The Reading Corner. . .Messy HEA with Synithia Williams

COLUMBIA—If you remember sitting on the sofa with your grandma or your favorite auntie watching Victor Newman or Josh and Reva, then you need to meet romance author Synithia Williams.

If you’re reading Williams’ latest novel, The Secret to a Southern Wedding, you might think it’s messy, soapy and full of drama, that’s exactly what she was going for.

So, here’s the premise of the book:

It’s been years since Dr. Imani Kemp has returned home to Peachtree Cove, Georgia. As Tallahassee’s most sought-after OB-GYN, she doesn’t have much time for anything else. But when her mom announces she’s marrying a man she just met on a dating app, Imani knows she has to put a stop to it immediately. Let her mom be hurt again after the disastrous way her last marriage ended? Absolutely not. Always her protector, Imani won’t rest until her mom sees reason. She just never expected sparks to fly with the groom’s son…

After his mother’s tragic death, Cyril Dash and his father relocated to Peachtree Cove to escape the gossip and speculation. Now, in this quirky small town, they’ve made a new life for themselves, and after years of grief, his dad has finally found happiness again. And Cyril refuses to let Imani threaten that. The more determined he is to prove the strength of his dad’s love, the more drawn he is to this beautiful, complicated woman who’s determined to call off the wedding.

But when Cyril’s heartbreaking past comes to light, destiny won’t be denied. Because the secret to this southern wedding is you never know how far you’ll go in the name of love.

Not to spoil the book, but keep in mind that Imani’s mom was shot by her Dad’s mistress. It’s pretty clear why Imani drops what she’s doing to return to her sleepy hometown and try to stop the wedding. And at first, I wanted her to stop the wedding. If you’ve ever been on a dating app, you know one thing for sure, none of those people are the marrying type. But the joy of reading a talented writer’s book is, she’ll make you believe. That’s what Williams did in this book. One of the best parts about this book and her Jackson Falls series, which is a mixture of The Young and The Restless, As The World Turns and The Guiding Light but with better writing and no commercials.

The Jackson Falls series has four titles:

Forbidden Promises

Scandalous Secrets

Careless Whispers

Foolish Hearts

The entire series is set in a small North Carolina town where the Robidoux family lives. Think Genoa City and Black Victor Newman.

“I knew I wanted to write a Black Dallas,” Williams said. “I wondered if I could write a story where you could root for the sister being with the ex, ex-boyfriend, ex-husband or what have you. I think that’s kind of how it started, but I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to want to read it. It is messy. And I had readers who said they didn’t know if they wanted to mess with it or if they wanted to read it. But then they said they enjoyed it and everything.”

Every book in the series is amazing, but if I had to pick a favorite for me, it would have to be Careless Whispers.

Here’s what the book is about:

Elaina Robidoux knows how people view her: cold hearted, ambitious, ruthless. But it doesn’t matter. Running the family business is all she’s ever wanted and she’s so close she can almost taste it…until her father fires her and hires her nemesis—arrogant, unflappable Alex Tyson. Elaina may be hurt but she refuses to be defeated, so she throws herself into creating a business of her own. But she never dreamed that to close her first deal, she’d need Alex’s help…

Alex understands the power of a family legacy better than most and the last thing he wanted was to take that from Elaina. Her beauty and fierce strength are undeniable, but there’s a softer side that no one but him seems to see. She’s been taught that emotions are a liability, yet one impulsive kiss starts a chain reaction that neither of them wants to stop. But can love ignite—and survive—when secrets and loyalties collide?

If you thought you weren’t supposed to like Elaina after reading the first two books, you’d be right. She’s brash and cold. But this is the magic about Synithia Williams, she writes in a way that will have you cheering for a character you’d run away from or punch in real life.

“It would’ve been easy to make her evil. I could’ve made her the villain but I didn’t want to do that. Hard characters have reasons why they may be. I knew from book one that I was going to eventually write her story.”

And thank goodness she did.

Follow Synithia Williams on social media: X/Formerly Twitter: @SynithiaW, Instagram: synithiaw, Facebook: www.facebook.com/synithiarwilliams

Visit her website: https://www.synithiawilliams.com/