A Morning Glory Wedding: a short but sweet ending to the series

A Morning Glory Wedding is a short story by Liz Talley as part of the Morning Glory series. When Brandy Robbins came back to Morning Glory, Mississippi, she never expected to fall in love with another woman’s husband, but she did. And now she is known as the other woman. It didn’t matter that she was lied to, manipulated and left as broken as the marriage that ended. Brandy is treated as a pariah in town, she deserves forgiveness or a second chance. Father Geoff Harper is the new priest at the Episcopalian Church. He is drawn to Brandy and hopes to show her that she still deserves love. As they both prepare for the wedding of Jess and Ryan, could there be a chance to mend fences and find a new beginning? 

A Morning Glory Wedding is a very sweet story. Short but sweet and packed with great moments. It is a story filled with second chances and forgiveness. There’s a great moment between Jess and Brandy that I hoped would be in the story. It was a beautiful example of extending forgiveness and mending fences. I also enjoyed the introduction of Geoff as a man of God who isn’t afraid to shake things up a bit. I would love to read more and catch up with all the characters; however, A Morning Glory Wedding was a nice short story to say goodbye to these wonderful characters. If you are a fan of the Morning Glory series, you will enjoy A Morning Glory Wedding.  

A Morning Glory Wedding is available in eBook. 

Prince Not Quite Charming: can the city girl learn to be country?

Prince Not Quite Charming by Liz Talley is a novel in the Morning Glory series. The story picks up right after the events of book 2, Perfectly Charming. A city girl can survive…she hopes. Frances Genovese agrees to stay in Morning Glory after her brother’s wedding in order to finish the remodel of his new pizzeria. She may not know small town Mississippi but she does know the restaurant business. What she doesn’t bargain for is a country boy contractor naysaying her every decision. Clemson “Clem” Aiken III knows two things: what it means to be a country boy and the small town market. When he and Frances clash on ideas for the restaurant, he knows he needs to teach her a thing or two about country life. Frances reluctantly gives Clem three days to teach her country life and change her mind about the restaurant design. What can be so hard about fishing, frying chicken and line dancing? 

Prince Not Quite Charming had me laughing and smiling from the opening chapter. There were many laugh out loud moments and moments that left huge smiles on my smile. Frances, the hard nosed Italian New Yorker, spends a few weeks with Clem, But there’s more to the country boy Clem than meets the eye and as the two spend time together, the attraction is obvious from the start. I loved the flirty banter between the two especially from Clem, reminds me of my husband and I. There were sweet moments of heart-to-heart talks between the two. One of my favorite moments is when Frances and Clem were frying chicken with Ida Mae Robinson and Frances made a comment about being a woman and doing things on her own. To which Ida Mae replies, “Well, baby, I can do it too but why would I want to?” I highly recommend Prince Not Quite Charming. Opposites certainly attract in this fun novella. 

Prince Not Quite Charming is available in eBook and audiobook. 

Third Time's the Charm: a story of finding home and love again

Third Time’s the Charm by Liz Talley is the fourth book in the Morning Glory series. “When you find someone who has no hope left, give the bracelet to her…” was the final request from Lacy but who would it be? Sunshine “Sunny” Voorhees David would rather be anywhere but back in Morning Glory, Mississippi. But after losing both her husband and a pregnancy, she had no choice but to come back home and fulfill a promise to her sister, Eden. While she waits for her chance to escape again, she’ll fix up the rundown family while trying to convince her mother to move. Oh! And avoid the man who broke her heart many years ago. Henry Delmar has been haunted by the mistake he made years ago and now that Sunny is back in town, he wants her forgiveness. But Sunny is nothing like he remembered. She is hurt, angry and has an impenetrable wall around her heart. Fate intervenes when Henry’s teenage son backs over Sunny’s Harley and the two are thrown together. He must find a way to rekindle their romance and prove to Sunny that her place is in Morning Glory with him. 

Third Time’s the Charm is a sweet romance about regret, redemption and finding love and home again. Sunny is a hardened woman who is struggling to find a new place in life. I sympathized with Sunny as she is reeling from her husband’s tragic death in Afghanistan and the loss of her preterm baby. As a woman who has suffered numerous miscarriages including a preterm infant loss, my heart broke for Sunny. I also liked that she was gutsy enough to ride a Harley. I’ll ride a Harley but someone else needs to be driving! I enjoyed Henry as a man who recognizes that he was a stupid kid that resulted in their ultimate break up. I also laughed at the “we were on a break” mentality he had when discussing their break-up and waited for the Friends reference to come up sooner or later. While not my favorite of the Morning Glory series, I enjoyed the growth and development in the relationships between Sunny and her mother, Betty, who was a piece of work, and Sunny and Henry. If you have read the previous Morning Glory books, you will enjoy Third Time’s the Charm. If you haven’t started the series, I highly recommend starting with book 1, Charmingly Yours. 

