He’s sexy. He’s southern. And he won’t stop showing up at my door half naked. Meet Elijah Jackson, my hot new neighbor…From the outside looking in? I’ve got it all. Prestigious job. Pretty house. And a perfect boyfriend who just proposed with the perfect ring.I should feel ecstatic—but instead, I feel suffocated. So I break up with my boyfriend, hop in my car, and head south.Charleston, South … south.
Charleston, South Carolina: home to stunning architecture, sultry accents, and—oh yeah—my perpetually shirtless neighbor, Elijah Jackson.
As if his abs for days and inked up deliciousness aren’t enticing enough, he also encourages me to chase down my dreams. And the chemistry between us? Hotter than the kitchen at Eli’s restaurant.
But I still have a life a thousand miles away. One I’ve worked really hard to build. And I don’t know if I can just leave it all behind.
I have to choose. A choice Eli doesn’t make any easier by inviting me out to his cabin for a long weekend. Just the two of us. And one bed. I swear to God this southerner is out to charm the panties right off me. Just this once, I might let him…
SOUTHERN CHARMER is a slow burn, standalone romance with no cheating. It’s the first book in the CHARLESTON HEAT series, set in Charleston, South Carolina.
The books in the Charleston Heat series are interconnected standalone romances, and can be read in any order.
SOUTHERN CHARMER: Eli and Olivia’s story
SOUTHERN PLAYER: Luke and Gracie’s story
SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN: Greyson and Julia’s story
SOUTHERN HEARTBREAKER: Ford and Eva’s story
more
I loved Southern Charmer by @Jessica Peterson ! It’s a foodie romance set in steamy Charleston. Sometimes I think Jessica and I have very similar author brains, so if you loved Bert in Plus One, then you’ll adore Elijah.
5 stars well deserved.
I highly recommend Southern Charmer to anyone who loves a good Romance. Not only is it good, it’s one of the best reads I’ve come across.
Full of passion and heart racing events, this novel had me addicted from the beginning.
I love the storyline like I love good wine!
Southern Charmer is book one in the Charleston Heat series by Jessica Peterson. This can be read as a stand alone. As is my usual, I read the third book in this series first, and fell so in love with it that I had to go back and start at the beginning. This book…books like this is why I read! This book was everything. My heart is so full right now that I hope I can settle enough to find the right words to tell you about it.
Elijah Jackson is a tatted up, sexy as sin chef in Charleston, South Carolina. Elijah who never wears a shirt, loves to read and cooks like nothing you’ve ever seen. Elijah owns two restaurants, the original one, The Pearl, is still doing fantastic. But his newer one, The Jam, not so much.
“A full belly has a way of making things feel a little less heavy. A way of making you feel a little less lost.”
Olivia Wilson lives in Ithaca, New York. She has climbed the ladder in the Ivy League college she teaches at and has earned tenure. Teaching there is cutthroat and stressful. But being the best was what was expected of her. It’s what made her parents and her boyfriend happy. She has what most would perceive as the perfect life, a respected job, a great boyfriend, a nice house. But when that perfect boyfriend presented her with the perfect ring, and proposed, she panicked. She felt suffocated, like she couldn’t breathe. So she broke up with her boyfriend, took a leave of absence at work, and headed for Charleston to try to find her dreams. Because she does have dreams. Dreams her parents and boyfriend told her were silly, ridiculous even. So she’s giving herself a month to figure things out. Then she saw Eli, and everything changed.
“What if I’ve been wanting the wrong things? Things that don’t make me all that happy?”
“Maybe I really can do things differently. That maybe there’s a different way to live.”
As Eli and Olivia grow closer, Olivia begins to find herself. This is largely due to Eli’s encouragement. He helps her to see that she needs to live for her own happiness, to be her truest self, to live her dream. But, she still has a job waiting for her back home, a secure job. Can she really give it all up and take a chance? Is she strong enough?
“I want her to be happy. I want her to be happy with me.”
I would say this is a slow burn, but, when they finally get to the place where they can come together, when it’s truly time, burn they do. They are hotter than hot. But both of them have things that they need to deal with, both separately and together.
This book made me feel so much. I smiled, a lot! I sighed, I swooned. I am so in love with Eli. And don’t even get me started on how much I loved Olivia, especially after she started finding her way in Charleston. Towards the end, my heart was in my throat. Nothing else mattered in my life but finding out how this book was going to end. This is only my second book by Jessica. But if the two books I’ve read are what the rest of them are like, I will need to read them all. For now, I’m ready to pack my bags and move to Charleston. That’s how perfectly this author described this amazing city. So thank you, Jessica Peterson, for taking me on this amazing journey, with these wonderful characters. I’ll see you in Charleston!
Oh my goodness, Elijah and Olivia. I’ve read this series completely backwards. I must admit these two melted my heart. What I’ve really enjoyed about this series is how the couples strive to be better for one and other. I can’t wait for Ford’s book.
Very enjoyable read, great story, interesting characters and guaranteed HEA.
I loved this book. Eli and Olivia are cute, funny and definitely steamy. Jessica is a great writer. I love her characters and she has a great writing style.
I absolutely love a good southern love story!!! . Eli was so sexy!!! I love how he helped Olivia to follow her passion! Taking a chance on career changes is terrifying! Her courage and strength has me totally awed! This was a fantastic book! I can not wait for Grace and Luke’s story!!!
I loved this book. The characters’ voices are strong and their chemistry is smoking hot. I really enjoyed Olivia’s journey to conquer her fears in order to pursue her true self. Her journey encourages me to evaluate my goals with the same lens. I also appreciated the insight into becoming a romance author through her journey.
I absolutely adored Eli! His unwavering support of Olivia’s dream was inspiring. We should all be that way for our significant other. His commitment to his own dream and to being authentic was incredibly sexy.
