REVIEW: This is Ashley Farley at her finest! Her new book Scent of Magnolia is a wonderful book of family. It shows us loving and dysfunctional. We get a look at what a family should and should not be. I fell in love with her books when I read some of her standalone novels. Her series are good so don’t get me wrong but, I love when she spreads her wings and gives us the full blown saga. This book hits every emotional nerve we have.

This was actually the first book Ashley ever wrote. She says in a nutshell that it was a mess and she put it aside and wrote something else. Years later these characters came knocking at her door and insisted she tell their story. I’m so glad they did.

She actually lost her files and had to start over causing her to dig deeper and put in some plot changes. Let me tell you the time was right! She has written a book that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. I like this book as a full novel on its own but, I am secretly longing for a second book to give us a look into the lives of all these characters as they settle into their future and what it will look like for them. 

This is one of those books when you close the cover you exhale a sigh of satisfaction. I was happy to lose myself in Scent of Magnolia by Ashley Farley. She has a way of building a story that always sucks in my whole being until it releases me at the end. I highly suggest putting this on your list of books to be read. Until next time…Happy Reading!

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ashley Farley. Thank you! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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SYNOPSIS: “A riveting new family drama by the queen of southern fiction.”

⭐️USA Today Bestseller ⭐️

Scout Montgomery has turned her search for her missing brother into a career. She finds her professional life as a homicide detective meaningful, but her personal life is nonexistent. She’s stuck in the past. In order to move on, she must find closure. When she returns home to Alabama for the death of a childhood friend, she uses her acquired investigative skills to discover new clues concerning her brother’s disappearance.

Beneath Kate Baldwin’s public persona as fashion designer lies a young woman carrying a heavy burden of guilt. Her relationship issues and inability to find happiness stem from the secret she’s been keeping for nearly two decades. She yearns to reveal the truth–an unexpected trip home to her childhood home in Alabama provides the opportunity—but doing so will destroy the lives of the people she cares about the most.

June Montgomery is married to a prominent politician, lives in a magazine-worthy home, and leads an active social life. But she lives in constant fear the past will come back to haunt her. She approaches Scout’s homecoming with trepidation. Her daughter has the power to unravel the seams of her intricately crafted lies.

When family and friends reunite, old hostilities resurface and the discovery of new evidence regarding Ford’s disappearance endangers lives.