Living with a serious illness is a huge part of what pushes Maya in her career as a fashion designer. She aims to land a prestigious promotion within a famous bridal gown company in New York, but her plans stall when she goes back to South Carolina to care for her injured father. In Charleston, a bridal boutique and its owner—Derek, a military veteran and widowered father—present Maya with some business and personal prospects she may not be ready for in A Lowcountry Bride by author Preslaysa Williams.

So! What did I like most about this sweet romance novel featuring a Blasian (Afro-Filipina) heroine down south? The sense of history and family legacy that permeates the story is compelling, from both Maya's side and Derek's. Along with that is the novel's theme of authenticity, illustrating the challenge and need to be true to oneself in one's purpose, goals, relationships... It really spoke to me.

While the two main characters didn't have the kind of charisma or dialogue that draws me into the romantic side of a story, I appreciated seeing their respect for each other. Overall, there are places where the novel's style could have been sharper with more originality and fewer repetitive phrases, actions, and explanations.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this inspiring read about people holding on to and finding ways to tell their stories. And I adore the novel's lovely cover, which also shares a message of authenticity. ( )

2.7 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

But sickle cell anemia flare-ups didn’t wait for bridal gown designers.

Maya Jackson has been trying to make her mother proud by working her way up to lead designer at the prestigious Laura Whitcomb Inc., the nation's top bridal gown designer. When a promotion opportunity opens up, Maya is ready to try and impress her boss who has a tendency to reject her Afro-Asian influenced designs in favor of more conventional. Life and timing, as it is, also has Maya asking for time off as she wants to go back home to the lowcountry to help her father who has just broken his hip. There in Charleston, Maya confronts if she can trust again, who she wants to be, and what she really wants out of life.

This man was not going to mess with her focus. Not happening.

Lowcountry Bride was a heartfelt story that didn't always delve enough into some of the heavy topics it incorporated but still delivered some incredibly sweet moments. The romance was low heat, just some kisses, and I thought the romance between Maya and Derek was actually the weakest of the story. Derek is a widowed single father who lost his wife to a mass shooting at the New Life Church and is trying to keep his mother's legacy of a bridal dress shop from going into foreclosure and repair his relationship with his daughter. His wife dying in a mass shooting is one of those heavy topics I mentioned wasn't delved into enough. I live in America, so maybe this hits me more than it would others but while it never came off as a salacious additive, it still didn't have the emotional depth I would have liked to see with such an impacting topic. I did enjoy how the author had Maya going home to Charleston to take care of her father but then backing off a little when his “friend” Ginger is there also trying to help him, especially when Ginger is set to retire from her manager job at Derek's bridal shop and has more time now. A bridal shop that Derek desperately needs help at and Maya's boss refused to give her paid time off so she needs to make some extra money on the side. This was all excellent plot threading and made these two entering each other's worlds believable.

“Excellent. Operation Save Always a Bride shall begin,” he said.
And Operation Save Maya would begin too, because the way Derek winked at her just now made her entire body warm.

With Maya working at Derek's Always a Bride shop, their attraction begins but Derek's daughter, Jamila, has attitude about feeling like Maya is trying to replace her mother and makes Derek promise not to date her. Jamila was a character I wish we could have gotten more depth with, she's a teenager dealing with some heavy emotional tolls but she swung wildly from stark to warm and it was clearly to create road blocks/angst in the romance. Derek's fear of loving because of his losses of his wife and mother and wanting to repair the relationship with his daughter and Maya's fear of people not being able to handle her sickle cell anemia were enough to keep the friction between this couple.

Maya had to try. She would try. Like Derek had said, if Maya didn’t believe in herself, who would? A seed of confidence took root in Maya. Confidence— and hope.

With Maya being the stronger character and delving into her life and issues more, this did have a slight women's fiction to it and what I think was the story's greatest strength. Going on the journey with her as you want her to stick up for herself and her designs with her boss but understanding why she feels she can't, dealing with her illness, fear of trusting someone to love her, her relationship with her dad, and eventually finding and using her power to be all who she is in an environment that constantly tries to stifle her, will have you cheering her on.

Was true love a one-time thing, or did his heart have room for a second chance at falling in love?

Overall, this was sweet with some hard topics but the author had a soothing tone to her writing that gives you hope, even when you're hurting with the characters. While I do wish there had been some more depth to what felt like underdeveloped relationships, especially the romance, I did feel some of the issues (racism, gentrification) were incorporated and utilized in a way that is not always common in books from big publishing, making the contemporary feel all the better for it. The passage of time was a bit vague at times and because Maya lives with sickle cell anemia and it's a constant in her life, the reminders of her “ten to fifteen years” life expectancy gave this somewhat more of a melancholy ending feel. However, Derek's grandmother's letter and the moment between him and his daughter Jamila while he's doing her hair, will make your eyes water and were so sweet that those moments alone will have me checking out this author's future works.

“The truth is that we’re all dying, Maya. It’s not the dying that matters. It’s the living.” ( )

A sweet read, perfect for a beach vacation. More than just a beach read, it has some meat to it - main character lives with sickle cell, all characters are tackling loss in their own way. This is a book I’d love to have as a picture book; Maya’s designs sound absolutely gorgeous and I’d love to see them! ( )

This book was:

Sweet.

Clean.

Informative -I learned a lot about sickle cell disease, among other things.

Had a happily ever after.

Religious.

Some character growth.

These were the pros.

The cons:

Overly sweet, almost to the point of saccharine.

Repetitive -A lot of the book felt like filler.

The angst had me clenching my teeth.

*ARC supplied by the publisher and NetGalley. ( )