A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams | Book Review

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"I absolutely adore this book...love story begins slow—like a delicious lowcountry boil—but heats up to the perfect ending." --Kathleen Y’Barbo, bestselling author of The Black Midnight

A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry.

Maya Jackson has worked for a renowned New York City bridal gown brand for years and dreams of becoming Head Designer. She has the talent, she just needs a chance to showcase her unique style. Due to an illness, she’s always prioritized her career over her personal life until Maya’s father fractures his hip and she returns to Charleston, SC. While home for only a few months, she’s thrilled to find an opportunity at the local bridal gown boutique, never expecting sparks to fly with its owner...

A military veteran and widowed father, Derek Sullivan hopes to save Always a Bride from bankruptcy in order to preserve the legacy of his family. He also wants to reconnect with his estranged, twelve-year-old daughter, who is still recovering from the loss of her mother. The last thing he needs is a relationship with a beautiful, smart, complicated woman who will be leaving soon.

When Derek begins to fall for the lovely Maya, he knows there’s no future. But destiny has its own plans, and these two lonely people with big hearts discover that coming home to love is the best gift life can give.

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams has a STUNNING book cover. I personally love cartoon covers and this one is so pretty — particularly with the unique wedding dress which does factor into the story. So, based upon the cover, I was really enthused about picking this book up. As it turns out, this wasn’t QUITE the book for me. However, I absolutely do think there is an audience for this and want to recognize that I came into this book with a white gaze so may have not picked up on some things.

Maya is a junior wedding dress designer working for the IT brand — Laura Witcomb. However, Maya’s design ideas keep getting shot down by Laura — who has a more conservative brand image than Maya’s vision. As the book opens, Maya receives a phone call from her Pops that he has fallen and broken his hip. She immediately flies home to help take care of her dad. While there, she intends to sell a few dresses of her own design on consignment. Maya comes across a Black owned bridal shop called Always A Bride. There she finds a job to help her pay the bills while in Charleston.

The owner of Always A Bride is Derek – a single father struggling to keep the store afloat. Derek inherited the store from his mother who had died and also, his wife Grace died three years ago. When Maya starts working at the store and featuring her dresses, it is as though the store is revitalized. Maya, however, will have more trouble winning over Derek’s twelve year old daughter, Jamila. As the book goes on, we learn about Maya’s Sickle Cell Anemia diagnosis as well as some pretty big decisions she must make.

I guess the great part of A Lowcountry Bride was that this book delves into Maya’s heritage as she is the daughter of a Filipino woman and a Black man. Maya has learned different design techniques from her mother — but also takes inspiration in her father’s heritage. I absolutely loved this piece and found the aspect of design and launching a label as very interesting. Where the book lost me is that I just didn’t feel the overarching love story between Maya and Derek. There’s no real spice or chemistry.

If your taste runs toward zero heat romance, you will love this book. I am just glad that this book is put out by a major publisher. Personally, I do not have to be the biggest fan of a book or even really LOVE it to support it.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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