Sweet Briar Cottage is the latest stand alone novel from Denise Hunter. She is one of my favotire christian literature writers. The story follows Noah and Josephine who find out that their divorce was never finalized eighteen months prior. They end up caught in a storm and have to spend 3 days stranded with each other.

I'll be honest, I really struggled with his story. Anyone who has followed my reviews for a while knows how I feel about infidelity. I have a hard time liking characters who are cheaters. That being said, I gave this one a shot because I love this author. In the end, I did like the story, I just didn't love it..

Through flashbacks, we see the very quick courtship between the couple and the betrayal that ripped them apart. We also see what happened to Josie when she was a girl and how that shaped her outlook toward men and her self. Clearly, the relationship was rushed, but after reflecting on it, maybe the divorce was as well. I think revelations about her past help Noah to find forgiveness. And I do think that Josie was on the right path to fixing herself through therapy. In the end though, I had my reservations about the HEA. I felt like the forgiveness came a bit too quickly for me and I would have liked to see them in couples counseling.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad book.It was well written and full of emotion. I definitely think it's worth reading. The message of forgiveness is one I think we can all benefit from.

Noah and Josephine Mitchell discover that their divorce was never finalized.  With much hurt between them, they don’t want to encounter one another to take care of legal issues.  However, to move on with their lives, they have to make some time for one another.  This is a Hosea and Gomer type story, though Josie isn’t as unfeeling as we’re led to believe of Gomer.  So many times a person’s history influences their steps.

The severity of the snowstorm was a surprise for me and that part of the storyline added to the plot.  Set over a three week timespan, this book moves quickly.

This is a story of forgiveness and unconditional love.
It starts out with Josephine & Noah trying to get their divorce finalized. The one that they thought had taken place awhile earlier. The author keeps showing bits of their back story to help explain how they got to that point.
Josephine grew up in a less than ideal home life. Abandoned by the very ones that should have been protecting her, she doesn't have any idea what real love is.
She finally moves to a new town to start over. A place where people don't know her by the bad reputation she's stuck with in her old hometown.
Noah loves her, but was unbelievably hurt by her actions.

Now they are stuck together in a snowstorm and forced to face each other and the facts that separated them.

A touching story about showing unconditional love and forgiveness in the face of betrayal.

Denise Hunter always writes good stuff. Most anything she writes could and should be on your keeper shelf. Sweetbriar Cottage is no exception. She deals with a very difficult subject of child abuse as it affects the adult and especially their marriage. I really liked how she allowed you to see the relationship of estranged husband and wife through each of their eyes.


Josephine has kept her secret, never revealing to her husband even through the intimate times of marriage, only to his best friend who is a Pastor and whom Josephine is afraid has revealed her deepest darkest secret.


The book opens with Noah Mitchell discovering that his divorce has not been finally the last few years and confronting his supposedly ex-wife about it. When she arrives with revised papers, they become trapped in the midst of a snow storm that last 3 or 4 days and then further find themselves in a life threatening situation.


What do you do when your wife has hurt you but now reveals to you the childhood trauma that led to her actions but does so thinking she is about to die? Do you forgive her, and if so what then?


To find out the answers and more, I highly recommend this read. I received this novel from Netgalley for my honest review.

4.5 ". . . it didn't all make sense to her - how God could love someone like her. Or why He allowed some of the things that happened. Maybe she didn't have to understand . . . You just have to decide to believe it."

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter has the ability to stir many different emotions in readers. If you expected a sweet and simple romance, this is not it. Yet, it's this process of learning about the past of these characters that creates this stir. It's a tough topic - adultery and cheating, and the path to forgiveness or unforgiveness. Sometimes how environment and a person's past influenced not only in a physical, psychological way, but also emotional. A false sense of security in earthly matters that just snowballs into a regret that can't be changed, but only healed.

Personally, I think this is a great story to be told. It is so unlike others in so many ways, and for one, not all can accept. It's a beautiful story of forgiveness, self-worth and faith which leads to the ultimate healing - or at least the road towards it. And with all that said, I have an uncertainty when it comes to Sweetbriar Cottage. I can't seem to pinpoint it. The story, as I said needs to be told. The cover's gorgeous, though I do think it doesn't coincide with the story at all. The writing is well crafted. The characters are limited, flawed, and strong. Did I enjoy the storyline? I think the healing was very well done, the whys and hows and the whats. So in all, I think it's a great book with a great message. The only thing is, I don't think every reader can grasp it or enjoy it. It's a book I see making an impact on specific readers, and I pray that the readers that are meant to read this book be able to read it.

