Death, family and moving on. The cover of this book seems like it could be the cover of any book really. But this book is about an over worked mom who just lost her husband and is trying to find out what her life looks like without the love of her life. Suddenly she is back in her home town in Alabama and is trying to figure out what “moving on” looks like for her and her daughter. There are love interest but it is very pg. This is such an amazing book and the dual narration really brought it to life.

Dollycas's Thoughts

In The River Runs South, Camille Taylor's husband, Ben, appears perfectly healthy when Camille leaves for work but shortly thereafter he suffers a massive heart attack and dies. Camille tries so hard to keep up with the life they had in Washington D.C. while raising their 6-year-old daughter Willa and trying to deal with her grief. After almost a year she finally admits to herself that she has reached a point where she can't do it any longer. So she packs bags for herself and Willa and they head to Alabama and her parents, hoping to get it together and return to work in a couple of weeks.

Back on the Alabama coast, she feels better and the slower lifestyle soothes her mind as well. That lasts until she meets Mack Phillips, a local fisherman. Their first meeting was fun, thanks to Willa, who is quite a little girl. But later she finds out things in Mobile Bay are a little tense. A developer has cleared land for new homes but quickly abandoned the project when a lawsuit is filed. Their clearing of the land messed with an already fragile ecosystem and is now polluting the water. Sadly Camille's father was a partner on the project so he is part of the lawsuit. A lawsuit brought by her new friend Mack Phillips.

Camille joins her father's defense team to try to help him save his business, his reputation, and his home, all while being drawn to Mack. Her parents are livid that they keep running into each other but it isn't always her fault.

Camille is so conflicted about everything happening in Alabama and her boss in Washington wants her back there as soon as possible. She has some big choices to make. She has to help her parents, do what is best for Willa, and try to figure out how to make a new life for herself where she is happy and fulfilled. None of that is easy.

______

My heart just broke for Camille and Willa. Camille is a strong woman, a lawyer with a high-pressure job. Willa is a precocious 6-year-old doing everything a child should do. In a matter of a second both their lives were turned inside out. Grief affects each person differently and I couldn't believe Camille went back to work so soon and that she kept it up for almost a year before crumbling. Willa is a character that is larger than life. I loved that she wanted to visit and do everything her mother did while growing up in Mobile Bay. She innocently pushed her mother into crazy situations after meeting Mack. Willa really liked the man and couldn't understand why her mother didn't want to do everything with him that they could. It was such an emotional ride for Camille. I would love to bottle Willa's enthusiasm for living life.

Mack Phillips was also a very strong character. A man always trying to do the right thing. His dedication to saving the ecosystem was commendable. His passion was fearless. He brought in a big gun law firm to take on a corporate giant and was apologetic that Camille's dad was involved. He could have dropped the lawsuit because of the relationship he was trying to build with Camille but he didn't.

Ms. Ingram did an excellent job of portraying true human emotions in a way that I could feel them in my heart. I have not lost my husband but I did lose an adult son to suicide and my emotions were raw just like Camille's. I forced myself to get back to work just like she did. I didn't last a year though. I didn't have a place to escape to but having the right people around me like Camille finally did is what was needed to get our hearts and heads in the right space. In reality, that is an ongoing condition, no matter how many years have passed.

Camille and her mother had a difficult relationship. I am glad the author let their relationship develop realistically and did not try for a quick fix. That trying relationship made Camille's relationship with Willa stronger.  I was really drawn into this story by the multigenerational connections. The expectations and the dramatic tensions that played out really pulled at my heart.

The River Runs South is a moving, passionate story of love, loss, grief, healing, and moving forward. The characters were genuine and realistic. For me, Willa was the star, “and a child shall lead them”. I highly recommend this story. Audrey Ingram is an author to watch.

Camille Taylor has it all - - a successful job as a partner in a law firm, a beautiful daughter and loving husband. What more could she want? Then one day everything is uprooted when Ben suddenly dies and leaves Camille devastated and unsure how to move forward.

Several months later, Camille still hasn't found a way to balance work and her daughter. And her grief is still almost paralyzing. So, she takes a leave of absence at the insistence of her firm and heads to stay with her parents in Alabama to try and pull herself together. She hates going back because it feels like she's a failure. What she doesn't realize is it might be just what she and her daughter need. But things aren't exactly what she was expecting in Alabama either when she finds out her father is being sued.

Camille finds her roots and remembers who she was before she left. Even better, she realizes who she wants to be going forward.