And let me just say….. THE FOOD! I am so glad calories can’t reach my hips from the page but my mouth was definitely watering.
I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed this author’s Thorne Monarchs series but this is even a step above. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
This book has it all – love, heartbreak, challenges, food…so much yummilicious food and friendship. This book gave me all the feels; It was steamy, romantic, witty and tugged at my heart strings. Olivia & Elijah stole my heart so easily and had me invested and obsessed with them. I’m passing out over here from that swoon. A fabulous story of love and romance. Emma Wilder & Joe Arden do an amazing job portraying the characters, bringing them to life and humanizing them with their emotions, attitude and personality.
I loved everything about this story. This book was the perfect read after a few disappointments. Olivia and Eli are sweet, funny and charming. She’s taking a break from her life in upstate New York after her fiancé proposes and she couldn’t say ‘yes’. Olivia finally has the life she’s always dreamed of: the perfect man, perfect home and the perfect job, except she doesn’t want any of it. She spent her whole life wanting these things and working for them but now that she ‘has it all’, Olivia can’t bear the thought that this is her life.
Her longtime boyfriend is more concerned with appearances than happiness and discourages her from writing the romance novel she’s always dreaming of writing.
Being a tenured professor in a snooty English department is hardly a dream job. In fact, it’s more of a nightmare and her colleagues are so snobby that publishing romance under her real name will damage her credibility with them.
Olivia decides to take a breather at a friend’s place in Charleston SC. Her friend is traveling so Olivia has the place to herself to immerse herself in her work. She meets sexy chef Eli almost instantly upon arrival and the mutual attraction is immediate. He’s all tattoos and southern charm, plus hot as sin and doesn’t like to wear shirts. Eli also wants to feed her and be her editor so there’s no chance of resisting this man.
Her life is complicated because she expected to write a book, get it out of her system, and return to New York content with her life, but that’s not what’s happening at all. Quitting her job, dumping her boyfriend of three years and moving across the country to be a romance writer would be crazy, but she’s never wanted anything more. Eli has his own issues with a failing restaurant and a penchant for ignoring his problems so there are a lot of obstacles in their way, but maybe this can work.
Olivia Wilson should be happy with her life. She has it all. She has everything so many people try to achieve in their life. But instead of feeling like she’s on top of the world, she feels suffocated by it. When her perfect boyfriend plans the perfect proposal to start their perfect life together, nobody understands why she doesn’t immediately say yes. Instead, she asks for time and space. So rather than planning the perfect wedding, Olivia travels down south to give professional writing a shot. A hobby she’s always wanted to turn into a profession, something everyone in her life is against.
What was supposed to be a short getaway to live-out the fantasy of being a full-time writer, turns into something completely different when she meets Elijah Jackson.
I cannot tell you how fast and how hard I fell in love with this book. It was beautifully written, I loved the characters, it was funny, it was touching, it made me very hungry every time Eli was cooking up something in the kitchen, and it made me want to pack a suitcase and fly over to Charleston.
I’m not going to lie, the minute Eli was introduced was the minute I was head over heels. This man, this tattooed, bearded, always-shirtless, charming chef is probably every person’s wet-dream. Oh and also, this man reads romance. ROMANCE! Forget the fact that he reads books in general (he has an overflowing bookshelf at home, you guys), he went out and got himself a whole bunch of HISTORICAL ROMANCE books, just to be of better help to Olivia. Sexy, talented AND supportive? Oh boy, there go my panties. Woops.
This book, in my humble uncertified opinion, isn’t just a romance where – well uh, romance – is the main focus. Something that I absolutely LOVED! Olivia was such a well written character. Not perfect, but not annoyingly imperfect either. There weren’t many times I got frustrated with her, maybe just 2 or 3. This book also focuses on the transition of Oliva’s old life in NY to her new one in Charleston. She explored her new hometown by herself, found herself along the way – the true Olivia -, and fell in love with her new home. So even if things hadn’t worked out with Eli, Olivia had finally found a place where she belonged. Charleston was her true home, with or without Eli.
But do you know what I REALLY loved about this book? The glimpses of Olivia’s actually work. Her book My Enemy the Earl made a few appearances and let me tell you, I highlighted all of them, baby. I really liked how she took inspiration from her own life and it was quite honestly so impressive that Eli noticed it right away, even though he had no idea who this lady even was. Perceptive, Eli. I’m impressed.
New to me author Jessica Peterson writes a heartwarming, super sweet and romantic story of Eli and Olivia. Hot chef Eli, the next door neighbor, brings smoldering heat to Oivia’s life as she navigates a cross road in her life. I enjoyed the writing, plot and dialogue. I’m looking forward to Luke and Gracie’s story in Southern Player!!
Love the main characters. Southern Charm in Charleston SC. Enjoy.
Npot as good as I had hoped but then again I probably was too old (81) for this book. Thought I’d like it as am a Charlestonian, but really didn’t. Didn’t like the graphic sex.
Southern Charmer is a relaxing enjoyable story. Eli is almost to much to believe, but this is an enjoyable read.
I loved the characters. They are who they want to be and followed their dreams.
a real page turner. great characters and fantastic story. would definitely read it again . can’t wait to read more books of hers . keep them coming
Made me kinda want to try his version of Grits. I really liked how she woke up to question her life and goals when she got a proposal. Love the descriptions of Charleston … the people and lifestyle. I did pick up on the harm in him from the Jam issues that were harmful to their relationship. I loved the point and counterpoint of them and her book.
I loved this book, I thought it was the best on in the series. I liked Eli and Olivia they are opposites but they forge a wonderful connection. I love that he romances her through his food. I liked the push and pull of this book.
Loved the chemistry between these two!