"He always answers (prayers) - sometimes just not.in the way we want."


Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and have not been compensated for this. This is my honest opinion.

Please note, quotes were taken from an uncorrected proof. Please refrain from reusing unless first verified with the finished copy. Thank you.

I think this has been one of the best books I've read from this author. She captured the hurt and shame of a young woman who carried a secret for a long time When Josie was introduced I immediately identified with her. She is tough, has trouble with relationships and trusting others is not easy for her.

Noah is what every woman longs for. He loves unconditionally and never gives up. He works hard and his tender side really showed up in this story. I loved when Josie went to deliver divorce papers to Noah after a mix-up determined they were still married. All Josie wanted to do was get Noah's signature and be done with another bad relationship. I could feel the tension between the two and knew they had some unfinished business.

The best part of the entire story is when they get trapped in a snow storm and are left to rely on each other. The author does an amazing job of allowing readers to feel the cold and wet snow as her words were so vivid. I could see them shivering and hope disappearing as the day turned to night. Josie has hidden something from Noah during their marriage that has a major impact on their relationship. When Josie begins to let her guard down and tell Noah the terror she went through as a child, I cried. I knew how she felt not believing she was important and wondering where God was. Will Noah forgive Josie for the things she did in their marriage to push Noah away? Can Josie forgive herself and allow God to heal her heart? This is one book that I will never forget. The author does a great job in telling a story about a subject that is painful . She does it with grace and compassion and shows how unconditional love heals wounds. This story could have been written about me, because I lived through what Josie endured starting at age twelve. I can assure the author that she did the story justice and helped me get closer to emotionally healing from wounds that have left me broken for years. To all the Josie's out there, don't give up. To the Noah's out there, thank you for loving unconditionally.

I received a copy of this book from The Fiction Guild. The review is my own opinion.

A heartwarming story of love and forgiveness!

Josephine, the town’s beautiful female barber, continues to be haunted from a past traumatic experience. The ghosts of her past affect her so deeply that she wonders if she is able to accept true love. The skeletons that invade her closet are so strong that it affects her marriage. She still feels bad about what what she’s done to her “ex-husband” Noah.
Noah has been a loner since he “divorced” Josephine. He lives on a ranch far away from town. He works with animals as he struggles to get over Josephine’s deception.
However, something happens and Josephine and Noah are forced to spent every waking moment together, alone, far away from humanity, for several days. This experience makes both of them take a good hard look at their lives and examine the nature of their mistakes.
This book was so good. This story gives an example of how something deeply traumatic can affect the view we have of ourselves, making us believe lies about ourselves. I thought that Noah was wonderful, and I really felt bad for Josephine. You’ll find yourself rooting for both of these characters in this deeply emotional story of true love.
I also thought it was sort of unique to read about a female barber. I seldom see female barbers. Usually a female works in a beauty shop and seeing Josephine as a woman barber was a refreshing change from the norm.

Noah and Josephine thought that they had been divorced for a year and a half, but due to some paperwork mix up they are technically still married. A weather event, a horse and a few mistakes send this couple out into winter cold and they must depend on each other to survive.

There were many times in this book where I rolled my eyes as something would happen that would make their situation worse and it was just too much. I don't want to be too specific and spoil, but there was officially a moment where I went oh really, how convenient for the story and it was too obvious.

What I did love about the book was the glimpses into their past. From when they met to their love story, I loved seeing those snap shots as the full story was happening - it put the bigger story into context.

Overall this book was just ok in my opinion. I liked the overall concept of story and mostly how it was executed, there were just a few moments where I wish the author had tried something else to get the plot to move where she wanted it to.

I wanted to add a little side warning - Denise Hunter is a Christian fiction author and this book definitely has some Christian moments. I read Christian fiction often and some are obviously Christian fiction with scripture and such and some are very light on it, this one had quite a few moments, so if you are not into that thing, I wanted to forewarn you.

