This was so good!! I enjoyed it right from the start, the characters and atmosphere were just perfect and I enjoyed everything about the writing.

South of the Buttonwood tree was a great story about family, love and forgiveness. It also had touches or folklore and magic which I was on the fence about but it did add some whimsy to the story. The characters where likable and easy to root for and the story was emotional. I did cry reading about the heartbreak they went through and the way they found happiness and forgiveness through it. Thanks Netgalley for the advanced copy. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Thank YOU Heather Webber and NetGalley for the privilege for reading this wonderful book!
Oh IF only I could find many more like this one! What a CHARMING read!!!
The beauty of this story. There are so many emotions, you will feel through to the end of the story. This is an enchanting story that will stand the test of time, I so enjoyed this book! It is another charming novel by Heather Webber regarding a small town with a tale of forgiveness and following your heart !
I highly recommend this book!
5 full STARS!!!

A warm heartfelt magical story that is original. The characters are deeply developed and you fall in love with the main characters. Fantastic book to get and settle yourself in the warmth of it. Highly recommended!

All in all an enjoyable read. The biggest let down is the fact that the “ big mystery” is no mystery at all.

Holy cow did I love this book!!!! Amazing characters and such a warm and heartfelt story! Highly highly recommend!

Heather Webber does it again! I loved South of the Buttonwood Tree, what a beautiful story of love, forgiveness, deep family secrets, and magic.

This story was written so perfectly and I couldn’t put it down. Blue Bishop’s character was so seemingly misunderstood, yet people of the town truly got her and knew her heart. I thought Blue was so multi-faceted and I just loved her. There were so many beautiful and strained relationships throughout the book that held my attention til the end of the story so I could find out how they were resolved. I especially enjoyed reading every piece from the Judge’s POV, it was very telling and endeared the reader to Blue even more, if that was even possible.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oleta doesn't feel Blue should be able to keep the baby. She tells the judge so. Blue belongs to a family of trouble. She did her best to avoid trouble at almost thirty. Blue has a younger sister named Persy. Blue finds a baby in the woods with a note to keep it. I loved the multiple points of view. Sarah grace is planning to buy and fix up blues family farmhouse. The house use to be on Sarah Grace's family. Sarah grace and husband is competing to adopt Flora,the baby blue found. . I liked the name Flora. I felt blue should keep the baby. I liked the mystery of who Flora's parents were. I loved the characters except Fletch. I liked the ending.

I love that this book is magical realism. It added an extra special layer to the story’s

Blue and Sarah Grace both live in the same small town. In the woods, there is a magic tree that gives people advice written on a button.
And one day, Blue finds the baby she’s always wished for with a button saying “give the baby to Blue”.
The tree itself might be magic but everyone knows that someone must have actually abandoned this baby.

Blue and Sarah Grace’s are both majorly affected by their families’ legacies. Blue is a Bishop, her family has always had a bad name and Blue has lived her whole life trying to outrun her family’s reputation. Even though her and her sister Persy have never acted out, Blue feels judged by her parents’ and brothers’ misdeeds.

Meanwhile, Sarah Grace’s family acts so perfect that she’s hidden all of her mistakes from them. The tree told Sarah Grace a long time ago “follow your heart” and she never has. She turned away from the great love of her life because she didn’t think her family would accept him.

When the baby is found in the woods, Blue gets temporary custody because she’s already been working with adoption agencies and passed all the clearances.
But Sarah Grace’s mother decides the baby should belong to her daughter instead.

Along the way, dna tests are given to find out who the baby’s mother is, and things get even more interesting.

I loved all the magical elements. Sarah Grace has one , Blue has one, and Blue’s friend has one too. I won’t spoil anything, I’ll just saw they were a fun addition to the story.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley, thanks!

South of the Buttonwood Tree was not what I expected. Fairly well written. I was disappointed in the whole mystical portion of the book. I wasn’t expecting that. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

SOUTH OF THE BUTTONWOOD TREE was just a delight! Who doesn't like a magical, problem-solving tree? Very poignant and uplifting. I think that fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Bette Lee Crosby would enjoy this book.

This was a fast paced and emotional read as I devoured this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves magical realism and fiction. It’s a feel–good story with a family centered plot and truly heartwarming.
The story is told from the point of view of two Southern women with very different experiences. The variety of plot lines intersect towards end with the perfect amount of mystery and romance.
A delightful summer read!

A tree that gives out buttons, with words of wisdom, when asked what should you do about a situation? How can you not find that charming? And this book will have you spell bound by its charm from the first chapter! The entire town is covered with a kind of fairy magic, so when a baby appears under the tree with a note saying to give it to Blue, no one doubts that that is what is supposed to be. But not quite everyone, as there are a few hold outs from the magic. As they try to force the baby away from Blue and to someone else, the judge in the case starts to hear from the entire town about just why the 'curse' on Blue and her family might just be a total falsehood, and she is the perfect person to raise the baby. While you might guess the identity of the baby's mother pretty quickly, it's very much like watching a TV show and wanting to see how long it takes the town to figure it out! In fact, this would be a charming Lifetime or Hallmark channel movie, and I hope they grab it! You'll love this book as a lovely Summer read, perfect for reading in spurts as you can on the beach or by the pool! Though you may try to find yourself reading it all at one time!