This book was such a wonderful read. My heart broke for Camille when Ben died. It was truly a horrible thing for a young thirty-five year old woman and mother to go through and you just want her to find a way to move through it. Even though Camille will always miss Ben, she works through her grief and comes out the other side even stronger. This was a strong women's fiction entry and I'd highly recommend it.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audio was narrated so well. I was completely engrossed in the storyline and felt like the southern inflections were done well lending to the credence of the book. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to read and listen to them both and review them. The opinions contained within are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The River Runs South was a well-written narrative with excellent characters, a compelling premise, and a satisfying conclusion: 10/10 would recommend! ⭐️

Camille is a successful lawyer in Washington, she has a wonderful husband Ben and a six year old daughter Willa. Camille lives a full corporate life, from the power suits to the carefully straightened controlled hair and a rigid timetable to ensure that work and family run to schedule. Not on the schedule is the sudden death of Ben and the chaos and dysfunction that follows.
As hard as she tries, Camille realises that she is juggling far more than she can handle, and the grief that she is trying to squash down is threatening to blow completely.
This book covers loss and heartbreak - but it also provides inspiration in finding the connections in our lives that enable us to heal. This is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming.
I am happy to recommend this book, thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

This story is a wonderful exploration of family relationships, grief, love and starting over. I appreciated the story he involving relevant, timely, environmental issues. Thanks #NetGalley #PenguinRandomHouse

I loved Ingram's writing style. Glimpse of upcoming events - but a leisurely and poetic journey to the event. This was a great read - great story, great writing. Loved these characters - the relationships were so well done. Realistic struggle between child and parents as an adult - the need to please. Combined with the impact of people on a sensitive ecosystem.
After the sudden death of Camille's beloved husband, her life spirals. Her law office strongly encourages her to take time to recover - Camille goes home to Alabama, a place she swore to never return.
Her daughter flourishes. Her relationship with her mother tanks. And her father is involved in a lawsuit.
Very well done.

A wonderful read. Women’s fiction of life after a death and saving your family. After her husbands death she moves back home after months of struggles. Moving home is never easy especially when Grandma and Daughter see things very differently. But thank goodness for an adorable granddaughter to help them see the light along with some small town “challenges”. Deeper than a hallmark movie, very similar to K.Harvey writing style. Loved it.

THE RIVER RUNS SOUTH by Audrey Ingram
5🌟

Format: Digital
Length: 295 pgs
Pub date: September 5, 2023
Publisher: @alcovepress
Book Tour Co: @katerockbooktours

Thank you to @katerockbooktours and @audreyingramwrites for inviting me to be a stop on the tour and for my #gifted copy.

🌅 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜:
Camille Taylor has what could be called a dream life. Two married lawyers, working high-powered jobs in D.C. with a precocious daughter at home. But suddenly her world changes when her husband dies. Camille and Willa struggle for a year trying to make things work but they’re just… not. So Camille does what she never thought she’d do, go home.
Home for Camille is coastal Alabama, on the Mobile Bay. Fairhope is much like other towns in the Deep South- things move at a slower pace, and this is everything Camille needs.
While in Fairhope Camille meets a fisherman, Mack Phillips, and discovers that her father is being sued in a lawsuit for being an owner of an abandoned development that is now polluting her cherished Mobile Bay with runoff. She decides to put her law degree to use and help her father but is she doing what’s right? And why is she so drawn to Mack?

🌅𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This was a sweet and lovely Southern family drama with motherhood issues and romance thrown in there. Camille is very likable and I adored Willa. As someone who has recently been through a sudden loss, I feel like Camille really showed depth of character and it was a welcome change to see both her emotional and physical grief portrayed on the page. It was also so great to see the impact on Willa explored. Children are often just accessories in books but the author has delved into her grief as well.
The ecological aspect is a very different yet important part of the book. Being from Alabama the author is well aware of the issues troubling coastal communities. (In Louisiana we are losing a football field of coast every HOUR.)

Read if you like:
🌅Southern Fiction
🌅Debut novels
🌅Hallmark movies
🌅Kristy Woodson Harvey books
🌅2nd chances
🌅Single POV
🌅Eco stories

OUT TODAY!

Audrey Ingram's stunning debut, THE RIVER RUNS SOUTH, is a beautifully moving story of courage and new beginnings — a mother, wife, and attorney, stricken with grief returns to her small coastal Southern hometown to assist her father, Sam, with an environmental lawsuit and in the process she remembers what she loved about the area and wants the same for her daughter.

Camille Taylor has worked hard to escape her small-town life of Alabama and is now a successful attorney (Junior partner) in hopes of being a full partner in Washington, DC, happily married with a young daughter, Willa.

When Ben, her husband, dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, she is shattered with grief. When a panic attack lands her in the hospital, she decides to visit her parents in her hometown in the coastal town of Fairhope, Alabama, with her six-year-old daughter Willa over the summer for a change and emotional support.

