New Release: Southern Sunrise by Natasha Madison

Southern Sunrise brings closure to the first story arc of this series. Our hero, Ethan, was a child through the first 3 books. We meet him here at 21 then again at 26/27 as he leaves town under a cloud and then comes home to mend fences and reclaim the love of his live.

I was a little nervous going into this one based on how Southern Storm (book 3) ended. I should have know Ms Madison would have it handled with grace and some humor as well. One of the things I appreciated about Southern Sunrise was how Ethan was allowed to have some hard conversations with the people who mattered in his life, but they weren’t repeats of the same story over and over again.

Emily was a great heroine for Ethan. Her devotion to him, even when trying to move on said a lot about who she was. I worried a little bit about how the pesky fiancé was going to be handled, but that is one priceless thing that readers will just have to see for themselves.

Things happen fast in Southern Sunrise, but the story flows well and Ms Madison makes it easy to get lost in the potential for happy ever after. I have two complaints” about the books. One – the larger secondary cast of Ethan’s half siblings/cousins. Even with having read the first 3 books, it was hard to keep everyone straight. If someone were to start with this book, it would be very confusing. Two – we see Ethan make a choice to stay, but we never see how his military career ends even though there is a reference to orders early on. That left things a bit unsettled for me.

Overall, Southern Sunrise is a great read. I would strongly recommend people reading Books 1 and 3 (at least) of the series before reading this one as they contain most of Ethan’s backstory.

When her nose isn’t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she’s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It’s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn’t listen to her…