Thanks especially to my editor Kim Carlton for her incredible insight and inspiration. You help me take the story deeper, and I’m so grateful! Thanks to editor L. B. Norton, who saves me from countless errors and always makes me look so much better than I really am.
Author Colleen Coble is my first reader and sister of my heart. Thank you, friend! This writing journey has been ever so much more fun because of you!
I’m grateful to my agent, Karen Solem, who’s able to somehow make sense of the legal garble of contracts and, even more amazing, help me understand it.
The town of Bluebell was inspired by the little town of Lake Lure, North Carolina. Don and Kim Cason, innkeepers of the beautiful historic Esmeralda Inn, were so kind to host my husband and me for a few days and answer all my pesky questions. If you’re looking to visit Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, I highly recommend it! Visit https://theesmeralda.com.
Kevin, has it really been thirty-one years? You’ve supported my dreams in every way possible, and I’m so grateful! To all our kiddos: Chad, Trevor, and Justin and Hannah, who have favored us with a beautiful granddaughter. Now I know what all the fuss is about! Every stage of parenthood has been a grand adventure, and I look forward to all the wonderful memories we have yet to make!
Lastly, thank you, friends, for letting me share this story with you. I wouldn’t be doing this without you! Your notes, posts, and reviews keep me going on the days when writing doesn’t flow so easily. I appreciate your support more than you know.
I enjoy connecting with friends on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/authordenisehunter. Please pop over and say hello. Visit my website at the link www.DeniseHunterBooks.com or just drop me a note at deniseahunter@comcast.net. I’d love to hear from you!
About the Author
Photo by Neal Bruns
Denise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than thirty books, three of which have been adapted into original Hallmark Channel movies. She has won the Holt Medallion Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, the Carol Award, and the Foreword Book of the Year Award and is a RITA finalist. When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana, where she and her husband are currently enjoying an empty nest.
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DeniseHunterBooks.com
Facebook: Author Denise Hunter
Twitter: @DeniseAHunter
Praise for Denise Hunter
“Carolina Breeze is filled with surprises, enchantment, and a wonderful depth of romance. Denise Hunter gets better with every novel she writes, and that trend has hit a high point with this wonderful story.”
—Hannah Alexander, author of The Wedding Kiss and the Healing Touch series
“A breeze of brilliance! Denise Hunter’s Carolina Breeze will blow you away with a masterful merge of mystery, chemistry, and memories restored in this lakeside love story of faith, family, and fortune.”
—Julie Lessman, award-winning author of the Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Isle of Hope series
“Somehow Denise Hunter makes each novel better than the last. Each page of this book gently tugged me to the next with characters so real they felt like friends. Add in tension, secrets, and romance, and Caroline Breeze was a book I could not put down.”
—Cara Putman, author of Delayed Justice
“Denise Hunter writes with a deep understanding of complex family dynamics in Summer by the Tides. A perfect blend of romance and women’s fiction.”
—Sherryl Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Denise Hunter once again proves she’s the queen of romantic drama. Summer by the Tides is both a perfect beach romance and a dramatic story of second chances. This novel is Hunter at the top of her game. If you like Robyn Carr, you’ll love Denise Hunter. I couldn’t put it down!”
—Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling author of the Lavender Tides series
“I have never read a romance by Denise Hunter that didn’t sweep me away into a happily ever after. Treat yourself!”
—Robin Lee Hatcher, bestselling author of Who I Am with You for On Magnolia Lane
“Swoony, fun, and meaningful, [Honeysuckle Dreams] should come with a ‘grab your fan’ warning! Hunter’s skill at writing sizzling romance combines with two reader-favorite tropes to deliver a story that is both toe curling and heartwarming.”
—RT Book Reviews, 4 stars
“Denise Hunter’s newest novel, Sweetbriar Cottage, is a story to fall in love with. True-to-life characters, high stakes, and powerful chemistry blend to tell an emotional story of reconciliation.”
—Brenda Novak, New York Times bestselling author
“Sweetbriar Cottage is a wonderful story, full of emotional tension and evocative prose. You’ll feel involved in these characters’ lives and carried along by their story as tension ratchets up to a climactic and satisfying conclusion. Terrific read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
—Francine Rivers, New York Times bestselling author
“Hunter has a wonderful way of sweeping readers into a delightful romance without leaving behind the complications of true love and true life. Sweetbriar Cottage is Hunter at the top of her game—a rich, emotional romance that will leave readers yearning for more.”
—Katherine Reay, award-winning author of The Austen Escape
“With her usual deft touch, snappy dialogue, and knack for romantic tension, inspirational romance veteran Hunter will continue to delight romance fans with this first Summer Harbor release.”
—Publishers Weekly for Falling Like Snowflakes
“Hunter is a master romance storyteller. Falling Like Snowflakes is charming and fun with a twist of mystery and intrigue. A story that’s sure to endure as a classic reader favorite.”
—Rachel Hauck, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress and The Love Letter
“A tender story of faith cast adrift and lives brought together by currents that can only be God-sent. Barefoot Summer is a satisfying tale of hope, healing, and a love that’s meant to be. Sail away with Denise Hunter’s well-drawn characters on a journey that is at once romantic and compelling.”
—Lisa Wingate, national bestselling author of Before We Were Yours
Also by Denise Hunter
Bluebell Inn Novels
Lake Season
Carolina Breeze
Autumn Skies (available October 2020)
Blue Ridge Novels
Blue Ridge Sunrise
Honeysuckle Dreams
On Magnolia Lane
Summer Harbor Novels
The Goodbye Bride
Just a Kiss
The Chapel Springs Romance Series
Barefoot Summer
A December Bride (novella)
Dancing with Fireflies
The Wishing Season
Married ’til Monday
The Big Sky Romance Series
A Cowboy’s Touch
The Accidental Bride
The Trouble with Cowboys
Nantucket Love Stories
Surrender Bay
The Convenient Groom
Seaside Letters
Driftwood Lane
Stand-Alone Novels
Summer by the Tides
Sweetbriar Cottage
Sweetwater Gap
Novellas included in Smitten, Secretly Smitten, and Smitten Book Club
Copyright
Carolina Breeze
© 2020 Denise Hunter
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a register
ed trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Interior design by Mallory Collins
Map by Penmagic Designs
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-0-7852-2278-1 (e-book)
ISBN 978-0-7852-2279-8 (audio download)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hunter, Denise, 1968- author.
Title: Carolina breeze / Denise Hunter.
Description: Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 2020. | Series: A Bluebell Inn romance ; 2 | Summary: "From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom and A December Bride (now beloved Hallmark Original movies) comes the second novel in the Bluebell Inn series!"-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019044463 (print) | LCCN 2019044464 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785222774 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780785222781 (epub) | ISBN 9780785222798
Subjects: GSAFD: Christian fiction. | Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3608.U5925 C37 2020 (print) | LCC PS3608.U5925 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019044463
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019044464
Printed in the United States of America
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