Front Cover

"Sweet Home Carolina" - Jaxie Parker is a sexy, savvy advertising executive—content to enjoy Atlanta’s nightlife in expensive suits, sipping martinis and gossiping with her best friend. She is enjoying life in the fast lane when, all of a sudden, she finds herself put in charge of her firm’s annual pro bono project.

Her assignment: to revitalize the coastal town of Rumton, South Carolina. Years of declining population, lack of industry and a poor economy threaten to leave Rumton broke and hopeless. But Jaxie doesn’t ‘do’ small towns, and has no ideas on how to pull off saving one.

She arrives in Rumton to discover that the lack of shopping and day spas is the least of her worries. There isn’t even a hotel and she must bed down with an old man in an even older house. Determined to succeed—if only to get back home as quickly as possible—Jaxie sets out to meet the townsfolk and work on a plan.

Just when she decides that a coworker is horribly boring and Rumton is dreadfully uneventful, things heat up pretty quick. It turns out that there is an interesting man beneath the ever-present suit and tie, after all. And there is much more to Rumton than meets the eye. A charismatic businessman arrives on the scene offering to buy up land—a development that Jaxie feels is too coincidental. A town resident is murdered, an intriguing history of piracy is uncovered, and a massive storm is brewing offshore. Although Jaxie is surrounded by danger, she hunkers down to complete the assignment she started and in the process, she learns a thing or two about both love and life.

T. Lynn Ocean follows up her first novel, Fool Me Once, with this delightfully sassy twist on the traditional southern novel. A charming, humorous story of a big city girl who falls in love with a quirky small town, Sweet Home Carolina will unleash your inner pirate!

A freelance writer for more than ten years, T. Lynn Ocean lives on the Carolina coast. This is her second novel. Visit her at www.tlynnocean.com.

Thomas Dunne / St. Martin’s Press

(May 2006, hardcover, 272 pp., $23.95)

A Home Away From Home

SC author scores again with second novel

By J.G. Walker

T. Lynn Ocean’s debut novel, Fool Me Once, was set in and around The Holy City of Charleston. Readers will enjoy a much different view of the Lowcountry and a fresh cast of zany characters in Sweet Home Carolina, all punctuated with the same sharp wit that earned her first book much praise.

High-power Atlanta advertising executive Jaxie Parker doesn’t have time for long-term relationships, cute pets or small-town charms. But when her boss decides that the firm is going to "save" his dying hometown, Jaxie finds herself assigned to tiny Rumton, South Carolina. She’s charged with creating a revitalization plan for the dilapidated community and nobody, especially Jaxie, is very happy about it.

To begin with, the few remaining residents of Rumton are perfectly content with things just the way they are and don’t need any sassy big-city girl to tell them otherwise. The plot thickens when Jaxie and her nerdy coworker begin to discover Rumton’s secrets, just as a shadowy real estate developer starts sniffing around. It seems that the isolated town has a long history of piracy and the crimes escalate when Rumton’s mayor is found dead. Jaxie’s life is in danger, too, but she’s not one to quit when the going gets tough. As the pace quickens towards a surprising climax, Jaxie must also deal with an unexpected romance and a changing perspective on her personal views of love and life.

Spiced with genuine humor and a mystery that will keep you guessing, Sweet Home Carolina is a delightful adventure that establishes T. Lynn Ocean among the rising stars of contemporary Southern fiction.

[J.G. Walker, a recovering attorney and freelance writer lives on Lake Marion.]