweet and thoughtful contemporary romance
- Stand-alone novel
- Book length: 86,000 words
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
Truth Bomb: Josephine and Noah are absolutely infuriating. I said what I said. I mean, I adore them, and they kept me engaged. Engaged in wanting to shake them, yell at them, and toss in a solid Gibbs’ smack for good measure. I can forgive the lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers concept, as honestly, it was really well done. Even though Josie was a little too dingbat and Noah was a little too perfect. But for the gravy, how are you married to someone and never know their backstory?!? I mean, I get it, no one wants to trauma dump on someone they are falling in love with, but married . . . married? Like, how does that never ever ever come up? But it doesn’t. I mean, it does long after the marriage is over (even if the legal piece falls to the wayside), and a slew of dingbat moments create a catastrophe, and suddenly it’s let me tell you a story about a man named Shark.
Before I get into the book, I want to talk about the author’s note, The Story Behind the Story. How this book came to be the book it is intrigued me. A stand-alone concept that got pushed into a serial that got pulled to a stand-alone that still started a serial. I swear, if you jump in my head, that completely makes sense. Read it again 😀 It’s an amazing introduction to Copper Creek, and I can’t wait to meet more folks there and hear their stories. I just hope they know how to actually communicate . . . just saying.
Two things. First, we gotta talk about the fact that these two cannot communicate. Like at all. Seriously ridiculously bad at communication. It’s no wonder their marriage imploded with the way they go out of their way to not tell each other their thoughts, feelings, and hard truths. Hence, the absolute need for them to be shaken and Gibbs’ smacked. But under all that, Denise Hunter does something so very special with this book (and it looks like in the rest of the series, going by the synopsis). She talks real-world hard issues (like child sexual abuse) and doesn’t sugarcoat it or shy away from it, and tells the story from a Christian perspective. Few Christian authors tackle the dark topics, and most with varying degrees of success. But what she did with this book took a very dark topic, infused it into Josie with all her dingbat, insecure, anxiety-riddled choices, and truly shines. (Though I’d have loved to have seen more of a resolution for her to actually overcome all those adjectives than just a happily ever after.)
About Denise Hunter
Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 40 novels, three of which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.
Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories, peopled with layered characters who struggle with real-life issues. Her readers enjoy the experience of falling in love vicariously through her characters and can expect a happily-ever-after sigh as they close the pages of her books.
In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!
When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband have raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest.
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