I’m a fan of Denise’s work. Last year, two of her great books were turned into movies for Hallmark and I was one of the many who live-tweeted and jumped into the fun.

This book is a tough one. The heroine has been through some horrific things, which she never told the hero during their broken marriage. When we meet him, he’s very unlikable, and he stays that way for much of the first half of the book.

I have no doubt this book will minister to people who’ve been through something similar to the heroine, and I can understand why Francine Rivers gives the book such a glowing recommendation, given her topic in Redeeming Love. But this book was a very difficult read for me. (And no, I haven’t experienced what these characters have.)

Though the cover doesn’t indicate it, much of the story takes place in a snowstorm. The writing kept me shivering the whole time, even though I read the book in May. 😊

I like how, as usual, Denise doesn’t sugarcoat her story elements. I respect that, and that’s why I believe this book will minister to people. And because I needed that HEA, I did read to the end, though I admit I skimmed some passages.

Honestly, I felt this book was rushed in the version I read (ARC). That there wasn’t enough time taken with the likability element, especially for the hero, but even for the heroine. I didn’t expect them to be perfect; I like flawed characters—they’re more relatable. I’ll be watching for the next book in this series because I’m still a fan, even though this book wasn’t my favorite. I recommend readers check out Denise's author letter for more information about this story, and I recommend sensitive readers tread with caution.

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter is the perfect beach summer read! It's not light reading but the author does a wonderful job of addressing the deeper subjects within this romance story. I couldn't put it down!

4.5 Stars

I received this book for free. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own. Thank you to Ms. Hunter, Thomas Nelson Publishing, Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this novel. In my personal opinion, far too much time was spent detailing the attraction the two main characters had for one another – almost to the point where I quit reading it about 1/3 of the way through. I did slog through to the finish, but it was tough at times.

For a novel that was published by a Christian publishing company, it was on the brink of being a bit too edgy. It felt very “lusty” to me (although there was no graphic content), and made the story itself seem very shallow. I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster that went something like this:

anger > lust > anger > lust > anger > lust > anger > forgiveness > love > happily ever after

I may be in the minority here, but Sweetbriar Cottage just did not resonate with me at all. I always hate to give a less-than-glowing review on a book, but this one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Sweetbriar Cottage does not go where I thought it would go. Denise Hunter took me deeper than I expected with her characters, Noah and Josephine who think they are divorced. What transpires changes them forever. The themes of Sweetbriar Cottage will touch your heart and may even help heal your own brokenness. Noah’s strong faith in God is tested and measured above and beyond what he has already experienced. This novel, fast-paced and action packed will be hard to put down.

NetGalley provided a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sweetbriar Cottage is an amazing story of second chances and true love. I had a hard time putting it down, and was dying to see what would happen next. I loved watching the way the story unfolded. Hunter had me wishing I could dig into their past to see what caused their divorce in the first place. She did an amazing job at writing their emotions, I could literally feel their frustration. Noah and Josephine were happily married once, what happened that caused them to drift so far apart?

How does someone get over a broken heart? In Noah's case, he moved to the mountains and does everything possible to avoid his ex wife. That is until he receives a paper in the mail saying he is still married to her. Josephine is just as shocked when she hears the news, but agrees to do whatever necessary in order to fix it. Going out of her way, Josephine drives out to Noah's house to help speed along the process. Little does she know, a big storm is on its way and it's right behind her. Being stranded with someone you hurt deeply is no easy thing. Learning to not bite each other's head off also fits into that category. Should they get to the bottom of their failed marriage and give it another try? Or are some transgressions too much for forgive?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a book about second chances. I enjoyed the bits of humor and suspense mixed in. Hunter took me to another place, and I even found myself a little chilly while reading about the snow storm. I can't wait to see what she writes next. I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was in no way required to post a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Imagine being divorced and receiving a letter from the IRS that you improperly filed as single on your taxes. That is exactly what Noah and Josephine Mitchell experience in Denise Hunter’s standalone title Sweetbriar Cottage.

Before I even get to the actual story, can we take a look at the cover of this book? Does’t the cottage with the lights in the tree and the beautiful sky just invite you into this story?

