Moonshine and Muscadines 

(Hemlock Creek Book 3)

by Josie Kerr

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Tallulah Douglas is starting over. She’s left her abusive husband behind in California and is building a new life for herself and her teenage daughter in the North Georgia mountains. Between working at her family’s vintage shop, volunteering at the local legal aid office, and avoiding the scrutiny of the town’s Gossip Brigade, dating is the last thing on Tally’s mind.

Only two things are worthy of Robert McFerrin’s attention: his eight-year-old daughter and his fledgling distillery business. He just wants to keep his head down and live his life, but unfortunately, memories are long in Hemlock Creek and getting a fresh start is easier said than done.

A captured bouquet and too much muscadine wine sends Tally into Rob’s arms, and smarmy suitor makes her stay there. Can a fake relationship develop into something more?

 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“What? What is wrong with you? Who doesn’t like weddings? I love weddings.” A dreamy look drifted across Billie’s face for a split second, and then she was back to her no-nonsense self. “I’m good at weddings. After all, I’ve had four. It’s the marriage part I have a problem with.”

 

If this were a spaghetti western, the main theme song, complete with whistles and the cries of coyotes, would be playing as the two men faced each other across the dusty expanse of desert. But this was actually the lobby of the only modern three-story building in the county, and the elevator music version of that damn Toto song was all Rob could hear as that jackass Chad Bryson eyeballed him.

 

I’m an open book… Okay, I’m an open book that’s facedown and dog-eared and maybe a bit redacted, but I’ll truthfully answer any questions you have.

 

Okay, that was an excellent subject change. Wow. Total boner-killer… Inchworm city over here now.

 

What did this woman look like? Kind of like Miranda Lambert if Miranda Lambert was a freeze-dried chain-smoker?

 

Chloe yawned so wide it seemed as if her head had hinges.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and playful read packed with clever humor and observant wit.  Although I never want to live in a small community again, Hemlock Creek sounds like such a hoot where gossip and team fishing are competitive sports and local businesses are as quirky as their eccentric customers with a coffee shop named Nonesuch Possum, a boutique named Goat Waggle, and an antique shop named Backward Glance. The storylines were keenly written, stealthily amusing, buoyantly satisfying and pleasantly enjoyable. I found myself perusing slowly in order to fully savor each well-chosen word. The writing was crisp, pleasingly breezy, and vibrant with colorful and evocative descriptions of each quirky character as well as the sounds and surroundings in each scene. I adored Tallulah, but how could I not? She wore “super-cute leopard-print Mary Janes,” snotted on her boyfriend’s shirt during an ugly cry, and snorted when she laughed. And Robbie Mac was the perfect charmer. I was blithesomely entertained from beginning to end and greedily wished for more, although I always do when I’ve lost myself so thoroughly inside a perfectly written tale. Please, Ms. Kerr, I beg of you, keep this delightful series going.

Josie Kerr