Welcome to Serenity – A Book Review

Welcome to Serenity is the most recent book in Sherryl Woods' Sweet Magnolias series.  This is the most heartwarming, delightful book I've read in ages.   I thoroughly enjoyed this book and embraced its characters in the first chapter. 

Before I'd read even half the book, I'd already purchased four more of Sherryl Woods' books, including Stealing Home and Feels Like Family, two more of the Sweet Magnolias series.

The Sweet Magnolias are a group of four very close friends who live in the town of Serenity and are founding partners in The Corner Spa.   They are the kind of friends we all want and need.

Jeanette Brioche meets Tom McDonald when both are assigned to work on the town's annual Christmas festival.  Jeanette and Tom are both reluctant to work on the committee, but Christmas spirit grows as they become better acquainted.  Old hurts are healed and new bonds forged among friends and family members and the residents of Serenity. 

There is just enough back story in Welcome to Serenity to define relationships and whet the reader's appetite to read more about the folks in Serenity.  This is not a pulp novel, nor a bodice ripper.  There are no car chases, nor action adventure scenes; just a wonderful story about very likable people. It's a feel good read from first to last page.

Serenity seems like the kind of cozy, small town community in which anyone would love to live.  I encourage readers to grab a copy of Welcome to Serenity and the other three books in the series and join me in spending the winter making friends with the Sweet Magnolias. 

My grade: A

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 077832589X