Sing Me Home to Carolina
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 2
- 5 min read
By: Joy Callaway
Narrator: Alexandra Ryan
Spotify Audiobooks
ISBN: 9798892421119
Publisher: Alcove Press
Publication Date: 06/10/2025
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
A small town girl turned big city businesswoman returns home to help her parents, only to find her heart being tugged between her old flame and the town’s mysterious new guy.
This witty and effervescent novel is perfect for readers of Viola Shipman and fans of Sweet Magnolias and Hart of Dixie.
Event planner Hattie Norwood only came back home to Mountain View, South Carolina to support her parents as they receive word that the family peanut farm is infertile. This news doesn’t come as a surprise to Hattie, and she plans to return to Charlotte at the weekend’s end.
But then the town councilwoman begs Hattie to use her event planning prowess to help Mountain View put on a musical benefit to stop the construction of the new Carolina Panthers stadium—a project Hattie is actually in favor of, much to the dismay of the locals—and she finds herself agreeing to stay until the town’s Founder’s Day celebration a week later, just as her old flame, former MLB standout Lee Lockhardt, materializes in town after a career-ending injury.
When the hunky and mysterious new owner of Fox’s Hardware, Fox Ryan, suggests the Founder’s Day celebration be moved to the Norwoods’ barn in an attempt to reinvent the failing farm as a music and event venue, Hattie agrees, unaware this move will thrust the town, her love life, and the brewing tension over the stadium into a very public spotlight.
Fans of small-town romance and quirky casts of characters will be rooting for Team Lee or Team Fox as Hattie decides if love, like most music, is meant to fade or last forever.
My Review
"Southern Small-Town Charm with Hallmark Movie Vibes! Fans of Virgin River, Schitt's Creek, and Chesapeake Shores will delight."
Joy Callaway, (favorite author), known for her captivating historical fiction, introduces SING ME HOME TO CAROLINA —the author's smashing foray into the romcom, family, Southern, feel-good small-town fiction genre with a cast of cozy characters that draw you in, characters you'll feel like you've known your entire life.
About...
Hattie Norwood is a small-town gal from Mountain View, SC, who is now a businesswoman and event planner in the larger Southern city of Charlotte and returns home to help her parents with their struggling family business.
However, she finds there are challenges with a new Carolina Panthers stadium up for bid in Mountain View as a possible location site, and the town urges her to utilize her skills as an event planner to help host a musical benefit to stop the construction (even though she thinks it could benefit the town).
So she agrees to the extended stay until the town's upcoming Founder's Day celebration a week later. She must come up with a plan.
To complicate things even further, she runs into her former boyfriend, MLB Lee Lockhardt,(baseball player) after he moved back due to his injury that ended his career.
While working on the event, she meets the hot new, mysterious owner of Fox's Hardware, Fox Ryan, who suggests they move the celebration to the Norwoods' barn to also help with her parents' failing business as a music and event venue.
Two guys, her parents' business, her real job, a fight for a new project possibly coming to town, and an upcoming important event to plan. Will the event save the town, her family's business, and perhaps a chance at love?
My thoughts...
Being that I am from the Carolinas and a massive fan of the author, I was delighted to read her latest, SING ME HOME TO CAROLINA!
With a perfect mix of small-town romance, second chances, wit, history, charm, quirky, compelling characters, a love triangle, family bonds, a quaint Southern town, music, and love, this one has it all for a heartwarming and uplifting summer beach read. Ideal for book clubs.
If you are from the South, you will appreciate the church cookbooks and the beauty parlor gossip, among all the other charms, where everyone knows everyone's business with Joy's creative Southern storytelling.
The red barn reminded me of past events at the Tanglewood Park Red Barn, Clemmons, NC, and WinMock at Kinderton, Bermuda Run, NC.
Heartwarming, nostalgic, and big-hearted, with an adorable storyline where a town comes together, fostering a sense of community. I enjoyed the inspiration behind the book! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
Recs...
SING ME HOME TO CAROLINA is for fans of the author and small town romances and those who enjoy works by Viola Shipman, Robyn Carr, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Katherine Center, and Sherryl Woods.
Special thanks to Alcove Press for a gifted advanced reading copy via NetGalley for my honest thoughts.
Also, check out my #AuthorElevatorSeries QA with Joy and The Star of Camp Greene (where she talks about Sing Me Home to Carolina) as well.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 10, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars
Praise
“A perfect summer beach read.”
—Red Carpet Crash
“Readers will feel the heat and dust as Callaway describes Mountain View and its colorful residents with precision . . . Fans of Patti Callahan Henry and Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series will relish their time in Mountain View.”
—Booklist
“Sing Me Home to Carolina by Joy Callaway is everything I love in a great read. Filled with Southern small-town details, compellingly complex characters, a touch of heartache, and a wonderful romantic dilemma, it’s a must for your To-Be-Read list!”
—Sherryl Woods, #1 New York Times Best-selling Author of the Sweet Magnolias series
“Joy Callaway’s Sing Me Home to Carolina is a swaying slow dance, in book form, to a song you know by heart—one that you’ll keep humming long after you turn the last page.”
—Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint
“Sing Me Home to Carolina is a small town romance with big heart, themes, and characters. A timely reminder that the places and people who raised us are still there when we need them most.”
—Viola Shipman, USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of The Page Turner
“Thick with atmosphere and deeply romantic, Callaway brings it all home in this heartfelt, swoony, small town romance.”
—Annabel Monaghan, bestselling author of Summer Romance and Nora Goes off Script
“Sing Me Home to Carolina is a captivating blend of self-discovery, romance, and small-town magic. Brimming with Southern charm, this story will sweep you off your feet and remind you that sometimes the journey to yourself—and to love—leads you right back home where you belong.”
—Ali Brady, USA Today bestselling author of Until Next Summer
“Sweet and soul-stirring, Sing Me Home to Carolina shines a gloriously rosy glow on the very best parts of falling in love in a small southern town. The hilariously nosy neighbors, slow-as-molasses pace, and swoony setting will have you cheering through the twists and turns of this pitch-perfect second chance(s) love story.”
—Erin Hahn, author of Catch and Keep and Built to Last
About the Author
Joy Callaway is an international bestselling author of historical fiction and southern contemporary romance. She formerly served as a marketing director for a wealth management company. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations from Marshall University and an M.M.C. in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, John, and her children.
Meet Joy at one of her upcoming events or through a local Book Club!
