Just Fine With Caroline (Cold River, #1)

by Annie England Noblin

From the author of Sit! Stay! Speak! comes a tender, terrific novel complete with long-buried secrets, a three-legged pot belly pig, and an irresistible dog--an unforgettable story about love, friendship, and community. Perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Mary Alice Monroe.

Caroline O'Connor never dreamed she'd be back home in Cold River, Missouri, the Ozark Mountain town where everyone is 'up your business.'...they mean well as they drive you crazy. She thought she'd left town for good, but now she's back, helping to care for her New York born mother--struck with Alzheimer's, and prone to saying and doing anything--and her father, the beloved local doctor frustrated he can't cure his own wife.

As for Caroline, she's doing 'just fine' coping with her parents, her brazen cousin Ava Dawn's marital disasters, her mostly-deaf dog...and with Noah Cranwell, far-flung relative of a local family mostly infamous for running moonshine, an ex-veteran who's come to Cold River with troubles of his own.

Caroline believes she knows everything about Cold River and the people who live in its hills and hollers ... but sometimes life's greatest surprises happen closest to home.

--Stephanie Evanovich

• ISBN10: 1683242777
• ISBN13: 9781683242772
• Publish Date: 28 March 2017 (first published 11 October 2016)
• Publish Status: Withdrawn
• Out of Print: 2 December 2021
• Imprint: Center Point
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 500
• Language: English

Reviews

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

I was looking for a book that was a little different.  A break from the angst of the books I normally read.  JUST FINE WITH CAROLINE fit that bill.

The story centers around Caroline, a 25-year-old who finds herself back home helping her father with her mother with Alzheimer's.  Caroline always thought she'd come back home, but she figured she'd do it on her own terms and living her own dreams.  Now that she's back, she's trying to figure out who she is and what she wants while to tries to hold onto the memories of her family that her mother's forgotten.

Caroline surrounds herself with some quirky characters who add a little bit of fun to this story.  Her cousin is a hot mess, her best friend had his own secrets and there's her new business neighbor who calls to her and her weird dog.  You never know exactly what you're going to get with group, but it made it fun to follow along.

The storyline with Caroline's mother tugged at your heartsrings, but in the ned everything surrounding her mother and her relationship with Noah's grandfather helped Caroline appreciate the family she had...dirty laundry and all.  It also made it so she could look beyond what he mother did and be truthful with herself about exactly who and what she wanted out of her life.