A heartwarming debut novel about starting over. Camille Taylor, a high-powered lawyer in Washington, DC, is still struggling with overwhelming grief almost a year after the unexpected death of her husband. She is forced to take a leave of absence from her firm and returns home to the Alabama coast with her 6 year-old daughter for the summer to regroup. Not long after arriving in Alabama she learns that a local fisherman is suing a land developer over environmental damage to a river and her father who is a landscaper has been added to the lawsuit.

The River Runs South was an enjoyable read - a well-written, feel-good story about dealing with grief, motherhood, work/life balance and the courage to start over after a devastating loss and find love again. I appreciated the ecological message about protecting the environment that is deftly woven into the personal story as Camille gets involved in the lawsuit and learns about the environmental issues relating to the destruction of Mobile Bay's fragile ecosystem. I also enjoyed the descriptions of small-town coastal Alabama and the delicious local recipes that Camille cooks. An easy to read, enjoyable book with a good message!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sending this digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A fantastic story about hitting the bottom and climbing back to the top. You can go home again, and sometimes it is the best thing you didn’t know you needed. I fell deep into this book from the first chapter and couldn’t put it down until I knew what Camille was going to do for herself and Willa. I think that Camille is one of the best characters I have read in a long time. She is naturally filled with the conflicts of being a human, a mother, a daughter, and a widow. I absolutely love her, and the fact that she feels so real.

Camille's husband suddenly dies young leaving her grieving and not quite sure what to do as a single mother to her daughter. Before the tragedy, Camille was a workaholic lawyer, but finds she just can't return to her old job. With nothing else to do, she heads home to the coastal Alabama town where she grew up. Once there, she discovers the town is in turmoil over an environmental lawsuit that her dad has become entangled in.

While her daughter becomes enamored with growing up in a coastal town, Camille decides to take on her father's defense.

I love the soothing setting of The River Runs South, it reminds me of slower living and good seafood. There is also a bit of romance and the blossoming of a young girl running around in the sunshine. I also enjoyed the story line that deals with how we can balance progress with being eco friendly. If you are looking to find some peace in a book, this could be the one for you.

The River Runs South by Audrey Ingram

I enjoyed so many things about this novel from Alabama native and former lawyer Audrey Ingram. The southern setting, the quiet pace, the family drama, the characters, and learning about Alabama’s fragile ecosystem with an approach that wasn’t heavy-handed.

After her husband dies unexpectedly, D.C. attorney Camille, along with her young daughter, packs up and heads to her coastal hometown. She needs space to grieve, time with family, and a plan to rebuild her shattered life.

She meets Mack, a local fisherman, who is immersed in an environmental lawsuit against a group of individuals, including her father. As Camille joins her father’s defense team, she struggles with loss, love, and what she really wants next.

This novel hits bookstores September 5.

Stunning debut. I am from South Alabama and this story is dear to my heart. Beautiful writing.
Many thanks to Alcove Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

After Camille Taylor (a high-powered DC lawyer) suffers a devastating loss, she and her young daughter move back to Alabama for a re-group with her parents. She discovers that her father has been pulled into a lawsuit involving a large unscrupulous company who has disrupted the natural habitat of a local river. As she fights to help save his reputation and finances, she meets two interesting men. Mack is the instigator of the lawsuit against her father, and Griffin is her father’s legal counsel. She finds herself torn between the two men as she struggles to help her father. And as she begins to heal from her heartache, she must make a very important decision about her and her daughter’s future.

Overall, I enjoyed this. But I did have some issues that really bothered me…the timing of Camille’s relationships with Mack and Griffin, and the personalities/attitudes of both men. Camille seemed to unrealistically (in my opinion) develop feelings for both men entirely too quickly for the storyline progression. And in the beginning especially I did not like (at all) that both men seemed a bit arrogant and pushy toward a romantic connection with Camille. That issue resolved itself, but it still hung over the story for me as bothersome and a bit unnecessary. Also, while Camille’s young daughter was meant to be portrayed as an intelligent and precocious child, unfortunately I found her irritatingly headstrong, rude and dare I say spoiled?

My thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing the free early arc of The River Runs South for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This is a great story. One with a tragedy, that Camille has to overcome and learn to live again. Her process and her life is so much in line with what real life is. I love Camille and watching her grow as a mother, daughter, and person was awesome. The characters are very much like the folks we may know, especially if you are in the South. I loved the story line and the characters. I would definitely be up for a return visit to Fairhope, AL. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

The River Runs South is a heartwarming story about starting over. This debut novel will tug on your heartstrings as Camille and her precocious daughter Willa learn how to pick up the pieces of their lives following the death of Ben, their husband and father. This is a story of change and growth, as well as loss and grief. The story of filled with many wonderful characters and set in a lovely small town. Congratulations to the author on the publication of a great first novel.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Love love love! The characters (especially Willa!), the story, the setting and all of the details were incredible. I cant wait for this book to be published so I can scream from the rooftops for everyone to read it!

