A Lowcountry Bride

"I absolutely adore this book...love story begins slow—like a delicious lowcountry boil—but heats up to the perfect ending." --Kathleen Y’Barbo, bestselling author of The Black Midnight A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry. Maya Jackson has worked for a renowned New York City bridal gown brand for years and dreams of becoming Head Designer. She has the talent, she just needs a chance to showcase her unique style. Due to an illness, she’s always prioritized her career over her personal life until Maya’s father fractures his hip and she returns to Charleston, SC. While home for only a few months, she’s thrilled to find an opportunity at the local bridal gown boutique, never expecting sparks to fly with its owner... A military veteran and widowed father, Derek Sullivan hopes to save Always a Bride from bankruptcy in order to preserve the legacy of his family. He also wants to reconnect with his estranged, twelve-year-old daughter, who is still recovering from the loss of her mother. The last thing he needs is a relationship with a beautiful, smart, complicated woman who will be leaving soon. When Derek begins to fall for the lovely Maya, he knows there’s no future. But destiny has its own plans, and these two lonely people with big hearts discover that coming home to love is the best gift life can give.

Preslaysa Williams, author of the “emotionally stirring debut” A Lowcountry Bride (Oprah Daily), returns to the Lowcountry with a heartwarming story about a second chance romance. It was supposed to be the happiest day of Jaslene Simmons’ life, the day she’d say “I do” to Marcus Clark. But when her sister dies in a tragic accident everything changes—including her once rosy future with Marcus. Jaslene instead pours all of her energy into caring for her now-motherless niece and running the wedding planning company she and her sister had built, wanting to honor her sister’s dream even if she has to sacrifice her own. As an archivist at Charleston’s Black history museum, Marcus shines a light on the stories of forgotten people. Researching history is better than dealing with his own heartache—and the guilt he has over the role he may have inadvertently played in the death of Jaslene’s sister. Jaslene never thought she’d cross paths with Marcus again, but her need for an affordable office space brings her to the museum which is faced with the threat of closure. As they work together to save it, their buried feelings slowly reignite. They soon realize there is still room in their hearts for love...if only they can overcome their past.

Analyn Richards likes life the way she likes her wedding planning business—orderly and predictable. All doubts aside, getting engaged to the successful man she's been dating for years is the natural next step, right? Yet on her wedding day, uncertainty makes an unscheduled appearance. She finds herself deciding whether to go along with her wedding as planned or whether to make another choice. Will this perfectionist find the courage to take a chance on the unpredictable?

Wedding season has arrived in New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe’s fourth novel in the “distinct, complex, and endearing” (Charleston Magazine) Lowcountry Summer series, set against the romantic, charming Carolina lowcountry. Nothing could be more enchanting than a summer wedding—or two!—in storied Sullivan’s Island. A centuries-old plantation, an avenue of ancient oaks dripping moss, a sand dune at sunset… it’s all picture perfect, and half-sisters Dora, Carson, and Harper, and their grandmother Marietta “Mamaw” Muir couldn’t be more excited. Wedding dresses are picked, venues booked, and delectable cakes tasted. What could possibly go wrong? The answer, the Muir clan is soon to find out, is everything. Carson loves Blake, but struggles with giving up her independence. Harper questions if a prenuptial agreement will help or hurt the future of her marriage, and a newly unfettered Dora is uncertain whether she really wants to walk down the aisle again. Just when it seems things couldn’t get more complicated for the Muir sisters, a stranger arrives bearing a long-held family secret that has the potential to upset even the most carefully laid-out wedding plans. With the weddings mere weeks away, the invitations sent out, and the family in tumult, Mamaw and her Summer Girls discover the enduring and powerful bonds of family, and realize that, no matter how different each bride might be, she can still have her perfect wedding.

The disintegration of slavery in the Lowcountry of South Carolina began with the federal occupation of Beaufort in 1861. After the Battle of Port Royal, slave owners fled their plantations, simultaneously freeing thousands of enslaved people who labored on cotton plantations throughout the Sea Islands of Beaufort County, South Carolina. Despite slavery destroying the knowledge of family histories in many African American families, Darius Brown illustrates the journey of his ancestors from the colonial period, American Civil War, and thereafter. In this book, the lives of his ancestors are illuminated with the use of archival records that shed light on their arrival from Africa, experiences during slavery, and their lives as freedmen. At the Feet of the Elders is an astonishing account that shows the resilience and perseverance of a people who were held tightly in the grip of chattel slavery. It honors the tradition of preserving oral histories, genetic genealogy, and serves as a template on how to reconstruct the lives of enslaved people.

From the beloved author of The Thing About Home comes a dual timeline tale of family, grief, secrets, and the sweet redemption that lies within the bonds of sisterhood. -The Present- When summoned to Georgetown, South Carolina, sisters Mariah Clark and Sabrina Holland both assume their ailing grandfather's health has gotten worse. Neither expects their grandmother's undeniable request--save the family restaurant. Mariah is at a crossroad in her life. After being dumped by her husband and forced to walk away from their diner that she helped rescue from bankruptcy, bitter feelings consume her. Even though the restaurant has been in the family for eighty-six years, giving her all to another struggling business isn't something she wants to do. Living out of her van and striving for a fresh start, Sabrina yearns for stability for herself and her daughter and a chance to turn her baking hustle into a bona-fide business. The family restaurant may be just the blessing she needs--but as old tensions and angry disagreements resurface, Sabrina wonders if her sister will let her have a say. -The Past- After falling victim to a love she thought would last a lifetime, Tabitha Cooper finds herself away from home and struggling to survive in Charleston in the early twentieth century. She is determined to turn corn into cornbread and to take care of her children the best way she knows how--by serving food that's good for the soul--and along the way forges a path that leaves a legacy of success for generations to come. Through letters that reveal Tabitha's complicated past, the sisters discover truths that just might be the right recipe to mend their hearts--if they can find a way to savor the blessing of today and leave the bitter aftertaste of old memories behind them.

When African slaves were brought to the American South to work the plantations, they brought with them their culture, traditions, and religion—including what came to be called voodoo. This unique blend of Christianity, herbalism, and folk magic is still practiced in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Though a beginners guide, Lowcountry Voodoo offers a surprising wealth of information about this fascinating part of Lowcountry life. Learn about: the Gullah and their ways how to bring good luck and avoid bad luck spells and curses and how to avoid them how to cook up traditional good-luck meals for New Years Day a real voodoo village you can visit sweetgrass baskets events and tours to acquaint you with Lowcountry culture. In a selection of Lowcountry tales that feature voodoo, meet: a boo hag bride who sheds her skin at night Dr. Buzzard, the most famous root doctor a giant ghost dog a young man whose love potion worked too well George Powell, who outwitted a haint Crook-Neck Dick, who (mostly) outwitted a hangman Doctor Trott, who captured a mermaid.

A wounded warrior and his younger brother discover the true meaning of Christmas in this timeless story of family bonds--a poignant continuation of Monroe's beloved Lowcountry Summer series, winner of the Southern Book Prize. HC: Gallery Books.