Carolina Breeze. Finished 11-10-20, 3.5/5 stars, romance, 320 pages, pub. 2020

Rising Hollywood star Mia Emerson is looking for a safe place to land in the wake of a public breakup and scandal, and she finds it in the lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina—the location of her canceled honeymoon. She wants nothing more than to hide and wait for the tabloids to die down.

Soon after her arrival at the Bluebell Inn, Mia meets Levi Bennett, who runs the inn along with his two younger sisters. Drawn to one another from the start, Mia trusts Levi to keep her location from the press, and Levi confides in Mia about the financial state of the inn—a secret he’s been keeping from his sisters.

When Mia and Levi discover an old journal that hints at a rare diamond necklace hidden in the inn, they set off on a treasure hunt to find the long-lost heirloom. What they don’t expect to surface are feelings they thought were safely locked away. Mia and Levi must decide if falling in love again is too big a risk—or if it will uncover a treasure of its own instead. from Goodreads

This is a Hallmark movie time of year and this book will fit right in with those plans. It’s all the things you find in the Christmas movies without the Christmas. Mia escapes from the big, bad city (Los Angeles) to hid away in a sweet small town, Carolina inn. The inn is owned and run by three siblings (each having their own book in this trilogy) and Mia falls for the brother. Since she’s beautiful, famous, rich, and sweet, he can’t help but fall for her too.

I liked this one and it was exactly what I needed around stressful election time. There’s a bit of a mystery and some real relationship and personal growth issues to deal with, but in the end you knew everything was going to be okay. Which is what we all need to feel this year especially.

I didn’t read the first or last of the trilogy, but didn’t feel like I was missing much. This works as a standalone. It also serves as a cautionary tale if you are even considering taking over an inn.