Cover Image: The Banty House

The Banty House

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Member Reviews

The Banty House is set in Carolyn Brown's favourite settings of small town Texas. Ginger Andrews, an abandoned 19 year old, expecting a baby and nowhere to go, shows up in Rooster Texas and bumps into one of the Carson sisters outside the hairdresser. Betsy, Connie, and Kate Carson have called their mama’s house, The Banty House, a home for over seventy-five years. The three eccentric sisters get by just fine with their homemade jams and jellies, a little moonshine on the side, and their mama's rules. Rule 1 is to take in and help out strangers in need, so they offer a room to Ginger for as long as she needs it. Ginger plans on only staying for a short while before making enough money to head to the west coast, but plans change. She is accepted into the Carson sister's home, lives and hearts. She also meets their handyman, Sloan Baker, and they begin to develop feelings for one another. Both Ginger and Sloan and baggage from their previous lives that they need to get over if they plan to have a relationship.

I enjoyed this story with the diverse characters, situations and new beginnings. The Banty House had been a house of ill repute, but a classy one, until their mama shut it down when her first child was born. The sisters never knew their father, but their mother taught them to be loving, caring, smart, independent women. They were a hoot, each with a different vice and part of a whole. Sloan had been in the military and given a release for mental health after he was the only survivor from his group of men. He had serious survivor's guilt and until he dealt with that, he could never move on. Ginger grew up in foster care and when she turned 18, she was basically kicked to the streets. She met the father of her child at a shelter, but he was no good and eventually died of a drug overdose, leaving her alone expecting a baby. This book has lots of humor, great characters with sass and backbones, as well as good Christian values. It is a story of forgiveness, new beginnings, and making amends. I laughed so much while reading this one, it is such a feel good story. I highly recommend it.

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This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. From Ginger to the Carson women to Sloan, you will fall in love with them. I found myself chuckling one minute and then my eyes would fill with tears. This is a feel-good book that has you wishing you lived in Rooster, Texas so you could visit The Banty House. The relationships are amazing … even between those who don’t “get along.” Betsy, Connie, and Kate, the seventy-something sisters at The Banty House, are delightful. They are spunky, unique, caring, and strong. Their personalities are each different, but their love for each other and the people who come into their lives is heartwarming. The author has once again written a book that touches you deeply and has you cheering on the characters. As you read the last word and close the book, you will do so with a smile on your face and a warm feeling. I can’t encouraged you to read this book enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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I am a long time fan of Carolyn Brown. Her work just does something to soothe the soul. I know when I sit down with a Brown book, I’m going to get some smiles, some tears, some laughs and whole lotta loving from her novels!

The Banty House was beautifully chiseled. I felt all the raw emotions of Ginger as she was a young girl about to become a mama. I felt the hesitancy of Sloan as his feelings for Ginger became more than just a friend. And, lord have mercy, let’s not forget the Carson sisters! Those sweet souls! I loved them so much!

I definitely recommend this well written novel of finding a love, finding a forever home, and of friendship. It’s masterfully written by a truly seasoned author and I loved every page turn. Four stars, two thumbs and lots of praises for this quick read! Well done, Brown. Well done!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Author/Publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

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I absolutely loved The Banty House by Carolyn Brown~ a good read with a great ending. I am a fan and have made sure to give this book to my reader friends and family over the past year! Enjoyed every minute and Carolyn Brown is now one of my favorite authors!!

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This is a romance book. This book teaches you that family is not always people that shares your DNA. I really love the characters in this book. The Banty House girls where so funny, and I would have love to spend a day with those girls. Ginger and Sloan was everything they both needed in each other. I read this book so fast because I could not put it down. I am so glad I decided to request this book. If you love books with funny Grandmother characters and a character drive book then this is the book for you. The romance between Ginger and Sloan is a very small part of the book, but the book is mostly about Ginger and Sloan getting over their past and moving on.

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Carolyn Brown writes the most amazing stories. Any books of hers that I’ve read always snag me at about the second chapter and then I can’t put it down from there.

The Banty House was no exception. A story of three sisters who live in Rooster, Texas, in the Banty House–a former brothel. Filled with love of all kinds, comfort, food, friendship, and humor; this book was like a little slice of what a town and community should be.

I really cannot recommend this feel-good tale enough. Especially in times where you may need a little pick-me-up.

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I read this book so fast because I could not put it down. I am so glad I decided to request this book. If you love books with funny Grandmother characters and a character driven book then this is the book for you. I know I'm not disappointed.

