Baby, Dont Go (Southern Roads, 3)

This series is nothing short of phenomenal! Stephanie Bond nailed it once again! Perfect combination of humor and heartache, adventure & love...a MUST READ!

The plot line is great, the idea that three brothers are trying to recreate the town that they grew up in after an F5 tornado decimated it. The idea that theyre trying to create a green community is also enjoyable. Its only that many of the characters are too formulaic, too stereotypical that led me farther and farther into disliking the book. I did finish this. I was invested in the characters from the first two books, and even though they were good rather than great they were the kind of escapist reading I was looking for. This one had such a nasty female protagonist I couldnt see any way for her to become a lovable character. She does, of course, otherwise it wouldnt be proper escapism. But neither character can really stay true to his or herself and still make the happy ending, so people had to undergo unrealistic changes to get to the end. This is so unpleasant that I might not re-read the first and second books because Ill know that getting through the third book will be a chore and I like to read an entire series together. So much so that one of my favorite authors is working on book 35 or 40 or some such and when I know its coming out Ill go back and re-read all the previous books in order to enjoy a seamless transition to the new book. If you havent guessed, I dont recommend this book. Book 1 had some troubling transitions in it, but I cared enough about the characters to want to go on. Book 2, again, there were a lot of, why do they do that moments. The ones that you know that why they do it is to forward the plot but you just cant believe that people are that relationship stupid. Maybe they are, but there are limits to credulity, to the amount of change a character can exhibit in the space of a month without wondering if aliens took them over, and this third book crossed those limits. I wouldnt have liked it, but it would have worked better for me if the two central characters went with, youre a person unlike any I would ever want to spend time with and ridden off into their respective sunsets. Since this was the audio edition Ill say that the narrator was perfectly competent though not great. She didnt make me want to either look for or avoid books shes narrated.

Just finished this third book in the Southern Roads Trilogy and I wish there were more! Each one can be read separately but together they tell the whole story of this town. A series about family, Southern ways, romance and determination. I hope Stephanie Bond writes more books about this town and the people who stay to re-build it.

This is a great series. Its entertaining, funny and very moving story about three brothers who are rebuilding theyre hometown after a freak storm. And theyre journey to a great future. Youll Love it if youre a romantic.

Of the three Armstrong brothers, Marcus is the most determined to rebuild their hometown of Sweetness, Georgia, which was wiped out by a hurricane a decade before. Now, Sweetness is being rebuilt and since Marcuss brothers placed an ad for women to join their town, it seems like things are coming together. Businesses are being built, romance is in the air, and the men and women of Sweetness seem to be working together perfectly. But theres still so much to do and the deadlines to keep their government grants are fast approaching. Now more than ever, the people of Sweetness need Marcus to be working at full strength. Of course, just when Marcus cant afford any distractions, one practically knocks him off his feet. Manhattan reporter Alicia Randall cant believe her eyes when she hears about a Southern town that imported women. Shes convinced theres something fishy going on in Sweetness; either the Armstrongs are running a scam or a cult or something. So Alicia sets out to do what she does best: go undercover. Shes determined to get close to Marcus Armstrong and discover what the almost-throwback idyllic of Sweetness is about. But Alicia never counts on finding out that Sweetness is more than what she thought it would be. As she falls in love with the town - and its leader - a growing sense of dread lurks in the background. What will happen when Marcus discovers shes lied to him from the start? Stephanie Bond ends her wonderful Southern Roads trilogy with the dynamic Baby, Dont Go. The energy of Baby, Dont Go had me hooked from page one and the sparks that fly between Marcus and Alicia kept me captivated all the way through. I read Baby, Dont Go in one sitting, only to find myself terribly upset that the series Ive adored is now at an end. Ms. Bond has made me fall in love with the Armstrong brothers, their heroines, and the entire population of Sweetness, and all of the aforementioned people are strongly featured in Baby, Dont Go. Having fallen in love with Sweetness in the first two Southern Roads books, Baby, Drive South and Baby, Come Home (not to mention the series prequel, Baby, Im Yours), I wasnt sure how Ms. Bond would make Alicia likeable. She comes to Sweetness with a cynical, almost superior attitude, sure that she knows better than the misguided women who moved to the isolated town. Its an incredible feat that Ms. Bond makes Alicia likeable, even when shes wrong and even though she effectively lies to everyone. It was easy for me to become attached to her, and I wanted her to end up with Marcus. And boy, did Marcus need someone who knocked him off his stride. Hes practically got the weight of the whole town resting on his shoulders and I wanted to see him let loose, just a touch. Though Baby, Dont Go can be read as a standalone, part of the reason I devoured the book in one sitting was because Id become invested in seeing whether Sweetness would make its deadlines and become a picturesque, welcoming town haven once more. I had a lot of expectations coming into Baby, Dont Go, as it is (presumably) the final book in the series. Ms. Bond fulfilled most of them. Sadly, the ending of Baby, Dont Go felt rushed and there were some plot threads that were either left untied or felt only partially wrapped up. I wish there was another book or novella yet to come that would make the series feel truly complete. Still, even with this complaint, I greatly enjoyed Baby, Dont Go. Alicia and Marcus charmed me as a couple and Ive greatly enjoyed the time Ive spent in Ms. Bonds delightful Southern town. Shayna Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

