Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck by Molly Harper

Molly Harper brings her signature "clever humor, snark, silliness, and endearing protagonists" (Booklist) to the charming small town of Lake Sackett, Georgia with the new Southern Eclectic series.

 

Carl and Marianne were high school sweethearts, loving the way only teenagers can - with no thought to logic or pride, just a bone-headed, optimistic frenzy of unicorns and hormones. That was all they needed. Or so Carl thought.

Scared of being stuck in Lake Sackett, Georgia, like so many of her friends - without a real shot at a future or achieving her own dreams - Marianne panicked and bolted to college after stomping Carl's heart into the high grass. But when she returns to Lake Sackett for the summer with her family after years away, she and Carl are drawn together like moths to a flame. As they rekindle their old romance and remember what it was like to be in love, they have to wonder: is this, finally, their real chance at happiness?  

Series: Southern Eclectic, Book 2 | Publisher: Audible Studios | Narrator: Amanda Ronconi | Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source:  Publisher | Ratings: 2.5 Cups

Challenges Read For:  Literary Pickers: Fresh Catch

 

Normally, I’m head over heels for a Molly Harper read but this one, I don’t know, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It wasn’t bad, it still had all of the trademark sass and snarky comebacks that I love but I struggled hard to like the heroine.

 

When Marianne left for college—or rather found a reason to flee her hometown because she felt like she was too good for it—she dumped Carl, her high school boyfriend, because she didn’t feel like he was the type you dated in college—which really reads ‘she was embarrassed by him’ and she was afraid he was going to ask her to marry him then she would be trapped in her hometown. Rather than talking to Carl about it, she believed the gossip queen and breaks his heart in a million pieces. Now that she’s back in town, she’s basically expecting Carl to grovel at her feet then gets snotty when he doesn’t. And unfortunately, for some reason, he decides to take her back. He could do so much better.

 

I couldn’t get behind any of Marianne’s actions, especially when she came back to town. She’s selfish, jealous, and annoying. She was the one who left yet she expected Carl to keep acting like she was center of his universe.

 

I liked Carl. He had a hard go of it growing up but he turned his life around and made something of himself. He could have done so much better than Marianne and I found myself wishing that he would have told her to take a hike.

 

Overall, this one just wasn’t for me thanks to the heroine. I really liked Carl and I would have loved to see him with someone else. What I did like was seeing the McCready family and getting to know Frankie a bit better.

Southern Eclectic

.5— Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck

1—Sweet Tea and Sympathy

1.5—Peachy Flippin' Keen

2—Ain’t She a Peach