Booksneeze Review: Sweet Olive

Sweet Olive (Trumpet & Vine)

About the Book:

Camille Gardner is trapped in the middle when a unique Southern town collides with the 'outside world' and big oil.

A talented negotiator, Camille Gardner agrees to take on one last field assignment for her uncle before she settles down to pursue her real passion---working at an art gallery. But she'd rather be anywhere than Samford, Louisiana, the small southern town where she once spent the worst weeks of her life.

To fulfill the obligation she feels to her uncle, Camille needs to entice a group of rural landowners to sell their mineral rights---and allow use of their precious water for the drilling of natural gas. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the local folk art created by those same landowners and attracted to Marsh Cameron, the attorney representing the landowners.

The charming residents and the traditions of this small community leave Camille conflicted about her family obligations---and her own plans for the future. Perhaps she needs to give Samford a second chance.

My Comments:

How many of us end up in careers or other positions because it is what family wants or expects of us?  Camille never wanted to be in the oil business but that was the family business and since her uncle's money was paying for college, she learned about oil (and art) and went into the business.   She wants to get out and is asked to do one more job, a job where her love of art puts her in direct conflict with the needs of the business.  In trying to make everyone happy Camille has to consider what is important in life and how that is not always the easy or pleasant thing to do.  

I loved the setting and in a lot of ways it reminded me of the town in north Louisiana where my daughter is going to college right now (not that I am aware of any artists' colonies in the area).  

This is a sweet charming book that should appeal to most fans of women's fiction.  While it has religious aspects, they are not overwhelming or out of place. 

I'd like to thank the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.  Grade:  B.

You can preview the book here, or on the Amazon page linked above.  Judy Christie's website is here.