Review: Southern Sunrise by Natasha Madison (Southern #4)


Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Wildfire Marketing Solutions.

Waiting for this book to land in my hands was almost torturous given the cliffhanger that readers were left with in the third Southern book, Southern Storm, and Natasha Madison has repaid that patience (okay, the wait wasn't overly long, but waiting a day feels long for someone like me, so...) with a beautiful story about second chances, forgiveness, and the true meaning of family and home. I'm talking tears, though for the record, I'm somewhat of a crybaby, so while there were certainly some heartrending moments that led me to shedding tears, not everyone's as sappy as me.

Southern Sunrise is the fourth novel in the series, and it's the story of Ethan McInytre, son of Jacob McIntyre (Southern Chance, book one in the Southern series) and Savannah Harrison (Southern Storm, book three in the Southern series). Now, if you've yet to read the previous books in the series, I'm going to go ahead and warn you that I'm pretty sure I'm going to mention things in this review that will spoil, at the very least, the first and third books. We good? Okay, moving on... At twenty-one, Ethan has lived a good life. He had parents who loved him, step-parents who treated him like he was their own, siblings who looked up to him, a great college experience, and a nineteen-year-old girl he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And then he learned a secret that was kept from him by those he trusted most, leading him to leave the only family and home he's ever known, including Emily. It takes five years for him to return, but almost everything has changed--including himself, his family, and his girl--the same girl he now learns is happily engaged to his best friend.

Let me mention the three things I loved most about this book: Emily (whose last name I can't recall being mentioned, but if it was, feel free to let me know in the comments!), Jacob (quick reminder: Ethan's dad), and Chelsea (Ethan's sister and close friend to Emily). Emily was someone who had such a strong sense of self and she came so far in her journey of moving forward with her life post-Ethan. Thank goodness she didn't make it easy for him, even if she still loved him as she ever did. I confess that when it came to Jacob, I was back and forth with him since the first book (although I much preferred him over Savannah), but goodness, how my heart broke for him in this book. And Chelsea? Well, the girl stole many a scene, and I know there's a fifth book in the offing, so fingers crossed it's about her and the other person I think she's going to be paired up with. Southern Sunrise was a great story that had my heart feeling happy and hopeful and is my second favorite in the series. 4.5 stars.

------------------------

Read my reviews for the Southern series:


Southern Chance (book one) - four stars - My Review

Southern Comfort (book two) - 4.5 stars - My Review

Southern Storm (book three) - four stars - My Review

Southern Sunrise (book four) - 4.5 stars - My Review (posted above)

------------------------

Release Date: 07 July 2020

Date Read: 05 July 2020

Learn more about Natasha Madison.

Purchase Southern Sunrise on Amazon | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Release Blitz: Saved by Hazel James

Book Spotlight: Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane

Review: The Wrong Kind of Angel by Ruby Moone