Besides Denise Hunter being the obvious reason to pick up this book, the cover painted a beautiful backdrop that piqued my interest even more in this story.

Now, think back to the situation Noah and Josephine are in. They find out their divorce was never finalized and are actually married. Someone let the ball drop on finishing up the paperwork, so there is anger and frustration now added to the mix of shock and panic.

To make matters worse, Josephine gets stuck at Noah’s house because of a snow storm. Now the two are forced to be in the same building while tensions are high.

As the story progresses, we are bounced between the past love story between Noah and Josephine and their current situation. Normally I don’t care for books that bounce around like this, but Denise did an excellent job with this. I actually enjoyed finding out about their love story and how they met. I found their past to be interesting.

Josephine also has a story of hurt and my heart went out to her. We learn more about her near the end of the story and Denise did an great job of making me feel for the characters and their situations.

I enjoyed the uniqueness of this story. I found the concept of Noah and Josephine being divorced and then forced to be together an interesting spin. On top of that, the situations that followed created an engaging storyline that I didn’t want to stop reading.

I was really excited to find out that Denise’s next book, Blue Ridge Sunrise is a spinoff from this book. I’m not exactly sure what that will be, but I’m hoping to reconnect with Noah and Josephine in that book.

Denise Hunter is a great author and this book is no exception. It hooked me in from the beginning and I found myself constantly saying, "just one more chapter..." It is a quick-paced, clean read and remains true to Ms. Hunter's style.

I genuiely liked both Noah and Josephine. The book covered some tough issues that could have made it difficult to like the characters. However, Ms. Hunter did a great job of making the characters human and likeable. She dealt with the events of the book well, not brushing away or minimizing the failings of the characters, but also helping the reader see the full picture of what made the characters who they are.

This isn't your typical beach read romance. It's has a good message. It deals with the complexities of life, but it's a little dark and messy along the way.
I liked both characters and felt bad for them and the misunderstandings they had. Early on the reader knows about Josie's hard past and how it affects her life. However, Noah doesn't.
It was a thought provoking read. Truly well done. It helped me to remember to not judge because I don't know the whole truth.

Content: infidelity, rape, child abuse
Source: Negalley

Sweetbriar Cottage is a courageous loving, emotional, romantic, tension filled story of forgiveness. It is a story of a painful past, a story of a painful past, a story of the main character fighting deep wounds. With all of that said you have Josie who had something severe that happened to her in her past that has caused her her pain in the present. She meets Noah and he is the knight in shining armor that Josie has needed all her life. This knight was sent to her by her FATHER - her ABBA(HEAVENLY FATHER) HE loves her so much, HE wants her pain to end so HE sent Noah and guess what happens? Well I can't tell you - I won't ruin it for you but it is suspenseful and so worth the read.

Oh what a gorgeous cover! It certainly drew me in, and, as with every book I’ve read by Denise Hunter, the plot, message, and characters followed suit.

Sweetbriar Cottage is a heartbreaking and powerful story. If you’re looking for a fluff story, this isn’t for you. The relationship and growth between Noah and Josie has depth and pain and will pull you through many emotions.

I love how the characters are flawed and real. Nothing feels contrived. The spiritual aspect gives them an authentic, full feel that makes it easy to relate and sympathize with them.

Ms. Hunter is a talented author and I recommend any of her books. This one is one of her best.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and BookLook.

Another great book by Denise Hunter! The only reason I didn't give it five stars was the predictability of the story. That said, it is a great storyline.
A story of how ones childhood can have a great impact on the future. Josie had a sad and traumatic childhood after her mother passed away, leaving her step-father to raise her. What happened to Josie after that had a huge impact on the future years for Josie. They shaped her into someone she really wasn't. She inherited money from her biological father, whom she had never met, and moved to start over where no one knew her. She opened a barber shop. Needing work done on the shop, she met Noah, who had put in a bid for the work.
When Noah began to have feelings for her, she couldn't believe she deserved a man as good as him. Eventually, they married, and she still felt undeserving and kept waiting for the other foot to drop and it eventually did, though it was Josie's fault. The marriage ended in divorce, which two years later they learned the judge had never signed the final papers.
Event after event threw them together in very close quarters. A story of hurt, betrayal, forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation
I was given an ecopy of this book to read from the publisher HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review..