Review of Sydney Logan's New Novel, "Mountain Charm"

I was so delighted to get my hands on Sydney Logan's latest book. She's quickly becoming my favorite romance novelist. Her stories are heartfelt and sweet, framed around the redeeming power of love. So, when I learned Mountain Charm would be released soon, I pleaded for an ARC. I hoped it would captivate me (dare I say charm) me as her other stories have done.

Mountain Charm certainly didn't disappoint. The story started with a tender little scene of a mother and daughter casting a blessing spell, asking that the daughter grow up to be a beautiful, strong woman, who would find her true love at age twenty-one. It's a ritual that has long been performed in Angelina's Gifted family, and from all appearances, it seems to work; her lovely mother found true love with Angelina's father on her the very day she turned twenty-one.

Next, we find Angelina on her own birthday, but something has changed. Angelina is prickly and skeptical. She's had far too much pain and loss in her short life. Angelina essentially rolls her eyes at her friend, Maddie's excitement and belief that Angelina is about to meet her destiny. Angelina decides to go home from work early and says she supposes she'll miss out on meeting her true love today unless he's on her front porch.

There's a man waiting on her front porch.

He's Dylan Thomas, a reporter who has come to town seeking information for a story he's doing on the region's magical folklore. He's a sweet, charming man, kind enough to forgive the hostile Angelina when she chases him from the porch at the end of a shotgun barrel. "This is a Remington," she declares in one of my favorite lines, "... Also known as a Appalachian magic wand. Just watch. It's going to make you disappear."


Dylan isn't sure he believes in magic, himself, but it breaks his heart Angelina doesn't.

"This is the bud of a balsam fir tree. Mom says they have magical qualities and supposedly mend a broken heart. I’ve carried it since the day my father passed.” 

Dylan gazed at the blossom in her palm. “Do you believe in magic, Angelina?” 

She wrapped her fingers around the tiny bud and tossed it into the pond. They watched as the dead flower crumbled and scattered in the water. “Not anymore,” she said.

Dylan is intrigued by the beautiful, fiery, woman and gently coaxes her into letting him in. In this, he's assisted by her mother, who clearly likes him, and Angelina's traitorous dog, Cash. He starts to court her, but the course of true love in the making doesn't run smoothly. Dylan has to carefully work his way through Angelina's thorns and navigate some bumps in the road. And I laughed out loud when one of them involved bail money!

Aside from the magical elements, Angelina has a problem many women can identify with: trust that the feelings between Dylan and she are real, and being able to give a wounded heart into the keeping of another.

This is a novel which will make you sigh, laugh, and maybe just make you believe in magic again.

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About the Author:
Sydney Logan is an Amazon bestselling author and holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education. With the 2012 release of her first novel, Lessons Learned, she made the transition from bookworm to author. Sydney has a very unhealthy obsession with music, and her iPod is filled with everything from Johnny Cash to Eminem. She is also the author of two short stories: “Mistletoe Magic,” available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, and “Stupid Cupid,” which is featured in the Romantic Interludes compilation. When she isn't reading or writing, she enjoys playing piano and relaxing on her front porch at her home in East Tennessee with her wonderful husband and their very spoiled cat.

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