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A great story to read during out total lock down.
A well written and easy to read, heart warming story. I almost want to be a stray and taken in by these sisters.
You'll laugh your way through most of this book with it's wonderful characters.

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The Banty House, my first novel by Carolyn Brown is a slow burn contemporary story that had me captivated from the first few chapters.

Nineteen-year-old Ginger Andrews has arrived in Rooster, Texas, penniless and with nowhere to go. She's eight months pregnant, trying to escape the bad memories she hopes to have left behind in Kentucky. Three sisters, Betsy, Connie, and Kate Carson live in the Banty House, their childhood home and live by the rules of their late mother. Handyman to the Carson sisters, Sloan Baker, also has a troubled past. A chance meeting between Ginger and Connie results in a place to stay for Ginger - at the Banty House. What follows is a lovely story about their lives and histories.

The Banty House was a really enjoyable read. For me the three sisters really made this story sing with their humour and big personalities. Although they occasionally bickered, they still showed immense loyalty to each other. I also loved reading about their jam making and unusual moonshine recipes. However, The Banty House was not all fun and frivolity as some significant topics were explored. The evolvement of Sloan and Ginger's relationship was natural, tender, realistic, and beautifully written and I frequently felt as though I was living in the old brothel myself alongside Carolyn Brown's quirky, fantastic characters. An amazing, heartwarming, and very highly recommended read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Montlake Romance via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

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I LOVED this book and am sure you will also. It's filled with emotions, kindness and caring. I laughed, I cried, I smiled..great emotional read you will not want to put down The Carson sister's antics stayed with me even when I shut the book. Each sister has her own character which will help you to remember them. But, we start with a pregnant young girl, coming into their lives. This is one book you must read. As always, Carolyn Brown, has wrote a book that will keep you loving her as an author. Thanks to Net Galley for giving me the chance to read this with an honest opinion.

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What is family? Is it people who are related by blood? People who care for each other? Both? These three old ladies are related by blood. None have ever had another family, except their mother. However, they have hearts full of love for those who need it, and in this case the two who need it are a war vet with PTSD and a young pregnant girl.

Through the book we learn the story of the little old ladies and their lives. We learn about their mother--a mixed race woman who had to survive the depression. While her method might raise moral eyebrows, she met a commercial desire, did it while protecting (in her own way) young women and raising her own family. We learn how even today, young women end up used for their bodies.

Carolyn Brown has many books, including this one, available on Kindle Unlimited, so if you are a member, it won't cost you anything to have a look. I got my copy via NetGalley. Grade: B.

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A simple yet wonderful read. As most of Ms. Brown's books, this is a feel good story and I found it easy and enjoyable.

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THE BANTY HOUSE is a slow burn contemporary story that I was pulled in to from the very first page. To be honest, I fell in love with the cover the minute I saw it. Don’t you just want to be laying on that lounge chair with your favorite book? I knew I would read it anyway, because I love Carolyn Brown, but the cover really pulled me in. I loved everything about this beautiful story and I’m excited to recommend it to my reading friends. Carolyn Brown always has a way of grabbing her readers and she never lets us go.

THE BANTY HOUSE really takes a turn that will have you unable to put this beautiful story down. Neither Sloan or Ginger are looking for a relationship, but they can’t seem to ignore their growing feelings. Both are learning that what you consider family, doesn’t always share your DNA. So here we have these two crossing paths and each time, there is a pull to see more of each other. This causes all sorts of rumors and gossip. It was cute watching these two dance around their feelings for each other. I just didn’t want to see Ginger get hurt again like she did in the past. She’s had a very rough life and I couldn’t help but cheer her on through out this heart warming story!

THE BANTY HOUSE is filled with twists and turns and had me staying up way too late one night to finish! I had to know where Carolyn Brown was taking us and what would happen to Sloan and Ginger. I really loved how the whole community came to ginger and Sloan’s aid and only wanted them to feel loved and realize that they were home. There is so much heart in Carolyn’s writing that I’m always left with a huge smile on my face and my heart very happy. I could totally see THE BANTY HOUSE becoming a Hallmark movie and I would love to see it. All of the characters are very interesting and believable, so much so that I felt as if I’ve known them for a long time. I would love to hang out with Kate, Connie and Betsy. I’m sure they could teach me a thing or two and I know they would keep my laughing all day long! I love how Carolyn does that to me each and every time.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

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I really love the characters in this book. It’s a feel good book about three older sisters living together in Texas. I read this book so fast because I could not put it down. This was such an adorable book and perfect to take my mind off all the craziness in the world right now.

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A sweetly thrilling, heartwarming and fun journey filled with engaging charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and emotional turns. Was a great read from beginning to end and so hard to put down.

