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The battle is on their doorstep and in their souls. These old mountains are smart, Lucy. They're alive. They can be gentle like mamas; oh, sure, they'll croon and they'll kiss you and they'll whisper while you sleep, and you'll learn what all the old rocks are saying, all these ancient ghosts, all their starshine wisdom. But these old mountains, sometimes they know you can't hear them any other way but to get smacked up along the head. You watch out, Lucy P, for you got the Charm, like us Netties do. You're a guardian of these mountains, and they're a guardian of you. They will warn you any how they have to. They will slap the near life out of a Charmer. They're doing it to make you and Gus listen. To make you ready. Delta Whittlespoon, the legendary biscuit maker and owner of The Crossroads Café, tried to warn Lucy Parmenter and Gus MacBride. Even their mystical North Carolina mountains can't block the turmoil of the outside world. As fear and ignorance threaten their community and everyone they love, the star-crossed couple must overcome brutal challenges and personal demons to forge an alliance that may be the only hope of Good triumphing over Evil. Deborah Smith is the New York Times and No. 1 Kindle bestselling author of The Crossroads Café series. Library Journal named The Crossroads Café a top five romance novel of the year.
Series
4 primary booksThe Crossroads Café Universe is a 4-book series with 4 released primary works first released in 2006 with contributions by Deborah Smith.
Series
3 primary booksThe MacBrides is a 3-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 2013 with contributions by Deborah Smith.
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WARNING: Cliffhanger ending. Also trigger warning for animal death.
After waiting 3 years for the final book in the MacBride trilogy, there's a cliffhanger ending and Lucy and Gus don't even meet in person! I have to admit that once I realized that sad fact, I couldn't fully engage myself in the story. Deborah Smith has already left me hanging since 2014 with the little snippet of Where the Foxgloves Bloom, supposedly the first story in a planned trilogy sequel to A Place to Call Home and I just can't have my heart broken again like that. So Lucy and Gus will just have to wait until I can read the next installment and the next - however many novellas and years it takes to get to their HEA.
I will say that the book has Smith's trademark offbeat Southern humor, heart-wrenching drama, appearances from Cathy and Delta from The Crossroads Cafe and lots of adorable farm animals. And it's absolutely 100% crystal clear how Smith feels about our current presidential administration and the racist, anti-feminist, anti-LBGTQ, anti-Semitic fervor that has come out of the shadows since January 2017. I was going to say that her villains are a little over the top. And then I remember Charlottesville and I decided nothing is over the top these days, sadly.
So the book, like this review, is open-ended and subject to revision.