I loved this story. It is Christian fiction but not preachy or overpowering. Rooster Texas is the home to 3 sisters, Betsy, Connie and Kate. They are all spinsters living in the family home that was once a brothel. They take in down on her luck Ginger who is expecting a baby and out of money. These 4 women form a friendship and their neighbor and handyman, Sloan watches out for all of them. The story is fast moving realistic. The sisters are fun and UN-orthodox. A read for all ages that can be savored. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a perfect summer book of heartwarming charcters you love spending time with, Southern cooking and wonderful relationships . Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.

I loved spending time at The Banty House. The three elderly women that live there are each their own person, fun quirky personalities that compliment each other and get alone well . All three have lived in Banty House their entire lives yet they each have lived interesting lives. The cooking will have you ready to book that ticket to Texas and the hospitality jumps off the page as the author invites you to their warm Southern customs . When they invite a young pregnant women into Banty House to stay with them their friendships are drawn in a new direction for each of them yet brings them all closer. These are lovely charcters you want to spend more time with as they navigate their life enjoying the simple pleasures of life. I loved this book and highly recommend it for your reading enjoyment for all who appreciate stories of strong women friendships . Very well done to the author !

The Banty House by Carolyn Brown, published by Montlake, is a full length, stand-alone romance novel.
Meet the Carson sisters Kate, Betsy and Connie. The three are living a fullfilled live at their family homestead, Banty House. They take in strays and Ginger is one of them. The 19 year old never had a place she could call home. But with the sisters she finds not only a family, she finds her love and hea.
A beautiful story that spans a lot of years, captivating and heartwrenchingly beautiful. A great read, 4,5 stars.

The Banty House has characters that will pull at your heart. This story will have you laughing, crying and cheering. Kate, Betsy and Connie are 3 elderly sisters living together in what used to be a brothel in Texas run by their mother. Life changed for them when they found Ginger a pregnanypt 19 years old sitting on a bench outside a beauty shop. Then comes a charming feel good story of five misfits that somehow come together and make a perfect family.

The Banty House is a heart-warming story about families. Whether family by blood, happenstance, or choice, you need unconditional love, trust, dependence, care, and concern, as well as, independence, loyalty, and humor. The characters in The Banty House have it all, and more! I love the way Carolyn Brown develops her characters so that the reader feels like part of the family too! I highly recommend this feel-good, often funny read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I think I could have read this book forever. This book takes me back home to when I was a kid and my granny and mawmaw was alive. That's my grand and great grandmother to you all. I sure do miss those days and the sisters in this book remind me of them.
It's a good book when it can take you back 37 years and make you feel home again.

This book feels like a porch swing with a friend, a cold drink, and a summer night with stars above and fireflies out on the lawn. Carolyn Brown stories are full of country charm and down home storytelling. The Banty House is no exception.

The story focuses on three elderly sisters who have lived a full life and still do (Oh lawd, do they!) as they remain one of the chief sources of their small town’s gossip. They are the daughters of a former brothel owner and their mama never married. But, their mama gave them a set of rules to live by and the first about caring for strangers and the second about helping others brings a homeless, pregnant young Ginger to them so they can show her what family and home are and she, in turn, can show a former soldier who lost his team that he was meant to survive and live.

The Banty House was heartwarming and gently paced, but those feisty gals can be so unexpected that there was never a dull moment. I love the cross generational cast of characters and how they worked well together.

The history of the Carson sisters, their home, and the town was interesting and set the background. I also felt so touched for Ginger who had a truly tough row to hoe as a foster kid who had no one ever and then got tricked by a slick guy before finding her way to Rooster, Texas and the Banty House and Sloan.

The romance is background for much of the book as the story is mostly about the Carson sisters and Ginger. Plus, Ginger is planning to move on when she gets on her feet and Sloan has stopped living and is even suspicious of Ginger at first. They both have painful pasts that they need to address and then there is the fact that she’s pregnant and worried that no man would take on her situation and someone else’s child. Sloan was a bit lost himself so caring for Ginger anchored him and he had a huge, generous heart that had room for her, her complications, and a baby.

There were a few exciting moments, but for the most part this was a character-driven comfort read that left me smiling and feeling lighter. Oh, and needing piles of home-cooked food after the descriptions of what Betsy and Ginger made. Those who enjoy women’s fiction crossing over with contemporary small town romance should definitely give this one a try.

I rec’d this book from Montlake Publishing via Net Galley to read in exchange for an honest review.

Get ready to hold on for a great ride!! This is one of those books that will grab you and you will want to keep reading until the very end - I love all the books that Mz Carolyn writes!!

Great story. The characters were easy to follow and to like. The plot was good but the norm for a romance story overall a feel good read.

Take a trip to a small town in Texas where everyone knows each other's names and has a bartering system set up for services. While there, you are introduced to three elderly sisters who own the Banty House and come upon a girl at a bus stop. I immediately began to adore the relationship the sisters have and the way they opened their home to Ginger. I felt as if I was at family dinner right along with the Banty House inhabitants and their neighbor Sloane. Once I picked up this book, I needed to see how it continued and could not put it down. I really enjoy these small community, family stories that Carolyn Brown writes.

A lighthearted, endearing tale of three sisters who decide to take on a young pregnant woman and offer her more than she ever could have imagined. A family. For herself and her child. A place to belong, rich in history and steeped in traditions. Each woman brings something different to her and the love she finds with them changes everything.

This book was so good! I just love small town romances. Carolyn Brown has a great writing style that always makes me smile. I just know that I'm in for a feel good time when starting her books. This one was no exception. What a fun book about unusual families and what really matters. Recommended!

