Scarlett Kincaid couldn’t wait to put the small town of New Hope, South Carolina, in the rearview mirror once she graduated from high school. She never felt at home in her small town and knew she was destined for greater things. She moved to Nashville, became a country music star, made a new life and never looked back. But now her father is ill and needs Scarlett, so she's returning to New Hope for the first time in twelve years. Her face may be on a billboard at the edge of town, but not everyone is welcoming Scarlett with open arms. Not only is her sister bitter and resentful toward Scarlett, but the way Scarlett left her best friend, Tucker Andrews, without a word in the years that she's been gone, means he's plenty frosty to her when he sees her again.
It’s a curious thing to me how two people can write a book together and have the story flow seamlessly and the characters be so complex and authentic, but these two ladies knocked it out of the park with Tucker and Scarlett's story. I quickly fell in love with both of these main characters, although I was all Team Tucker through most of the book. Then Scarlett snuck in there, facing her shortcomings and working to improve herself, and darn if she didn’t win me over, too.
The premise for the story is friends-turned-enemies to lovers and it's Scarlett's earlier treatment of Tucker that made me not like her very much initially. Tucker was good enough to be her friend outside of school, but she kind of mean girled him at school, then never contacted him after she left town. He was understandably hurt but got over it pretty quickly once Scarlett came home. But just because they faced their feelings and put away the past doesn’t mean there still weren’t challenges and misunderstandings that needed to be worked out.
I truly hope there's more to come from New Hope because I love all of these characters and I'm not ready to say goodbye. I can easily see a potential story with Dean, Tucker's brother, and if their cousin Scooter gets his own book, sign me up now, because that one should be epic! Grab your copy of Scarlett and Tucker's story and fall in love with everything that is New Hope!
*I read an early edition of this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide feedback and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source.