A Lowcountry Wedding

This is book 4 in Mary Alice Monroe's Low Country Summer series. The series needs to be read in order because there are lots of references to the previous books.Once again we are back on Sullivan's Island SC with the Muir family at Sea Breeze while Harper and Carson plan their weddings. Their planning is helped by Dora, their grandmother and Harper's grandmother from England. If planning two weddings a day apart - one on the beach and one at a plantation - isn't stressful enough, there is a surprise visitor who joins the family and really changes the family dynamics. And of course, there is the beautiful South Carolina low country, the ocean and Delphane, the dolphin from the earlier books. The characters are well done and very real and the scenery makes you feel like you are ready to dip your toes into the ocean.I love Mary Alice Monroe's book and I really love this series. I'm sad that this is the end of the series and that we won't go back and spend more time with these characters that we've grown to know so well. This is a great series and I highly recommend it!(Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this book for a fair and unbiased review.)

Fabulous continuation of one of my favorite series, thanks Mary Alice Monroe for making summer in the SC Lowcountry part of my reading world. We recently visited there and sampled the moonshine cocktails of the famous Firefly and can't wait to make some this summer in New England!

I love Mary Alice Monroe's books. I've had the good fortune of meeting her, and she is as charming in person as her books are. This book was a sweet simple read. True romance - filled with a bit of angst and sadness, but ultimately ending without surprise or terrible tragedy. It's a pure delight to read, and just the welcome break I needed after some intense reading over the past months.

This book is the culmination of the Summer Girls series. The characters were much the same - confident, wealthy Harper; Carson, with her tough-girl-hiding-hurt exterior; Dora with her need-to-please, more timid mannerisms. Delphine the dolphin makes a heart-warming appearance, too. All the girls are facing upcoming marriages or marriage proposals, and tensions run high as the girls plan the upcoming events, facing life-altering decisions along the way.

A simple, easy to read story, full of romance and promise. There is a welcome sweetness to Mary Alice Monroe's writing that is a breath of fresh air in our increasingly tense world.

Mary Alice Monroe, author extraordinaire, once again captures the hearts and souls of her devout readers and avid followers in the highly anticipated fourth installment of the Lowcountry Series.In "A Lowcountry Wedding", Mamaw and her much beloved granddaughter's Dora, Carson and Harper continue to embrace and support one another with the very emotional and complicated truths of life. As their wedding day draws near they must all reconcile and hopefully embrace the new paths that can lead them to love, happiness and a life they can only hope for, a love to last forever!Monroe's captivating journey's of love, hope, forgiveness, loss and - ultimately - acceptance of the Sullivan's Island family dynamics shows just how much we can all endure if we have the support and guidance along each person's journey in life. But most of all Monroe gives us a lasting image with her words that capture our hearts with hope of new beginnings.Monroe builds on "The Summer's End" and embraces the new paths the family must reconcile and ultimately acceptance of themselves and each other.Sit back and let Monroe take you on a very pleasurable, heart-felt journey that is so beautifully written that you'll imagine yourself a part of the Sullivan's Island family.I received an advance reader copy through NetGalley of this book in return for my honest review.

It is wedding season in Charleston and the Lowcountry. And boy, is it a treat. A wonderful beach or a fascinating old plantation....decisions, decisions, decisions. These three half sisters, Carson, Harper and Dora, meld so well together and infuse the story with such charm and grace. The complexities of each character and their relationships seem to compliment and bring diversity to this novel. I was enraptured with where this story was going and where it ended. I so hope there is another novel in this series. This was like visiting with old friends.I do not want to give away a spoiler. Let's just say, Carson and Harper are coveting each other's wedding. This brings on some classic turmoil and squabbles, like you can only see in a family. But, it also brings the sisters closer to each other and strengthens their family bond. I fell in love with this series in the first book, The Summer Girls. I love the setting of the Lowcountry. I feel like I am there, experiencing the wildlife, the smells and the view. To say Mary Alice Monroe does a fantastic job is an understatement. I can relate to each sister and I so want to go visit the Lowcountry. I just want to crawl inside this series and live!I received this novel as part of Simon and Schusters XOXPERTS.

A Lowcountry Wedding by Mary Alice Monroe is a 2016 Gallery Books Publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher as an XOXpert, the official street team of XOXO After Dark. (Digital copy provided by Edelweiss) I have been eagerly anticipating this return to Sea Breeze, and reconnecting with the Muir’s. Finally, Harper and Carson are getting married!! Or are they?? If Carson can make something complicated you bet your bottom dollar, she will, and she tries Blake’s patience, and mine, as it seems she still has some things to work through before she can totally commit to marriage. Sounds like classic Carson, right? Harper allows Granny James to interfere which causes trouble with Taylor, and Dora continues to put Devlin off about their future. Meanwhile, MawMaw has been bitten by the romance bug herself, and Granny James feels like she has no place to land, since MawMaw moved out to the cottage, a place she always thought would be hers, eventually.With the ladies making wedding plans, and struggling with doubts, and upheavals, a surprise visit from a minister, which could set off a scandal of epic proportions, instead becomes a soothing balm for the girls by becoming a voice of reason by offering sane opinions and advice. Emily Post was the supreme authority on etiquette and MawMaw still holds onto those protocols, and old fashioned southern traditions that she attempts to pass along to her granddaughters as they prepare to enter that all important institution of marriage. The most interesting advice given to brides to be, adds a charming factor to the story as old values blend with new ones. Sometimes they clash, but in the end, the ladies once more learn to give and take, to work together, to do what families do, and the results are amazing. This last book in the series packs the same emotional punch as in the previous installments, but there were some genuine moments of mirth, a few ironical situations, and as all the pieces began to fit together, once and for all, I felt like popping the cork on a bottle of champagne and celebrating with the Muir’s. As the finale arrives, a real sense of peace settled over me, but not without a few bittersweet and poignant moments, as remembrances, memories, and some permanent, but necessary goodbyes must take place. This series has turned out to be one of my favorites of all time. I have enjoyed this journey with Carson, Harper, and Dora. I’ve shared their fears, doubts, frustrations, and struggles. I’ve watched them all fall in love, grow up, spread their wings, and land back where they all belonged from the start. I’ve been angry, frustrated, laughed and cried with all these intimately drawn characters, each with foibles, but all of them filled with inner strength and love. But, the most rewarding part is finally seeing the sisterly bond which had all but disappeared, build over time until these fine women, with the help of one very special lady, found their way back to one another, learned to lean on each other, and support each other, and will no doubt share that bond with future generations. I do recommend reading these books in order, because there is simply too much very important backstory you simply have to know in order to experience the full pleasure of this series. That being said, I can’t recommend this series highly enough!! 5 stars