Review: Southern Romance with lots of suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 26, 2013
4 StarsSYNOPSIS:"You are cordially invited..."Four words that spark the fear of God into any gently bred, single southern woman.When Savannah Guthry receives an invitation to her cousin's wedding back home in Charleston, South Carolina, her first thoughts aren't of flowers and dresses. Instead, she's reminded of the groom: her first love and the reason she ended up at a college 500 miles away from home.Determined to show up and dazzle not only her ex but her spoiled cousin too, Savannah allows her friends to set her up on a series of dates looking for Mr. Right. Wrapped up in her memories of the past and the drama of the present, Savannah doesn't recognize a pattern in the seemingly random events that occur around her. There is a dangerous threat looming in the shadows, and if she's not careful, she might lose more than Mr. Right.**This book is a New Adult Romantic Suspense. It is intended for mature (18+) audiences due to sexual situations and mild language**MY REVIEW:Savannah Guthry was raised in South Carolina, with country clubs, debutants and a prim and proper ladies as her mother embedded in her head. But taking the first chance she got, Savannah moved to Tennessee for school to escape a broken heart and failed relationships, not to mention betrayal by a family member. After a day of class she comes home to find a letter awaiting her that reads "You are cordially invited..." in a microsecond all that she has been running from comes back in a flash. With no desire to go home, but also unable to escape the town gossip if she doesn't, Savannah begins to think of a way to make the trip more bearable.Putting a plan in motion, Savannah's friends, Candace, and Sara decide its best to take a smoking hot date that will keep her company and get people off her back at home, but one issue with that is, Savannah hasn't dated anyone since she's been at her college. With only weeks till the wedding, how can she possibly find a date with the correct traits and looks her mother and home-town expects and convince him to come to a wedding with her.With her friends setting her up on blind dates at the local bar they frequent, Savannah finds herself on unfamiliar grounds in the dating scene and in the company of one sexy new bartender Gage.This book was a fun read for me. I loved the friendships that Candace, Sara and Savannah had and reminds me of some of my own friends. The dating game that they put her through was not only entertaining but very real when it comes to the dating scene and I was very happy with how well author Michele captured it. I was laughing hard at some of the dates she went on and the things that happened on them. Being a southern raised girl, Savannah, was so out of her element on theses dates, but her innocence in them was felt. Her upbringing of country clubs, debutantes and high society is something she hasn't forgotten but is not as closely connected to as when she first came to college (she has spread her wings a little), but with the upcoming wedding, how can she face her past and show everyone including her mother that she has moved on and is not affected by it? Let along find a guy who fits the bill enough to take along?As Savannah goes on her blind dates, they meet at the local bar so that she can be in a public atmosphere and feel a little more comfortable, but what she didn't expect was the attention of a hot new bartender that just seems to push her in all the wrong and right ways. Even their interaction was funny and real. She finds herself beginning to like this guy, but caught up in her current dating frenzy and an approaching deadline, can she spare time to entertain her thoughts of him. Michele does a great job at building the romance, while keeping some of Savannah's upbringing at the forefront, but what I didn't anticipate was the twist she trough in the book that caught my attention all over again. I was a little disappointed when I was able to figure out Gage's secrets way before they were revealed which was a let down, but I'm hoping there is more to explore of his story than what was revealed on the surface. I did feel like there were a few loose ends to certain scenes in the book that left me wondering what happened.  Michele did a really good job at making sure we felt the romance, not just sex like some books, which in turn gave us the right amount of anticipation to build this relationship upon.I hate giving spoilers, so let me best describe things as this. Romance builds, suspense is heightened, past secrets not only come to the  surface but also must be faced, lives are threatened and truths come out. Overall it was a very enjoyable book and I look forward to reading the rest of the story, because I'm so certain that it doesn't end there (hint, hint). The again there wasn't an epilogue in the book, so my instincts tell me that I will be reading a sequel.  Add this to your TBR list as I recommend you should read it.I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.Mz V[...]Follow me on  Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.