Falling Home

Fifteen years ago, Cassie Madison fled her hometown of Walton Georgia after learning her sister Harriett eloped with Joe Warren, the man Cassie had hoped to marry. Hurt and humiliated, Cassie escapes to Manhattan where she works her way into a prestigious career in advertising. She and her boss Andrew fall in love and get engaged, dedicating themselves to building the business. Cassie’s life is all she wants—she has an amazing career, a wonderful fiancé, and not a care in the world—or so she thinks.

Then Harriet phones to tell Cassie their father is dying and wants to see her. Though living far away for 15 years and still estranged from Harriet, Cassie had still managed to meet her father, Judge Madison, once a year in Atlanta. Upon seeing Harriet again, the feelings of hurt and betrayal resurface, but Cassie gets a taste of her old love for the sister who was her best friend, the one she raised after their mother’s death when they were young.

After her father passes, Cassie learns he has willed the homestead to her. Her first thought is to clean out his belongings, sell the house, and go back to New York.

While scouring the attic, Cassie comes upon some mysterious letters to her father; she is curious enough to want to research their origins. She also reunites with her old friend, Sam Parker—now the local doctor. As she and Harriet begin to rebuild their sisterly bond, Cassie also comes to love Harriet’s five children, and realizes she no longer has feelings for Joe, Harriet’s husband, which unsettles her, as it is hard for her to forget how both he and Harriett broke her heart so long ago.

In the midst of all this, an annoyed Andrew shows up to whisk Cassie back to work, but Cassie is not ready to leave. She is angry that Andrew wants her back only for work. When Harriet throws her sister a bridal shower, Andrew displays his snobbery, looking down on the townsfolk as if they were no more than ignorant country bumpkins. If this doesn’t lead Cassie to see Andrew for whom he really is, then nothing will. But Cassie catches on pretty quickly.

Finding herself falling in love with Sam, Cassie is confused. She plans to return to New York, but Sam is not about to leave his home—or settle for a one-night stand. After a crisis erupts, Cassie is torn: Where does she belong?

This book is filled with flowery descriptions of a small town that will have the reader smelling honeysuckle, sipping sweet tea, and experiencing the oppressive Georgia humidity. Though there are several inconsistencies in this new edition of this book, the romance, mystery, familial bonds, as well as a well-defined plot seem to obliterate them, making this a multifaceted southern read.