The Banty House by Carolyn Brown

☆☆☆1/2
ebook, 268 pages
Expected publication: May 26th 2020 by Montlake Romance
About the Book:
In the fading town of Rooster, Texas, all that’s really left is a service station, a church…and the Banty House, a long-ago Depression-era brothel. For more than seventy-five years, Betsy, Connie, and Kate Carson have called their mama’s house a home. The three eccentric sisters get by just fine with their homemade jams and jellies, a little moonshine on the side, and big hearts always open to strangers. Like Ginger Andrews. An abandoned teen with a baby on the way and nowhere to go, she’s given a room to call her own for as long as she wants. The kind invitation is made all the sweeter when Ginger meets the sisters’ young handyman, Sloan Baker. But with a past as broken as Ginger’s, he’s vowed never to get close to anyone again. As a season of change unfolds, Ginger and Sloan might discover a warm haven to heal in the Banty House, a place to finally belong, where hope and dreams never fade.

The past is gone. The future is iffy. That means the present is all we’ve got, so we’ll dwell on that.
I love Southern writing. I don't really know why but the humour gets to me every time. I have really enjoyed every book I have read by Carolyn Brown and would recommend her to anyone. This book was interesting and will enable you to keep reading, and never want to put it down. One theme is that when you fall in love with someone, and they love you back, stay true to your heart and let them know how you feel. The book had me laughing and crying. It is both heartfelt and heartbreaking, it is warm, interesting and kind.

She’d never felt as if she’d had roots no matter where she’d been sent, but in less than a week, she could almost feel a few growing around her heart.
The book was a joy to read and it took me on a journey. I learned of a different part of America in this book, not just the landscape, but the people and their motives. To move from the innocence of youth into frightening and sometime disheartening adulthood in one giant leap made me realize so much I have to be thankful for.

You shouldn’t compare people. Everyone has weaknesses and strengths.
And so did this book. I took half a star off because of the religion in the book...just not for me. And two thirds of the way in the believability factor goes off the rails. There is a BIG coincidence at the hospital...it had me shaking my head and laughing. BUT...although the subject matter of the book is very serious, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty...the style of writing, is rather light. The characters are well developed, so it is a serious book with a lighthearted slant to the tone. In some books you tend to fall in love with the characters and this was a great example of that type of novel. Carolyn Brown did a great job on this book and I look forward to future endeavors from her.

Thank you NetGalley, Montlake Romance and Carolyn Brown for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#TheBantyHouse #NetGalley