Sweet Olive

July 1, 2013
Laden with Southern charm and Louisiana flavor, the first of Christie’s new Trumpet and Vine series introduces a town full of riches seen and unseen. Camille Gardner reluctantly arrives in Samford to close a drilling contract for her uncle’s oil and gas company. She wants to honor and conclude her family business obligation and return to her first love, curating art. But local folk artists and Marsh Cameron, their intriguing and too-likable lawyer, have banded together to save their community from intrusive drilling. Camille finds herself torn between fulfilling her debt to her uncle and respecting the town’s down-home values of family, faith, and art. As she navigates tricky politicking and traitorous emotions, she reconciles painful memories and rediscovers her own spiritual identity. The story’s fluid, Mitford-style pace perfectly matches the easygoing ambience of smalltown Louisiana. Fans of the author’s Green series will feel they’ve met new friends just down the road who share the same humidity, fragrance, and foliage that Christie so effortlessly recreates. Agent: Janet Kobobel Grant, Books & Such Literary Agency.

Starred review from August 1, 2013

Excited about moving to Denver to start a new job at an art gallery and eager to leave Louisiana, Camille Gardner agrees to do one final job for her uncle's oil business. She has to go to the small town of Samford and convince the local landowners to sell their mineral rights. But Camille is soon enchanted by the local folk art community and the attractive lawyer representing the landowners. VERDICT This tender romance (and new series launch) is blessed with a likable, strong female protagonist. As in her Green series (Gone to Green; Goodness Gracious Green) a Southern small town becomes a charming character in Christie's able hands. Recommend this title to anyone who loves the works of Robin Lee Hatcher.

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