Have you ever been so enchanted and enthralled by a book that you don’t want it to end? I cherished every single word, every emotion that swirled through my heart, slowing down to truly become acquainted with the residents of Buttonwood. This book has such wonderful magic in its pages, with characters who I thought about and worried about, even when I wasn’t reading. This heartfelt story is so much more about the journey than the ending, imparting so much wisdom and love. With each page, I’d uncover another layer, revealing truths and insight. The characters wound themselves around my heart in every way possible, wonderfully flawed people whose hearts grew with the love they let in. The magic in the pages of this book was alluring and captivating, causing me to smile with wonder and contentment. But the true magic of this book is the feelings it evoked in me, the fondness I had for Blue, Sarah Grace, and all of their loved ones, and the knowledge that the sheer joy of reading this book will last forever.

I didn’t want this to end. It’s been a long time since I put everything off to finish a book; but this just kept pulling me in. I just loved the characters and the mystery of the baby and the Buttonwood Tree. The love of Marla and Moe. The magic in the air. There are so many wonderful things in this one. If you like Sarah Addison Allen, you’ll love this author, too. Her previous one, Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, is one of my favorites. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber was a nice, heartwarming read about the importance of love, forgiveness, and family which I did enjoy.

I thought that exploring forgiveness was nice because it seems to me that it’s a word that is oft bandied about without any real thought to its meaning. Webber, however, spends time exploring what forgiveness is and how important it is to be able to forgive others, even if they never asked for it. The world is imperfect, but that doesn’t mean that we carry around our hurts like rotting potatoes (as my friend once elegantly put it).

I felt that the slightly magical touches to the book, while providing some whimsy, felt a little too much. This was especially so when the magical abilities of some of the characters weren’t really explained. However, I really liked the central lore of the buttonwood tree. It seems like a convenient device but I found it effective. Also, having different members of the town talk to the judge throughout the book was such a fun detail! It helped balance and push things along very well.

This is a very creatively written book, with a variety of plot lines that all intersect toward the end of the book. At the heart of this story is the reminder that family ties (the family one chooses to claim) are ultimately more important than the grudges one holds.

I wish there was a Buttonwood Tree in my town.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I promise that this review is all my own though!

Heather Webber is definitely becoming an auto-read for me, I just love the way she writes, with just enough mystical happenings threaded throughout the book to keep things interesting.

The book is mainly about two characters, Blue (from the 'no-good' Bishop family/always trying to live down her family's bad reputation) and Sarah-Grace (from a 'good' family and always trying to do the right thing). Both Blue and Sarah-Grace have slightly magical happenings around them all the time though, Blue can find... anything! And Sarah-Grace, who renovates old houses, can hear what the houses have to say to her.

I just loved this book, both main characters were so lovely and ended up really helping each other as the book went on. They were linked by the old family house Blue was selling to Sarah-Grace, against the wishes of her strait-laced Mother who hated the Bishops. Of course Blue finding a new-born baby under the mystical Buttonwood Tree really threw a spanner in the works, as she wanted to keep her and adopt her, but some people in the town were dead set against it. The judge had to decide and the little snippets of stories people of the town would regale the judge with throughout the book to try and help him make up his mind were lovely.

Of course finally things came to a head when it was discovered who the mother of the baby was, and long held secrets were revealed - big surprises that I didn't see coming!

Really lovely book that I would thoroughly recommend.

I feel like I've been reading a lot of heavy reads, so it was nice to take this one on. It was a sweet story of two women. One is Sarah Grace and the other is Blue. They live in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone. At least, they think they do. The town's prejudices and pride are put into question when Blue finds a baby abandoned in the woods.
Sarah Grace is victim to being part of a family who wants everyone to think they're perfect, but she feels her life unraveling.
At the center of it all is the magic of the Buttonwood Tree.
This is a fun story as these two women find out the secrets and mysteries of the town and where they actually fit.
I enjoyed this book, the writing was well done, the characters are cute and unique, and the plot is fun and new. It's a bit predictable and parts of it were a little slow for me, but it was still such a fun story. I recommend it to people who enjoy this genre. I give it 3.5 stars.

~~~May contain spoilers~~~
(This was my first experience reading a Magical Realism genre book)

It took a while to get really invested in this book. but when it eventually took off for me, I had a really tough time putting it down. 4.5/5 stars for this one. Reading this book was truly a lovely experience.

"South of the Buttonwood Tree" by Heather Webber is the story of a small town, sprinkled with hints of magic, which deals with the important topics like gossip, prejudices, self-happiness, the pressure of keeping up appearances and the foremost, the ability to forgive. Connecting all the themes of the book is the theme of family bonds and found-family.

The author has intricately crafted the settings and characters of the book that suck you deeply into the story. Be it the titular Buttonwood tree and its legends or the woods or the town, the author has described them such richly that I felt as if I was right in that world with the characters. The characters are flawed and lovable and their character arc appeared very thoughtful and consistent. These characters are sure gonna catch one's heart.

I felt so bad for the Bishops family. They weren't perfect people but they weren't inherently bad either. A big, flawed, troublemaking yet loving family. Most of the members of the Bishop family were too proud to ask for help and they made such ill-fated choices. None of them had known how to ask for help when they needed it most, always having to run away from the community instead of looking to see what help it had to offer.

I loved the the conversations of Judge Quimbey with the town people. It showed us an altogether different side of the notorious Bishop family and showed us the harmful effects of judging people without knowing them truly. I also loved his role as a secret well-wisher and guardian of the Bishop family.

I definitely recommend this beautiful, enchanting tale to all!