I loved the cover of this book, so I knew I had to read this one. I'm also a sucker for Southern fiction. After the death of her husband, Camille and her daughter Willa returned to her childhood home along the Alabama coast, the place she thought she would never return to. This is a heartfelt story of loss and learning to live and love again. After reading this book I also wanted to know more about the aquatic ecosystems in coastal areas. Thanks to the author Audrey Ingram, Alcove Press, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Camille and her family live a busy life in Washington, D.C. She and her husband both work demanding jobs while trying to raise their young daughter, Willa. After a family tradegy, Camille returns to her hometown to help regain her strength and decide the next steps in life.

While visiting her mother and father, Camille finds herself using her law degree to help her father in an environmental lawsuit. As Camille is tying to find herself again, she runs into two eligible bachelors that make life decisions even harder.

Ingram's debut novel is set in the deep south of Alabama and intriques readers with the setting. The setting of the south helps the readers get a sense of the importance of family and standing up for what you believe in. The predictable plot lacks a 5 star review.

Learning to live again while suffering grief is unbearable and sometimes feels impossible but happiness can be found again if you really want to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

After the sudden death of her husband, lawyer Camille Taylor returns home to Alabama to find herself again. Once there, she discovers that her parents are embroiled in a lawsuit with the charismatic Mack. As she comes to terms with her grief and the things she's been missing out on in life due to her corporate law job, she begins to open up and discover what is truly important to her as she works with her father's defense team to help him out of his troubles.

I thought this was a beautiful book about learning to live again in the face of grief. The characters are rich and interesting, the setting is vibrant and visceral. This is a gem of a book!

The River Runs South is a tender family drama. The story starts off dramatically but is a simple, easy-going drama as a family grows and develops through tragedy and love.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The River Runs South is a sweet, feel-good story of second chances and love in many forms. A perfect beach read, not demanding, with a heroine who is both vulnerable and powerful, a spunky kid, and more than one attractive man in the picture.

Camille is unexpectedly widowed at the start of the story, and after a few months’ floundering, her professional life implodes and she’s put on leave. She takes the opportunity to take her daughter and go home to Alabama, a place she swore she’d never go back to, to lick her wounds. But once she’s there she discovers it’s the same place she loved as a child, and much more than she ever remembers.

Ingram waves a beautiful thread of environmental stewardship through this book, showing a love for the coastal areas in which it is set. You can see the love she has for this setting, and you can’t help feeling it, too. An enjoyable, light read for summer.

“The River Runs South” is a debut novel by Audrey Ingram. I would say that this book wasn’t quite what I was expecting - but I wasn’t sure quite what to expect either. This book follows Camille, a Washington DC lawyer, who is married to Ben and they have a six-year-old child, Willa. Ben dies suddenly and a number of months later Camille suffers a panic attack, resulting in her deciding to take a break from her life in Washington DC and return to her family home in Alabama. While in Alabama, Camille rediscovers the joys of her small town - along with some of the pitfalls of living in a small town. Willa enjoys time spent with both her grandparents and her mom - and the family does “adventures” together, adding to Willa’s joy of Alabama. Camille discovers her father is being sued by someone thanks to a partnership in a project. This is where a love triangle beings, with her father’s lawyer and the person suing her father both become interested in Camille. In some ways this book was about “simple joys” - rediscovering that sometimes while you can’t return home you can share what is familiar and comfortable from home with someone and experience it through their eyes. Ms. Ingram did a fantastic job describing the waterways and area of Alabama. I don’t know what six year olds Ms. Ingram possibly hangs out with, but Willa’s word choice sounded like a much older child. Ms. Ingram did her research into ecological preservation and while sometimes a bit too heavy handed for my taste, it did lead into some interesting scenes, especially with the lawyers. Overall, I’d say you may read this as a beach read or you may read it with a bit more depth - the choice is yours. I did find it a bit predictable, but for the most part that wasn’t deterring.

These books are some of my favorites to read. I love books set in the south and enjoy even more when the author focuses on slowing down to really enjoy life and being reminded on what's important. This book is a great reminder that life isn't guaranteed and we should all slow down a little bit. This was a great debut novel and I will be on the lookout for more from this author.

It is hard not to root for Camille Taylor as she puts her life back together after the unexpected death of her husband Ben, leaving her adrift in Washington with their six year old daughter Willa and a law practice she is unable to manage. Seeking the support of her parents, Camille moves "back home" to quant Fairhope Alabama, the very place to which she swore never to return. While this is not my typical genre, I was attracted to the overlay of a environmental legal case that Camille takes on when she returns home. Audrey Ingram offers an easy to read, enjoyable and intelligent novel about a woman who must figure out some hard truths about herself in the face of unexpected and unimaginable loss. Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC.

Thank you to Audrey Ingram, Alcove Press and NetGalley for the eARC of The River Runs South. I loved the family drama aspect of this book and the southern setting was perfect. Overall, it is a heartwarming story filled with some sadness but ends healing and hope. I wish the relationship with Mack would have been further explored, it felt incomplete, I gave this 4 of 5 stars.

The River Runs South by Audrey Ingram was a beautifully written heartfelt debut.

Started this morning and didn’t stop until I finished.
This was a story that I completely lost myself in.
With a cast of unforgettable characters I could feel every single emotion within this story. It was amazing. This story is well written and flows easily. And the characters are very relatable as are their situations.
A wonderfully told story of loss, grief, love, and moving forward.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Alcove Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!