The Book Beehive: Book Review and Giveaway for Southern Chance by Natasha Madison

SOUTHERN CHANCE

by NATASHA MADISON

Buried secrets never stay hidden in the South.

Kallie

I fell in love with him when I was seven. I scraped my knee, and he helped carry me inside.

Our love story was the talk of the town until a woman told everyone she was pregnant with his baby. The only rational solution was to high tail it out of town and never come back.

My best friend needed a place to hide, and you can’t get much more covert than my family farm, so I came back. For her. It was supposed to be temporary, and I wasn’t supposed to see him, but that’s what happens when you live in a small town where everyone knows each other.

Jacob

Being the sheriff in a small town was never my dream. My father died and my older brother took off, so I had to be the one to look after my mother. I stayed. I fulfilled my duties as a son and I protected my hometown.

My life wasn’t perfect, but I was content. Until I locked eyes with a ghost from my past, Kallie. I thought it was my imagination, it couldn’t be. I loved her most of my life, but now I hated her.

The town gossip mill was going into overdrive. I kept my head down and my mind off of the woman who shattered my heart when she ran away. She didn’t give me a chance to explain, it didn’t matter to her then. I didn’t matter.

A second chance is never promised, but now that mine is right under my nose, I’m not sure I can take it.

ADD TO GOODREADS

REVIEW: 2 STARS
"Do you love me?"
"My heart doesn't beat without you."

I....I....I just can't. Basically, Natasha’s books - after DNF'ing the last book I read, and then trying this one, I've come to one conclusion: I just don’t like them. They’re not for me. So here goes a rough review. This was originally a DNF, but I was able to talk myself into trying to finish so I could carry on with the series. I'm not so sure that worked out in my favor because now I want the third book but there is no way I'm going to read it now, because not only did this one not work for me, but the second one didn't either. I *wish* the amount of eye rolls didn't outnumber the amount of sighable moments that I was hoping to get with this book. Gosh, it was completely frustrating to have a book/series that was promised to be full of angst and amazing moments to fall incredibly short. Common sense and logic lacked immensely, while style and fashion come into play during this entire book in the most ridiculous of moments. The characters were literally being dressed right in front of you throughout the entire book, and there was absolutely no reason to do that. And apparently, all these characters wear are white jeans or shorts, and off the shoulder shirts. On a farm. In Louboutins.

UGH!!! I am so frustrated because what was promised and what was delivered are two vastly different things. There was not ONE OUNCE of angst in this book. Not one. I was counting on that to get me through this series. Not only was the entire premise of the book a complete slap in the face to Kallie, but Jacob's allegiance was given to the WRONG PERSON. It was so angering to the point of yes, he claimed to love her, but clearly he didn't respect her enough to speak up and speak out. And Savannah - she needs to be smacked. I don't care about the circumstances behind her circumstances, you don't mess with your best friend and lie to your other best friend. So they are ALL stupid. Writing this review riled me up all over again - I apologize. But ridiculous decisions only add drama - and of course, how else will the story progress without ridiculous drama for drama's sake? I am not here for placed and staged drama.

One big lie that preempts another big lie. The problem is, the value of that one lie supersedes the value of the other. It’s stupid and it pissed me off for 2/3 of the book! *breathing*

It’s apparent why she’s such a win for so many readers because she does have a great flow and she’s a super easy read. I've enjoyed her before and was hoping to add to it with this series. The reasons why I struggle are many, but this one was so very repetitive and it’s very structured and systematic. I like the variables of a mystery but I also like the guaranteed security in a romance. I won't lie about any of that, but when you are repeating the last two pages of one chapter and recapping it in another POV in the beginning of the next chapter, you are wasting my time and making the story suffer for the word stuffing that is happening. It was so so soooo very frustrating.

And the mom? All she does is cook. It's like she has no other worth other than to cook throughout two books. Don't get me wrong, I know the south is centered around food and comfort and family; I get it. I've lived there, I have seen it. She had food for every single reason - but she played no other valid part of this story, and that carried on into the second book as well. Add to it: Kallie and Olivia, all they ever talk about is not having carbs and sugar and they haven't had it is in so long. Blah blah blah. It was a very weird dynamic mixed into this storyline. It just felt so out of place to me.

Everything was as it appeared: surface-scratching level depth without any real laid background. Light and easy, delightfully cheesy. Predictable, too. None of which I like. Add to it, the ridiculous fashion parade that waltzed through this book (and into the next) just left me with a questionable opinion on the girls in general - as in, shallow. And repetitive. I know I mentioned that already....but you get my point now.

Madison can write so well but she puts so much ridiculous and immature drivel in her books that is completely unnecessary!! I was yelling at my husband about it while I was reading. Why any man would do that to the love of his life is beyond me. Madison resorts to unnecessary drama to drive the story forward yet all it did was stall my love for it. Unfortunately, I now know I am done with this series. Between this book and the second one I read (one after the other), I knew I needed to walk away and just count my losses. I am bummed because they all had promise and that third book looks amazing, but I don't want to walk away from yet another book frazzled and disappointed.

"She was a girl when she left, but there is no mistaking that Kallie Barnes is all woman now."

~BEE

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~MEET NATASHA MADISON~

When her nose isn't buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she's in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips.

It's a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn't listen to her...

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