Reviewed by AubreyBook provided by NetGalley for reviewReview originally posted at Romancing the BookI feel like a broken record by saying I love small town stories and especially ones in a series. Midnight Promises is the 8th novel in Sherryl Woods’ Sweet Magnolias series set in Serenity, South Carolina. I was not disappointed in the latest edition to the series, I could not put it down and read it in two sittings.Karen, the main heroine is newly married to Elliott. Karen was divorced before and her ex-husband left her with a huge debt to pay off which has Karen scared to spend money or take risks with money. Elliott knows this but feels opening a gym with all the husbands of the Sweet Magnolias will be what they need to be financially stable.Midnight Promises was so interesting in that we return to the love story of Elliott and Karen. They were secondary characters in Feels like Home (Sweet Magnolias #3) where they met and fell in love. Elliott had a hard time breaking though and penetrating the wall that Karen put up around her in regards to love and relationships. Now that they are married in Midnight Promises you see both Karen and Elliott have a lot of learning and growing in regards to their marriage. Most of the book involved them talking and learning how to compromise so that they have a stronger marriage.Karen and Elliott may have been the main characters but you also get to learn how the other Sweet Magnolias are doing. Woods’ novels always have strong relationships between characters. It is also great to see such great inter-generational relationships. Karen has a strong mother-daughter relationship with Frances even though Frances is not her biological mother. Karen also forges a relationship with her sister-in-law when there wasn’t one before.Even though the novel was mainly character driven it also had a lot of romantic elements that were very sweet. Elliott is the quintessential romantic in that he wishes for Karen to be happy and fall in love with him over and over again.I would recommend this novel to anyone that likes to read small town stories. After reading #8 I really want to go back and read the rest of the books in the series. I love all of the Sweet Magnolias and I’m super jealous of the relationships they have with each other. This was a very easy-read with great intricate characters. The writing was light and easy to follow but still had valuable characters that hit on different emotions throughout the read. I have always loved the Sweet Magnolia's and this book was no exception, however, sometimes I wanted to scream at Karen (one of the main characters) well more often than not, because I felt that she was always jumping to conclusions and just flat out being whiny and unfair to her poor husband who was only try to help! I did not find Karen to be a very likable character!The story was one that just about every married couple can identify with, I just had a hard time continuing, time after time, to be empathetic with Karen and her jumping to conclusions and comparing situations that were in no way similar! I found myself staying aggravated throughout most of the story, HOWEVER, it WILL NOT stop me from reading the next story and getting excited to meet the next Sweet Magnolia couple!
What do You think about Midnight Promises (2012)?
Amazing story...How do you get past a past that wasnt so good.
—LeeshaLikesReading