standard story for series.

I enjoyed this book. Its an easy read and a sweet kind of love story. Ill definitely read more of the Southern Roads Trilogy.

I have loved every Stephanie Bond book I have read. Southern Roads is another hit series. The humor is a refreshing break from other books.

The final installment of the Sweetness, Georgia, books (Southern Roads Trilogy) was...well, sweet. I loved seeing how the town had progressed and how it had grown. But when it came to the romance of Alicia and Marcus, it felt just...sweet. I didnt feel much passion between them, and although I rooted for them to be together, I felt that their romance wasnt really developed as much as I would have liked. They spent little time together getting to know each other and had really very little opportunity to fall in love, I thought. It felt more like three separate stories - Marcuss story and Alicias story and the story of Sweetness -- but not much like the story of the couple. Still, in the end, I was satisfied, if a little under-inspired, with the story and with how the story concluded.

The idea that Alicia is any kind of actual, modern feminist is a joke. Stephanie Bond does a pretty good job at painting her as a mockery of a stereotypical feminist: angry, bitter, deceitful and of course, wrong. But to highlight the overall theme of this book, heres a bit of dialogue that follows our leading couples first hook-up: [Alicia] lifted her chin. Maybe I just think a relationship should be more balanced, that the man shouldnt be calling all the shots. [Marcus] tucked his shirt into his pants. There are probably a few guys out there who would agree with you...but I wouldnt call them men. Um, seriously? Yes, its so wrong of the evil, witchy feminist to want balance in a relationship. And of course a Real Man(tm) would never want to be with a woman unless he can call all the shots. Not only does Marcus never explain or apologize for this comment, but the next day Alicia spends considerable time wondering if SHE should apologize because Marcus is just old-fashioned. Yes, Alicia was wrong to come to the town under false pretenses, and wrong to judge the citizens before she understood what they were doing to rebuild. But she wasnt wrong about the patriarchal culture of the town. I expected there to be an explanation for why the men and women were forced to live separately and keep curfew. I thought we would learn why every woman there seemed completely incapable of asking a man out or asking a man to marry her once they had a commitment. But...nothing. The second I found out that the man I was involved with didnt believe I deserved an equal voice in our relationship, I would run screaming and never look back. And I dont even identify as a militant feminist. Add in the cloying, sickly-sweet ending (where the misguided woman gets everything man-splained to her), and this book was just terrible. The fact that a woman wrote this AND claimed it was about feminism makes me sad to be a romance fan. And determined to never purchase anything by Stephanie Bond.