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Author Carolyn Brown has written a novel that will bring laughter and joy to even the hardest of hearts! The three elderly sisters that reside at The Banty m.kHouse are full of fire and sass. From making moonshine to growing weed in the flower bed, you will grow to love them all. When they take in a young, pregnant, homeless girl Ginger, they find what they have always wanted, an adopted granddaughter but will Ginger choose to stay or will she leave before she loses her heart to the elderly Carson sisters? Will the Carson's handyman, Sloan, be able to put his past behind him and open his heart up to Ginger and her baby? This novel has had me in tears laughing at the antics of the Carson sisters! I would highly recommend this novel! I cannot wait to see what my favorite author will think of next!

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#’The Banty House by #Carolyn Brown is a great stay at home book to make you feel warm and comfy.
It takes place in a small town called Rooster in Texas.And you have three spunky women: Kate, Betsy, and Connie running ‘The Banty House’ their home that was in 1930’s a bawdy house.These women are a little eccentric,unique and always filled with love. Connie brings home a young pregnant girl.And one
of the sisters even makes moonshine.
It’s the perfect book for the end of the day.Famliy is not always people that share your DNA. And healing happens,hopes,dreams never fade.
Thank you,
#Netgalley,#Carolyn Brown, and #Montlake

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Betsy, Connie, and Kate Carson are the type of sisters who can complete each other's sentences, understand emotions by observing their body language and are loyal to each other to the very end. This loyalty was taught to them by their mama and they chose a path to live together in the home they grew up in. The sisters have an opportunity to help a young, unwed, pregnant woman who just gets to town. Ginger is unsure what to make of the sisters. She is amazed by their generosity but cautious because of her past. The sisters introduce Ginger to Sloan who, after returning from serving in the military and now dealing with his own issues helps them with jobs around the house, feels an immediate connection to Sloan. And so it begins. Betsy, Connie, Kate, Ginger & Sloan all take this journey together of self reflection, healing, unconditional support, having family, and feeling loved. It's a sweet book with lovable characters.

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When I started reading this book, I had no idea how fantastic it was and how detail oriented it would be. Carolyn is a great story teller and this book will not disappoint you! I like all of the traditions that the 3 main characters recite throughout the book and I am talking traditions that go back about a 100 years or so. The backdrop was in an area of rural Texas that I am very familiar with, as I lived in San Antonio for 15 years. The characters were well rounded, exciting and complex. This story, in light of what is happening today in our country, takes you back to when the rural towns were divided and children paid for all of the choices that their parents made. It shows you that you can rise up from all of the bigotry and take your life in your own hands and still come out on top.

I truly enjoyed the opportunity to read this story and to provide a review of it. I know that each person reading this as the days go along will appreciate it and take pieces from it that speak to them. Thanks again for this opportunity, Enjoy!

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A wonderful novel about healing hearts and new beginnings in a small Texas town. In the fading town of Rooster,Texas, all that's really left is a service station, a church..and the Banty House, a long ago Great Depression era brothel. For more than 75 years, the Carson sisters: Betsy, Connie and Kate, have all called their mama Belle's house a home. The three eccentric sisters get by just fine with their homemade jams and jellies, a little moonshine on the side, and big hearts always open to strangers. Like Ginger Andrews. Pregnant and abandoned in her teens, Ginger Andrews hasn't had an easy life. An orphan who grew up in the foster care system and suffered the brunt of her former and late boyfriend's Luke's misdeeds, all she wants is for her child to have a better life than she did, and she wants to get away from Kentucky and her bad memories. Then while she's waiting for transportation at Rooster, TX, she meets the Carson sisters who warmly welcome her into their home. They show her the ropes behind their tasks and their lives become entwined, therefore reducing Ginger's resolve to leave the South. Then she meets Sloan Baker, the Carson sisters' young handyman and former Army veteran. But he has a past as broken as Ginger's, so his walls are up. But as the season of change unfolds, Ginger and Sloan might discover a warm haven to heal in the Banty House, a place to finally belong, where hopes and dreams never fade. Moonshining in the 1920s to 1930s was a highly profitable industry despite Prohibition being law and it still continued after the repeal of Prohibition and the establishment of alcohol tax. It was a way to earn money during a time when luxuries and even basic necessities were unaffordable to many. This novel also talked about how Texas was segregated by race and the discrimination that non white people faced. This novel highlighted the importance of being self sufficient and to be gracious and hospitable for those less fortunate than us, and help them lead better lives. Brothel madams took great care to protect their businesses by keeping meticulous records, which was an added protection against harassment.

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