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A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry.
Maya Jackson has worked for Laura Whitcomb, Inc, 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 her father fractures his hip and Maya returns to Charleston, South Carolina. 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 mother. 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.
Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
Preslaysa Williams' debut is about a bridal gown designer, Maya who has high ambitions to become Head Designer at the famous Laura Whitcomb brand she has worked for for years. She's hoping that her eye for detail, her creativity, and her forward-thinking vision will catch the attention and trust of her well-established employer, Laura Whitcomb. No matter how hard she works she seems to always fall just short of what her Laura needs. When Maya finds out her dad is recovering from an injury, she convinces her Laura to let her work remotely and sell her own designs out of one of the bridal gown boutiques they're scouting. The boutique is owned by widower, Derek who's balancing a floundering business and life as a single dad with a daughter who's still mourning the loss of her mother.
I thought the storyline around Maya's career goal was on point. Every interaction with her condescending boss made me cringe. It was very obvious to me that Laura was taking advantage of her skills while also tempering any hope she might have of upward advancement. It was a lot of promises if she continues to work hard and deliver on time yet now is not a good time to promote you blather that a lot of employers do to their employees. I just didn't get why Maya didn't see that, especially because she's so determined to accomplish so much in a short period of time due to her chronic illness - sickle cell anemia. Maya here chooses to downplay her health issues by not speaking about it much and pushing through her pain whenever an episode occurs. There were times where I didn't know if I should admire her for her stubbornness or be frustrated that she'd let work or anyone come before her health.
It's while she's staying with her dad and working at Derek's boutique that Maya starts to open her eyes to a different approach to life. Her reason for working so hard is that she wants to fulfill a promise to her mother. Her mother taught her to sew and incorporate her Filipino heritage into her designs. Her work ethic coupled with her mother's keep her motivated. Though she is career-focused, she also can't help but fall a little bit for Derek. He's a devoted father, a caring employer and just an all around decent human. He's suffered his own loss - his wife was killed in a church shooting - and Maya doesn't want to lead him on to think that there's a long future for them because her illness means she's on borrowed time.
Aside from those three biggest issues, there was more packed into this little story. Derek's daughter is resistant to him dating Maya initially but does have a change of heart eventually. At the beginning, in a conversation with Laura about working from Charleston, the conversation runs in to racist territory when Laura mentions the proximity of an African-American history museum in the vicinity of the bridal boutique is, how it's not good for the are or the business, and the possibility that the museum will be closed. Laura's flippant view of the museum, Charleston's history and the history of that particular business district, and dismissal of their importance - all done to Maya's face - is incredibly offensive. However, I did get Maya's stunned reaction and hesitation to speak up or contradict her boss. This is an area where Maya does develop a strong backbone and finally stands up to Laura.
I thought A Lowcountry Bride was good overall but I have mixed feelings about it. I appreciated much about the characters individually but thrown all together I felt something was off. The romance didn't grab me, and I think there was a lot in the story that weighed it down. If you're looking for a romantic escape from reality (kind of what the cover implies, and the blurb downplays her illness), then this may not be the best choice. On the flip side, it is wonderful to see a character who has a chronic illness get her HFN.
~ Bel
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