Sweetbriar Cottage

By: Denise Hunter

Narrated by: Julie Carr

They thought their love story was over. They thought their divorce was final. They were wrong.

Following his divorce, Noah gave up his dream job and settled at a remote horse ranch in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, putting much-needed distance between himself and the former love of his life. But then Noah gets a letter from the IRS claiming he and Josephine are still married. When he confronts Josephine, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.

Josephine is no happier about the news than Noah. Maybe the failed marriage—and botched divorce—was her fault, but her heart was shattered right alongside his, more than he would ever believe. The sooner they put this marriage behind them, the better for both of their sakes.

But when Josephine delivers the final paperwork to his ranch, the two become stranded in his cottage during the worst spring snowstorm in a decade. Being trapped with Josephine is a test of Noah’s endurance. He wrestles with resentment and an unmistakable pull to his wife—still beautiful, still brave, and still more intriguing than any woman he’s ever known.

As they find themselves confronted with each other and their shared past, old wounds surface and tempers flare. But when they are forced out into the storm, they must rely on each other in a way they never have before. Josephine finally opens up about her tragic past, and Noah realizes she’s never been loved unconditionally by anyone—including him. Will Noah accept the challenge to pursue Josephine’s heart? And can she finally find the courage to trust Noah?

From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom and A December Bride (now beloved Hallmark Original movies) comes this charming romance full of second chances and rekindled love.

“Sweetbriar Cottage is a wonderful story, full of emotional tension and evocative prose.” —Francine Rivers, New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love

“Sweetbriar Cottage is a story to fall in love with. True-to-life characters, high stakes, and powerful chemistry blend to tell an emotional story of reconciliation.” —Brenda Novak, New York Times bestselling author

• Sweet and thoughtful contemporary romance
• Stand-alone novel
• Book length: 86,000 words
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Critic reviews

'. . . the exploration of what love should look like in marriage and in general is very deep and contemplative. This is a novel that can help facilitate healing.'

“…God demolishes [Josephine's] walls to give her what she always needed: unconditional love and worth.”

“Hunter crafts Noah and Josephine’s convoluted relationship with remarkable depth, immersing readers into a fragile and soul-searching experience.”

Forgiveness and love

I loved this couple. Noah’s love is a special kind of love. We all make mistakes and some are really big and Some of us make multiple mistakes. Beautiful story of forgiveness and redeeming love. Hope you Enjoy this story as much as I did.

Extremely amateur and monotone narrator, slow predictable story

Narrator ruined it- story was juvenile, slow, predictable and boring. Shadow, the dog, was the best character.

It was ok

I really wanted to love this book. From the moment I laid eyes on the cover I knew I had to read it. The cover just draws me in and instantly fills my heart with such peace. Unfortunately, the book itself doesn’t do the same.

This book left me so frustrated. Though I could sympathize with both Josie and Noah I found myself not liking either one of them very much. By the end I was exhausted with Josie’s antics and over it all.

This was my first book that I have read by the author. Since I really enjoyed the plot I’ll give another one of her books a try.

The audio performance was difficult to enjoy. That didn’t help the book at all.

It was good.

I want to start off by saying that I love this author. I have read and listened to other books of hers. This one was not clean though. It had descriptions of things in it I did not like and bothered me. I was shocked because I thought this author wasn’t like that.

Sweet Story, But Not my favorite Narration

In the end I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it. However, the narration in the 1st 15 minutes almost made me stop listening. She doesn’t really change the voices of the characters and it makes it a lot harder to envision who is speaking. Once I got into the story further though, I didn’t notice it as much.
One thing I really liked about this book is that the chapters alternate from the past to the present. It builds the story in a really wonderful way that keeps you guessing. I also liked that it was a sweet love story and not overly sexy.