Book Review: "Salting Roses" by Lorelle Marinello

A young woman abandoned as an infant on an Alabama porch is horrified to discover that she is the missing heiress to a vast Connecticut fortune—a birthright she is desperate to reject in favor of her Peachtree Lane roots.

Gracie Lynne Calloway—once left in a coal bucket on a front porch in a small Alabama town—discovers on her twenty-fifth birthday that she is the kidnapped daughter of a late New England financier and heiress to a fortune. When the tabloid press and her unwanted greedy relatives descend on her, she has to admit the quiet secure life she's known and loved is gone for good. As Gracie struggles to stabilize her world and come to terms with her new identity, she learns that belonging is not about where you came from but who you are.

What would you do if you suddenly came into money? Would you go out and start buying everything left and right or would you try to refuse it? That's exactly the dilemma that Gracie is suddenly put through as she discovers that she's not the small town once abandoned baby she always thought she was and is instead the heiress to a grand fortune.

This is a very character driven story and there are a LOT of characters who have very distinct personalities. I really liked Gracie and Sam's characters. I felt the two to be very down to earth and easy to get along with. Even though they both could have taken the advantages and opportunities handed to them and turned them into something nasty they did not. I really liked how even though Gracie does not really want the money for herself, she does use it to help others including her uncles who have done nothing but show her love and kindness all these years. I also liked seeing Gracie's relationships with her new family especially her sister and grandmother. Her relationship with her birth mother is a bit odd. It's almost as if her mother never wanted her to begin with and then when she does discover her, there seems to be no love lost between the two of them.

While I did enjoy the overall story, some of the characters kind of annoyed me. The one that stood out most was Alice. I can understand her feeling protective of Gracie, her actions really got on my nerves. The buying of all the jeans in town simply to have Gracie wear dresses irked me plus the fact that she was pretty much planning Gracie's life without talking to her at all. Then there was Gracie's birth mother as well as Clare's mother as well. Money does strange things to people.

Overall though, it was an enjoyable story. Southern culture is alive and well throughout the book. It's nice to read that there are people in this world who do not feel as if money has to control them even when they are entitled to it. Gracie is a good character with a good heart. I enjoyed reading her story and getting to know her. The importance of family is also encouraged. It's a fine book to read if you want to experience Southern culture and get a good story out of it as well.

Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello is published by Avon A (2010)

This ARC was provided by the publisher