Sweet Home Carolina: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Patricia Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

She dreams of creating a home sweet home–until a dashing stranger turns her life upside down.

Struggling to get back on her feet after a messy divorce, dark-haired beauty Amy Warren would love to purchase and fix up the historic cottage that has been her dream. But she needs something more than the meager income she earns running the kitchen at the Stardust Café, her sister’s country diner, to seal the deal. Perhaps Amy can help both herself and her beloved North Folk by somehow bringing the old textile mill back to life. Her ingenious plan, however, soon encounters a major obstacle.

That obstacle is Zack St. Etienne, an outrageously handsome European businessman, with loads of charisma and cash, who arrives in the North Carolina town with his own plans for the mill. Though Amy fumes at this unexpected intrusion, she cannot deny her intense attraction to Zack. He’s charming and smart, and even shows a fondness for her two young children. As this playful game of hard-to-get becomes a passionate love affair, Amy and Zack must clean out the cobwebs of their imperfect pasts so they can open their hearts to what just might be the perfect romance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her latest contemporary romance, Rice skillfully explores rocky emotional territory with a comforting North Carolina backdrop and a rich cast of characters. When the old fabric mill goes bankrupt, recently divorced mom and textile designer Amy Warren is out of a job—along with most of the small town of Northfolk. The sensible, hardworking Amy, hoping to keep a roof over her two kids' heads and get the town back to work, makes it her mission to get the mill up and running again. Amy's well-laid plan hits a snag in the form of a tall, handsome European named Jacques Saint-Etienne, who has his own designs on the mill, and they don't include hiring back the laid-off workers. Unfortunately, Amy is immediately smitten with the well-dressed hunk, and it isn't long before Jacques, despite his ruthless professional instincts, begins feeling the same. Though the familiar story may drive off some readers and a last-minute disaster pushes the story over the top, Rice's appealing characters and knack for capturing the subtleties of relationships—familial, romantic and otherwise—makes for another charming, addictive read. (Feb.)
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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345482611
• ISBN-13: 978-0345482617
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,463,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!, June 7, 2007

By 

scotdog "KC" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Home Carolina: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Great author. I really enjoyed this story. Rated pg . . . relationships, history, and family are more important. Still a great love story. Very easy to read and enjoyable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story!, February 1, 2007

By 

Wendy Drew "Owner-Rose's Bookhouse" (O'Fallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Home Carolina: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Amy Warren, recently divorced mother of two, needs a home and job. She's orchestrating the town's purchase of the recently closed textile mill in hopes of reopening the mill and putting the town back to work, herself included. When she learns there is another bidder, she's determined to convince the outsider to leave the mill alone. Unfortunately she keeps getting distracted by the handsome stranger's charm and kindness toward her children.

Jacques St. Etienne has come to Northfork hoping to unearth historic weaving patters from the closed mill. He plans to buy the mill, keep the patterns and sell the equipment, but he's drawn to the small town and in particular the very persistent Amy. I loved how Jacques, a playboy world traveler becomes Zach to everyone in the town as he begins to put down roots.

The sequel to Small Town Girl, Sweet Home Carolina brings us back to a small town in the North Carolina mountains. The town and its citizens play an integral part in the developing relationship between Amy and Zach. In Sweet Home Carolina Patricia Rice again weaves tried and true romance elements into a unique and memorable story that will resonate long after the last page is read.--Reviewed by Julie Opdyke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Read, November 18, 2007

By 

A reader from Missouri - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Home Carolina: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Patricia Rice's SWEET HOME CAROLINA was a wonderful, fun read. On the surface it is a story of opposites attracting. Amy Warren is a hometown Carolina girl in a dying mill town, who's trying her best to reopen the textile factory. Jacques St. Etienne ("Saint Stevie") arrives to cherry-pick the closed mill's best patterns and take them back to Europe where he can market them and add to his fortune. These two people could not have more different agendas and personalities, but somehow -- to the great delight of the reader -- they find a way to fall in love. I devoured this book and went out to buy SMALL TOWN GIRL, the prequel.