Third Time’s the Charm is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Book 1, Charmingly Yours is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

All That Charm: fame or love in the Big Easy

All That Charm is the third book in Liz Talley’s Morning Glory series. The Voorhees family has had a infamous reputation since 1909 and Eden has been desperate to leave Morning Glory and her past behind her. When her chance comes, she heads to New Orleans to pursue her dream that she put on hold in order to care for her disabled mother. Once there, her dreams are dashed. Her new job: gone. Her apartment: roach infested. Now with a shrinking bank account, Eden refuses to admit defeat. She takes a part time job as a caregiver for a young girl with cerebral palsy. Nick Zeringue juggles his family’s restaurant empire with the demands of his daughter, Sophie and her special needs. When Eden takes the nanny job, the attraction between them is obvious but Eden is determined to keep their relationship professional and her plan doesn’t include a man or love. As she begins to fall in love with Sophie and her father, her chance for Broadway comes her way. She must decide: love or fame? Can a dream change? 

All That Charm is Eden’s story and while a sweet romance, it was not as good as the first two books. I sympathized with Eden’s desire to leave Morning Glory behind especially after one scene with her mother. With a mother like that, I would want to run too! I also enjoyed Nick’s character as a devoted father reeling from his own heartbreak. Sophie was a sweet character too. Of course, I enjoyed seeing Rosemary and Jess return to give their love and support, as well as much needed advice, for their friend. If only I had friends like that. The setting and secondary characters were okay and not as fleshed out as Eden or Nick. However, it was enjoyable and a lovely continuation to the Morning Glory series. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.  If you have read the first two books of the series, I recommend All That Charm. If you have not yet read the series, I recommend starting with book 1, Charmingly Yours. 

All That Charm is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

Book 1: Charmingly Yours is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Perfectly Charming: a great read for a pick me up

Perfectly Charming is the second book in Liz Talley’s Morning Glory series. Jess Culpepper is desperate to move on from her divorce. When the chance to get out of Morning Glory for a while comes up, she takes it. She takes a temporary nursing job in Pensacola, Florida, And thanks to the bequest of her late friend, Lacy, she rents a condo right on the beach. Little does she know she is in for the surprise of a lifetime. Living a few doors down from her is Ryan Reyes, her old high school chemistry lab partner. Once known as “The Brain,” Ryan has worked hard to be more than the shy nerd. Walking away from a brilliant science career, he now runs a charter fishing business and spends his time catching up on the debauchery he missed. He is thrown for a loop when the girl of his teenage fantasies enters his life. At first, their relationship starts as old friends catching up but soon turns into an attraction neither can deny. Their no-strings-attached fling becomes complicated when they return to Morning Glory for a friend’s wedding and they are forced to confront the painful past. Can they find their happily ever after? Or will old wounds keep them apart? 

After reading a previous book that was deep and depressing, I needed a light, fun pick-me-up and Perfectly Charming delivered. It is a very sweet story filled with sexy fun and heartfelt moments between friends and lovers. There were a lot of sighs, smiles and laughs. I loved Jess’s vulnerability and hesitation moving forward from her divorce. She doesn’t trust herself to feel again and is determined not to get hurt again. She decides a good, fun fling is what she needs and she decides that Ryan is good for that. I also loved Ryan who I identified with as the shy nerd. While I wasn’t bullied as he was, I was known as the brain among my classmates and was looked to for the answers. I understood and related to his desire to be more than “the smart guy.” Their inevitable conflict was believable and the resolution was sweet. I loved Jess’s friends, Rosemary and Eden, and their tough love as they help Jess realize her fling has become more than that. I’m loving the Morning Glory series and can’t wait to dive into book 3. I loved Perfectly Charming and recommend it as well as Charmingly Yours, which I recommend reading first. 

Perfectly Charming is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

Book 1, Charmingly Yours, is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

Charmingly Yours: a sweet and sexy romance

Charmingly Yours by Liz Talley is the first book in the Morning Glory series. Life in the tiny town of Morning Glory, Mississippi, is all Rosemary Reynolds knows. When her childhood friend, Lacy, dies, she leaves letters to her friends, Rosemary, Eden and Jess that will send them each on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Despite her mother’s protests, Rosemary heads to New York City to stay at her cousin’s trendy Soho loft. On her first day in town, a wrong turn leads her to Little Italy and into the arms of the handsome and outgoing Sal Genovese. Sal’s life is being mapped out around him, despite his misgivings and protests. His mother wants him to marry a family friend and his father wants him to manage the new family deli. When Rosemary arrives in his life, she is a breath of fresh air and he’s eager to show her a good time. They agreed to a two-week fling but soon they realized that saying goodbye was going to be harder than they thought. 

Charmingly Yours is my first book by Liz Talley. Being highly recommended by other readers, I look forward to a great story. From the beginning, I related to Rosemary as she never truly ventured far from home despite her dreams of traveling and seeing the world. Going from a tiny town to the Big Apple was a culture shock but she’s determined to jump into the dive end and live as Lacy urged her to do. Staying in New York and a fling with Sal finally helps Rosemary find her voice, puts her foot down and demands that she be allowed to live life on her terms and not according to her overprotective mother’s fears. The story is sweet, flirty and sexy. I laughed, sighed and cried as Rosemary and Sal’s romance is as sweet as southern sweet tea. I ended the book with a huge smile on my face and a sigh from my lips, eager to read the rest of the series. I highly recommend Charmingly Yours. 

Charmingly Yours is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.