Once a Charmer

*Post contains affiliated links. Book acquired through Netgalley.com*

I adore this series! This an advance review. The book releases on Oct. 17th. I was lucky enough to get to read it early (and I may have happy danced around my kitchen when I got the approval email!) 

You can read my reviews of A Charmed Little Lie and Lucky Charmed if you are new to Sharla Lovelace's Charmed in Texas books. 

Here's what it's about: 

Charmed, Texas, is a close-knit small town where people’s dreams of love can come true. That’s not to say that some people aren’t still waiting, and dreaming . . .
 
By day, Allie Greene stays busy with her family diner, and keeping tabs on her teenage daughter. What’s really exhausting Allie, however, are the nights. Not that she minds Bash Anderson unbuttoning her naughty desires—if only in her dreams. But what was he doing there at all? He’s her best friend, and a father figure to her girl. Talk about awkward. Talk about OMG-heat-and-fireworks that are flipping fifteen years of normal upside down. And now, when Allie needs him as a friend more than ever, logic doesn’t stand a chance against his lips and irresistible deep-blue eyes . . .
 
Sure, Bash has fantasized about Allie, but there’s no way he’d act on it. She and her daughter are the closest thing to family he’s ever known. With the exception of one drunken moment fifteen years ago, he and Allie have stayed on this side of the line—until that impulsive kiss of hers knocked him on his butt. That’s just one hurdle. Not only does Allie need Bash’s help to save her diner, but his apiary is in trouble, too. To stir the pot further, they’ve been roped into vying for the town’s Honey King and Queen contest—a sweet event that’s making them closer than ever. Something’s bound to come undone. Bash just hopes it’s not the friendship he’s worked so hard to hold on to.

Once a Charmer is the perfect balance of humor, romance, and small town weirdness. The Honey King and Queen contest got to me. Because I have been to an Armadillo fest, Black-Eyed Pea festival, Watermelon festival and a western celebration in west Texas known as Fandango. The struggle is real, folks. The struggle is real.  

I found myself laughing  out loud, happy sighing, and even tearing up all in the course of the few hours I got to visit Charmed. Allie and Bash have fabulous chemistry and Allie's relationship with her teenage daughter is so authentic I felt like the author must have had been ease-dropping on the daily battles, I mean, conversations in my own living room!*

*If either of my teenage daughters are reading this: I love you. You are amazing.* 

I enjoyed the cameo appearances of characters from the previous books but someone new to this series could easily pick it up and not feel the least bit left out. The author does a great job of filling in the backstory without slowing the plot. 

Overall, Once a Charmer is a satisfying, fun, read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys small town romance. Can't wait to see if there are more to come!