HATTERAS GIRL by Alice J. Wisler

You will be delighted with the charming characters in this book set in North Carolina's Outer Banks.  Jackie Donovan has two wishes: one is to own the closed down bed-and-breakfast house in her community and two is to find a wonderful man to marry.  Her friends and relatives keep helping her out with the second wish, but nothing seems to turn out right on her dates.  Then she finds herself attracted to man who turns out owns The Bailey House, which is her hearts desire to buy and fix up and run it again with her good friend Minnie.  But when it looks like both her wishes are coming true she finds out sometimes jumping into a relationship and a business deal too fast can be cause for regrets down the road.

I loved the way this author helps you get to know the people in this community.  There are a lot of fun and quirky individuals and you get a real feel for Jackie as she tells the story and shares with us her thoughts and emotions.  Sometimes what you are looking for is right in front of you but you were just so busy looking, you couldn't see what was right there all along.  It wasn't the romance in this story that takes center stage for me, but just getting to know the folks on the Outer Banks and being a part of that community that made me enjoy this story so much (not that I don't enjoy a little romance mixed in).

This story is book #3 in the "Heart of Carolina" series.  I have read book 1, "Rain Song",  and now this story, which is book #3.  Both these stories were stand alone stories that did not relate to each other.  I can't speak for book #2, "How Sweet It Is",  but feel you could probably read these stories in any order you desired.  I also discovered that there is a 4th book in this series, "A Wedding Invitation".  I would also like to give a big thumbs up for the title of this story and the cover on the book; both hit the mark of what this story was about.