3.5 Stars

I love Southern writing. I don't really know why but the humour gets to me every time. I have really enjoyed every book I have read by Carolyn Brown and would recommend her to anyone. This book was interesting and will enable you to keep reading, and never want to put it down. One theme is that when you fall in love with someone, and they love you back, stay true to your heart and let them know how you feel. The book had me laughing and crying. It is both heartfelt and heartbreaking, it is warm, interesting and kind.

The book was a joy to read and it took me on a journey. I learned of a different part of America in this book, not just the landscape, but the people and their motives. To move from the innocence of youth into frightening and sometime disheartening adulthood in one giant leap made me realize so much I have to be thankful for.

<b>"You shouldn’t compare people. Everyone has weaknesses and strengths."</b>

And so did this book. I took half a star off because of the religion in the book...just not for me. And two thirds of the way in the believability factor goes off the rails. There is a BIG coincidence at the hospital...it had me shaking my head and laughing. BUT...although the subject matter of the book is very serious, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty...the style of writing, is rather light. The characters are well developed, so it is a serious book with a lighthearted slant to the tone. In some books you tend to fall in love with the characters and this was a great example of that type of novel. Carolyn Brown did a great job on this book and I look forward to future endeavors from her.

Someone once told Kate Carson change is a good thing. Kate is from Texas and has two sisters.Kate first got behind the wheel in the 1950s and still has same car.Ginger Andrews is pennyless with nowhere to go. Ginger is pregnant.Ginger is offered a job helping out at the banty house.Sloane Baker use to be in the military and works for Carson sisters.I liked the characters especially the elderly sisters.The Carson sisters had a hard time growing up being mixed.

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. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

THE BANTY HOUSE by Carolyn Brown is a sweet, feel-good, poignant story that drops you into the lives of three elderly sisters in small town Texas who are about to have their lives changed forever.

Ginger Andrews has aged out of the system, has a baby on the way and no where to go. She dreams of seeing the ocean in California, but her bus ticket only goes as far as Hondo, Texas. As she is sitting on the bench outside of the hair salon, an elderly woman sits beside her. She is offered room and board for the weekend, but she is soon to find herself wrapped in the love and lives of the Carson sisters of the Banty house.

The Banty House was a long-ago brothel run by the sister’s mother, Belle. For more than seventy-five years, Kate, Betsy and Connie Carson have lived in and cared for their mama’s home. They have big hearts and each has her own passion.

Ginger is not only a breath of fresh air to the sisters, but she also intrigues their handyman, Sloan Baker. Sloan came home from the Army broken and swore to never get close to anyone ever again. Ginger’s past may not be the same, but it is just as broken. Slowly, the two discover they may just be what the other needs to heal.
The Banty House is once again to be the safe place where healing happens and hopes and dreams never fade.

I felt like I was wrapped in the love and acceptance of the three sisters as I read this story. They are wonderful characters who always lived their lives on their own terms, but also followed the moral upbringing of their mama. They are just what Ginger needed, even as it took awhile for her to accept that. Ginger was just what Sloan needed, but I was disappointed by how often she kept thinking about leaving. The romance that grew between Ginger and Sloan was a cozy romance, but never overshadowed the main themes of love, healing and acceptance overall. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, but it was not my favorite by this author.

You are going to love the Carson sisters of Banty House.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC.

THE BANTY HOUSE is set in a very small town in Texas called Rooster. Three elderly sisters—Kate, Betsy and Connie—live there, and we learn the history of the house, about their mom who died sixty years before, and their penchant for living life.

The sisters are definitely set in their routines but live life as well. When Ginger, a pregnant, homeless, young woman is found on a bench by Connie, she is taken under their wing and given a place to stay. Little does Ginger know how that little act of kindness will change all of their lives.

We get to know the sisters, Ginger, and their neighbor Sloan, who is dealing with his own problems. There are colorful characters among the town people as well. Carolyn Brown does a fantastic job of engaging emotion through details and vibrant characters.

The story flows nicely. Friends, family—both biological and of the heart—family stories, traditions, and rich history paint a picture of a rich story. Sloan and Ginger work to get their lives back on track and bond over the hard work. The Banty House ties everything together, and the warmth in this story makes it stand out.

There is wonderful closure with the epilogue that takes place twenty years later that really caught us up with their lives and their continued histories.

Ms. Brown has become one of my favorite authors. Her romances are full of families that include strong women and a lot of love. Whether I’m reading one of her contemporary, historical, cowboy romances, or women’s fiction stories, I’ve enjoyed them all and can’t wait to see what she pens next.

I rated the book 4.5 stars but rounded to 5 stars on this site and others.

This book is about hopes and dreams when you are down and out. Ginger is a homeless pregnant girl with no money. She meets up with three middle age unmarried sisters who live in the Banty House. Betsy, Connie and Kate take Ginger under their wing. The sisters make moonshine, jams & jellies and other things. Sloan is ex-military who works for the sisters doing odd jobs. Sloan carries guilt because his team got wiped out by a bomb in Kuwait. I loved this book. It will make you smile, cry and cheer. Thank you Montlake and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my own opinion.

Three feisty elderly sisters and one pregnant young woman looking for a new start come together in Carolyn Brown's newest story. The story has sweet moments with sprinkles of laughter and a love story too. I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters and the way they befriend Ginger. Overall I enjoyed this book. I did find it a little slow moving at times and somewhat predictable. Readers who enjoy Caroyn's writing will be pleased with this tale.

This about three old ladies taking in a pregnant homeless woman. It's a sugar sweet story which was too sweet for my taste. It was a bit like a hallmark movie, for which I was not in the mood.