She finds the salt air and the coast is what she needs and introduces her daughter to everything she loved as a child. She also meets local fisherman, the intriguing Mack Phillips.

There is much stress in her parent's home as her father is involved in a lawsuit due to runoff from an abandoned development site polluting the water, and Mack has brought a suit against the site’s owners—Camille’s father among them.

Her daughter is a big fan of Mack's but Camille's mom (very critical and controlling) the perfect Marion Graves, does not like her mentioning his name yet she wants Camille to date the local attorney, Griffin, whom she thinks is more suitable.

There is more to Mack than meets the eye. Camille's daughter loves it here and wants to stay, but Camille's life and law career are back in DC.

Can she remain in Alabama, fight for causes, have a law practice, and get to know Mack? Can she have it all and offer the best life for her daughter?

Lawyers always seem to make the best authors!

THE RIVER RUNS SOUTH is heartwarming, beautifully told, and one of grief, family, self-discovery, and new beginnings. I love the stunning cover and the fun characters. Willa was a favorite, and I loved her spunk and vivid personality. The Southern setting and environment elements, as were the mother/daughter relationships and emotions, were well done.

AUDIOBOOK: I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook I highly recommend, narrated by the fabulously talented Megan Tusing (a favorite) for all voices for an engaging performance.

Audrey Ingram is an author to watch! Looking forward to seeing what comes next!

THE RIVER RUNS SOUTH is perfect for fans of the movie Sweet Home Alabama and authors Mary Alice Monroe, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Lauren K. Denton, and Patti Callahan Henry—an ideal book club pick.

Thanks to Alcove Press and Dreamscape Media for a gifted ARC and ALC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Sept 5, 2023
Sept 2023 Must-Read Books

The novel tells the story of Camille Taylor, who, after her husband's unexpected death, leaves her life in Washington, DC, to return to her hometown on the Alabama coast. There, she finds solace in the coastal surroundings but also confronts the environmental issues plaguing her beloved Mobile Bay. When she meets fisherman Mack Phillips and learns about a lawsuit against the polluting development site, which includes her father among the owners, she becomes involved in the legal battle. As she wrestles with her own beliefs and feelings for Mack, Camille faces the moral dilemma of choosing between family loyalty and environmental responsibility, ultimately redefining her life's direction. The novel explores themes of love, loss, and the complexities of doing what's right in the face of challenging circumstances.

This book fell way short for me. I wish the author the very best with her writing career but this one just didn't get it. Being from Alabama I was so excited to read it but... Overuse of names drove me nuts. Some of the dialog just didn't read smoothly. The story started out very sad and that would have been ok but there was just to much. Falling asleep in a big meeting as a partner in a law office. That just didn't sound reasonable even after all she went through. It just didn't do it for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. This is my true feelings about this book.

2.5-3 stars from me.

Title: The River Runs South
Author: Audrey Ingram
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

When Camille Taylor’s husband dies unexpectedly, the carefully constructed life she worked so hard to build in Washington, DC, shatters. After struggling for almost a year, she reaches a breaking point, packs up her daughter, and heads for the Alabama coast where she grew up.

The salt air and slow rhythms of the coast soothe Camille’s spirit, but when she meets local fisherman Mack Phillips, she learns that things have changed in her hometown. Runoff from an abandoned development site is polluting the water, and Mack has brought a suit against the site’s owners—Camille’s father among them.

Battling her own fears for the fragile ecosystem of her beloved Mobile Bay, Camille joins her father’s defense team, but the more she learns, the more she wonders if she’s landed on the right side of the fight. Meanwhile, Camille is slowly drawn to Mack's fearless resolve, his sterling ideals, and finally to the man himself.

Faced with blurred lines between right and wrong, Camille must decide for herself what the next chapter of her life will bring.

Initially, I wasn’t sure I liked Camille. Even though she’d just lost her husband, she came across as cold and unfeeling. Her daughter, however, was adorable, so I kept reading. And I’m so glad I did! I do love a good Southern fiction, and the author really brought life on the Alabama coast to shimmering life. I immediately wanted to visit! I like that the environmental issues weren’t just glossed over, and that Camille could really look at things from both sides. Loved these characters and this read.

Audrey Ingram is from Alabama. The River Runs South is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.)

