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The Official Blurb
“I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff in my life. But sleeping with my best friend tops the list.
Annabel and I have been close since college. When I left school to play pro football, she was there. While I collected Super Bowl rings and cars worth more than the house I grew up in-she was there. I always assumed we’d end up together. Everyone did. But by the time I retired from football, Bel was married. I thought I’d missed my shot at love. So I buried myself in my new job as CEO of Blue Mountain Farm, a five-star resort my family and I built in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. It seems like a good place to be alone with the secret I have to keep from her.
Now Bel is a divorced single mom, struggling to raise her daughter on her own-and it’s my turn to be there for her.
So I invite her and the baby up to the resort for some much needed R&R. Then, in a moment of bonfire-and-bourbon induced weakness, I kiss her. And the fallout could ruin everything.
SOUTHERN SEDUCER is a full length, standalone novel. It is the first book in the all new North Carolina Highland series.“
I went into Southern Seducer expecting a friends-to-lovers romance set in the North Carolina mountains. What I didn’t expect was a book that would hit me squarely in the feels.
Published in 2020, Southern Seducer by Jessica Peterson is a contemporary romance featuring longtime friends, second chances and two characters navigating depression while trying to figure out what comes next in life.
Book Details
Title: Southern Seducer
Author: Jessica Peterson
Published: 2020
Sub-Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Friends to Lovers
The Main Characters
John Riley Beauregard (“Beau”)
Beau’s a retired NFL linebacker and current CEO of his family’s resort and farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. He has a Super Bowl ring and, from what I gathered, played for the Green Bay Packers, which immediately earned him bonus points in my book.
He’s funny, intelligent, loves books and has a genuinely good heart. He’s also carrying around a lot of fear about his future health.
Annabel Rhodes (“Bel”)
Bel is a finance professional living in Charlotte and Beau’s best friend from their college days. Recently divorced, she chose artificial insemination to become a mother and now finds herself raising her four-month-old daughter while battling severe postpartum depression and anxiety.
I related to Bel a lot. More on that in a minute.
The Plot
Bel is struggling. She’s overwhelmed by new motherhood, worried about returning to work after maternity leave and trying to manage postpartum depression. Her mother and friends are supportive. But support doesn’t magically make everything easy. So when Beau invites her to spend time at his mountain resort, she accepts.
What starts as a relaxing getaway quickly becomes something more as the two friends finally acknowledge feelings they’ve buried for years. During a quiet evening by the fire, they open up about their mental health struggles and the work they’re both doing to get better through therapy, medication, exercise and lifestyle changes.
The next morning, Beau reveals what’s really been weighing on him. He fears he may be developing CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. His father suffered from it and Beau is convinced he’s beginning to experience symptoms himself.
Because of that fear, Beau doesn’t believe he should pursue a serious relationship with Bel.
Of course, feelings don’t exactly care about logic. The two decide to live in the moment and enjoy their time together while they can. You can probably guess how well that plan works.
And that’s where I’ll stop because I don’t want to spoil anything.
Spice Level
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Jalapeño
The spice arrives relatively early and is nicely woven into the story without overwhelming the emotional development.
What I Loved
Jessica Peterson’s Writing Style
This was a smooth, engaging read from start to finish.
I finished the book in about 24 hours because I genuinely wanted to keep turning pages. The pacing worked well, the dialogue felt natural and the descriptions of North Carolina were accurate and believable.
Beau
I liked Beau a lot.
Was he occasionally an idiot? Absolutely.
But he’s also funny, thoughtful and self-aware. He reads books. He makes jokes. He genuinely cares about people.
And let’s be honest: he sounds hot as hell.
Bel’s Postpartum Journey
This is where the book really got me.
Bel’s pregnancy and motherhood experiences felt incredibly real. She was severely sick during pregnancy.
I was too.
People kept telling me to eat Saltine crackers when I was pregnant with my daughter, Sidney. The mere thought of putting a dry cracker in my mouth made me want to throw up. So when Bel says:
“I feel like I’m back in my first trimester, when I was always this close to vomiting up the cracker I just ate.”
I felt that in my soul.
The book also explores postpartum depression honestly and compassionately. One quote especially stood out:
“You’re still allowed to feel flattened by parenthood, even if you wanted it that badly. It’s okay to admit that it’s a lot harder than you thought it’d be. That doesn’t make you a bad mother. It just makes you honest.”
Another:
“Remember, you gotta put your oxygen mask on first, Mama.”
And another:
“I think maybe the joy of motherhood isn’t always about kids. It’s about us. Mothers finding strength of spirit and self so we let go of the women we think we should be and become the women we truly are.”
There’s also a moment where Bel admits it took her four months to fall in love with her daughter.
That wasn’t my experience. It took me a week or two. But I appreciated seeing that represented because there’s enormous pressure placed on mothers to feel immediate, overwhelming love.
Sometimes that bond takes time. And that doesn’t make someone a bad parent. It makes them human.
Full vs. Whole
One of the themes I loved most was the discussion about feeling full versus feeling whole. Those aren’t always the same thing. And the older I get, the more important that distinction feels.
Learning Moments
As usual, I learned some things.
Prince Albert
Apparently Beau once got a Prince Albert piercing during a drunken adventure.
I knew Prince Albert as a brand of chewing tobacco. I did not know it was also the name of a particular piercing.
Now I do.
Pirates
The book also references to an adult film called Pirates. Naturally, I had to investigate.
What I discovered was not one movie but two.
The first was released in 2005 and reportedly had a $1 million budget. The sequel, released three years later, remains one of the most expensive adult films ever produced with an $8 million budget.
Honestly? I’m weirdly fascinated by the fact both movies appear to have actual plots.
Challenges
My only challenge with the book involved Beau’s concerns about his possible CTE diagnosis. Not because I thought the storyline was poorly written. Quite the opposite.
It was emotionally difficult. Watching someone grapple with fears about future health decline hit close to home given what my family is currently experiencing with my father’s MS, dementia and hospice care.
The storyline worked. It just really hurt.
Final Thoughts
This book got me.
Bel’s pregnancy struggles brought back memories from more than two decades ago. Beau’s fears about his health brought up emotions surrounding my father’s illness.
Yet, despite tackling some heavy topics, the book never felt depressing.
Jessica Peterson balanced those moments with humor, friendship, romance and spice in a way that felt natural and authentic.
The ending felt a little rushed but not enough to diminish my enjoyment.
Overall, I really liked this book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Stars
I would absolutely read more from Jessica Peterson, especially the books featuring Beau’s siblings.
Where to Find Southern Seducer
If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the book, you can listen to the podcast episode on your favorite podcast streaming service. Or click here for our in-house podcast player. You can also find out if I won the episode Boobie Prize.
Have you read Southern Seducer? Let me know your thoughts on this book in the comments!
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