A heartfelt story about how quickly life can change and often finding yourself is the first step in moving forward with the changes that have happened. Camille has it all. A wonderful husband, an inquisitive daughter and her dream job in D.C. But one phone call is all it takes to shatter everything she has. Trying to figure out how to move forward and life as a single parent, it is taking a toll and Camille is not herself. She is struggling with work, she is struggling to figure out what is best for her daughter and she is struggling with how to move forward. Deciding to take a break from it all, she returns to the last place she thought she would go back to, home in Alabama. Heading home, her parents welcome them with open arms and it doesn't take long for Willa to settle right in and love the change. Camille doesn't have any plans to stay in Alabama but sometimes life makes the choice for you, and just as her life was changed in D.C. she is finding that life here might not be so bad either and she has once again found something to work towards and that her skills in D.C. can be used here. I really enjoyed this novel and really loved little Willa's character. Thank you to the author and publisher for the free novel and to Let's Talk Books for the tour invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

The River Runs South will be one of my favorite books of this summer! I love reading debut novels, and Audrey Ingram is definitely an author that I look forward to seeing more from. I read this book in one day, it was that good!

From the first chapter, I found it easy to become emotionally involved in the characters. Camille and Willa suffer a devastating loss and are struggling immensely. I absolutely fell in love with Willa, and also with Mack and his relationship with the little girl and her mother, too. My heart broke for Camille's dad, and the situation he found himself in.

The novel has a multi-layered plot, looking at the relationship between mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, and the book has an environmentalist aspect that makes the reader aware of how development can affect the ecosystem. Ms. Ingram does all of this without being preachy about it, which I definitely appreciate.

If you enjoy books by Kristy Woodson Harvey or love a good Hallmark movie, you will enjoy The River Runs South by Audrey Ingram. Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Camille packs up her six year old daughter Willa and heads hone to Alabama after a panic attack sends her to the ER in the wake of the death of her husband. She was never really happy in Fairlope, thanks in part to her hypercritical mother, but now she's healing. And then she meets Mack, a fisherman, and builds a friendship, which is endangered when she opts to defend her father Sam in the lawsuit Mack has filed against Sam's company. This wraps topical environmental themes of corporate responsibility into a tale of recovery and renewal. And there's a little romance of a sort. Willa, while conveying as older than she's meant to be, is the one who perks this up with some pointed commentary just when it's needed. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read.

I wasn't expecting to really like this, but in the end I did. A couple of minor messy spots/connections that didn't make sense and a child that ended up being very annoying in certain scenarios but I enjoyed it overall

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

Title: The River Runs South
Author: Audrey Ingram
Publisher: Alcove Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"The River Runs South" by Audrey Ingram

My Sentiments:
'The River Runs South' was a good read featuring Camille Taylor, an attorney, after her husband Ben dies of a heart attack. The story shows how loving her parents and Ben's parents were there to help Camille and her daughter Willa in her time of need.

After much thought, Camille leaves her job and decides to go home from Washington, DC., to Fairhope, Alabama, to spend time with her parents. Unbeknown to Camille, it looks like her father has gotten himself in trouble in their hometown, which involved a 'runoff from an abandoned development site is polluting the water and a local fisherman Mack Phillip has brought a suit against the site's owners in which Camilles's father Sam is among them.'

Much of this happened to her parents in Washington, DC, helping Camille deal with her husband's death.
So, naturally, with Camille being a lawyer, she wanted to help her father with this problem. However, her dad, Sam, didn't want to bother her due to what was going on in her life with the death of her husband and helping with her daughter Willa. That little six-year-old was quite a mess at times; however, I did like the adventurous trips that Camille took her daughter, Willa, on, showing her the areas she went to while living in her hometown of Fairhope.

But as things turn out, will Camille be able to help her father with this situation? Will Camille start to have feelings for this local fisherman...Mack Phillips?

When it's all said and done, what will change in the life of Camille and Willa? Will she return to work in DC or stay in her hometown of Fairhope, Al and reside there? Will she find another love? Why was her father so against Mack Phillips? What was up with Camille's mom, Marion, that it seemed like they couldn't get along with each other for some reason?

To get these questions answered and more, you must pick up 'The River Runs South' to see how well the story is brought out to the reader.

I absolutely adored this novel. Beautifully written with the right amount of tension to keep the story moving forward. The conflict of interest was so well done and the love interests kept me asking--who will she choose? The lawsuit was believable, captivating, and the issues/situation kept escalating. This is one of my favorite books of the year. An excellent debut. I can't wait to see what this author writes next.

The book starts out with Camilla losing her husband and six year old Willa missing her father. Camilla is a partner in a law firm and work falls to the side. Her parents come and stay with her, trying to help. Camilla and her mother have a dicey relationship. Her mother is a traditional Southern woman and does not approve of Camilla working outside of the home and not staying at home with her daughter. AND, Willa is a tomboy. Horrors! Camilla and Willa head down South with her parents while Camilla comes to terms with a new way of life. The book moves slowly but did touch my heart. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC. This review is my own honest opinion.