Lowcountry Lost

Sometimes what haunts you most is wondering what could have been . . . Avalee Elvis prides herself with being able to fix just about anything. . . except her past. Unable to put the puzzle of her life together, she pours heart and soul into making neglected places whole again. As the owner of Lowcountry Lost, Avalee spends her days in hot-pink Carhartt overalls and a tool belt reclaiming Lowcountry properties. Making them beautiful again releases the deep sigh that soothes the hurt she holds.

Avalee’s latest project takes her to tiny Somewhere, South Carolina, a long-abandoned town. She ignores its ghostly folklore but can’t miss the shock of hearing the familiar Irish brogue that materializes on the job site–the voice of the man she never wanted to see again.

Rowan Murray is a structural engineer hired by investors to oversee the redevelopment of the quaint downtown Avalee is bringing back to life. Once upon a time, he was also the man who knew Avalee better than anyone else–or so he thought. Turns out he was wrong. Neither of them was prepared for what happened between them six years ago. But as they work together to complete the rehabbing of Somewhere, their broken pieces and the pain that nearly consumed them begin to lose its grip, and both begin to wonder if it’s not too late for a restoration of their own.

From the author of the breakout Southern fiction bestseller Under the Magnolias comes a story of loss and abandonment, forgiveness, and the beauty of undying love.

My Review:

Intense, gritty and emotionally draining, ‘Lowcountry Lost’ delivers a poignant second chance love story that’s hard to read at times, but so worth it by the end. Devastating loss and overwhelming grief tore Avalee and Rowan apart at a time when they needed each other the most.

Six years later and Avalee is blindsided when Rowan walks back into her life. Oy, my heart hurt for so much of this read! Avalee’s agony is palpable and she’s not about to risk opening old wounds that are finally starting to heal, but Rowan is on site for more than a job. He wants to reclaim Avalee and the life they had to together before…well, you need to read the book to find out what came before.

This is definitely the kind of story a reader feels her way through. It’s raw and real and messy and sensitive bibliophile hearts will bruise easily. But this is also an inspiring love story centred around overcoming, finding redemption and the courage to try again.

Love the whole ‘house flipping’ an entire ghost town angle. It provides some stunning parallels to their own personal restoration. And the found family Avalee has become a part of adds sparks of humour and no nonsense advice (especially when not asked for!) So many delicious layers a reader can dig into!

Oh, and did I mention our hero is an Irishman? Be still my heart. That accent! His vulnerability. His tender dedication to the woman he has never stopped loving. Major swoon material!

I listened to the audio edition of this novel, narrated by Zura Johnson whose performance brought an extra facet to my appreciation of this dramatic tale of love and loss and restoration.

Of note: I’m really sorry to say that there was one instance of a very crude, coarse swear word — came as a total shock since this book is published by Tyndale, a Christian publisher. And, honestly, it really gutted me to find it here. In fact, I was so stunned, I replayed that part multiple times over several days, sure that I had to be mistaken. But, nope, I wasn’t. And it’s still something that bothers me a week after I finished the book. I’m so discouraged that I actually feel more emotional about that one word than I do about the entire story.

My thanks to Tyndale and Net Galley for providing me with an audio edition of this book.

40 thoughts on “Lowcountry Lost”

  1. What an eloquent review, Kav! Wow! I also love the fact that this novel is set in my neck of the woods of SC. Somewhere. 😉

    Would you believe I don’t remember the cuss word at all! I’m very sensitive when it comes to that & had I seen it I would’ve contacted the author on FB. I must’ve accidentally skimmed over the word. I’m sure glad of that! So disappointed in Tonya & Tyndale. 😟

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    1. Thanks, Diane. I’m wondering (hoping, actually) if the word wasn’t spelled out in the text and the narrator filled in the blanks? Maybe. Otherwise…I dunno, it’s really got me down. I’m gonna email you and Tracey and fill you in on where it occurs and maybe you can check your print versions to see if it’s there. I don’t want to go into detail here because it would be spoilery.

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      1. Thanks for the email, dear friend. Will be searching & reply after hubs leaves for work. I think he thinks he’s on vacay or something. I guess when you’re the boss you can do that. lol

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  3. Great review Kav, I loved Low Country Lost too. Like Diane I don’t remember a crude coarse word either. I looked up on my ebook copy to see if I had highlighted anything and nope, nothing there. I wonder if it was just on audio and got corrected in the ebook version. Can you give more info about what page or percentage as now the investigative reporter in me wants to hunt this down, lol. IF you don’t want to list it here you can email me 🙂

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    1. And another thing, I have had that happen to me when a book was so good but there’s some type of abuse in it. The most prominent thing I remember is the abuse and not the rest of the story. I’m sensitive to language and abuse issues so I try to pick books carefully, but we can’t know what’s in them until we read them. A quandary for sure.

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      1. I’m gonna email you and Diane and give you more details so I don’t reveal spoilers here. I’m really interested to see if it’s in your print versions. It’s so strange…Tyndale is the last publisher I would expect this from. “Talk’ to you soon

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  5. I really want to read this and I will gloss over the one curse word because T.I. Lowe writes such a fabulous, emotional novel. Thankfully, my library finally has it! I’ll patiently wait on my hold. (Of course it’s very popular).

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  6. Under the Magnolias was my first read by T. I. Lowe, and I’ve been a fan ever since. 🙂 That’s disappointing about the swear word, though. Hopefully, it’s not something that will become commonplace.

    eclitton at gmail dot com

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  8. LOVE second chance stories! This one sounds amazing and riveting. Definitely added it to my TBR list and can’t wait for the opportunity to read it. Thank you so much for bringing it to our attention and for the warning.

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  9. Kav, I love a meaty read and this one has been on my want-to-read list for a while so throw my name in the hat please. Sure shocked to hear about the crude swear word but have seen in other comments that it may not be in the print version. Even if it’s just in the audio version, I hope it’s something Tyndale will address and be careful to not let happen again.

    ckbarker at gmail dot com

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  10. For all concerned about the vulgar swear word. I checked my review copy and it’s not the same as what is on the audio. I’m thinking maybe the narrator assumed the two variations were the same and added it on their own (?) I don’t think Tyndale would have approved that for their print edition.

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    1. This is very curious. Thanks for checking your review copy. Maybe the swear in the print copy escaped quality control? Or maybe they think writing it out is worse than saying it out loud? I’m so confused…but a bit more hopeful too.

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    2. I also checked the Publisher, it’s Recorded Books which is an independent publisher and not Tyndale House. Evidently audio books aren’t published by the book publisher, which may explain this variation in term.

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      1. Kav- I don’t think you have to worry too much about the audio books, I think this was probably a quirky onetime event. But if you do happen upon an unexpected word going forward, I would likely attribute it to the audio publisher, not the Christian book publisher.

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      2. I’m glad you had the copy, too, Tracey. I had to check my Kindle library bc I wasn’t even sure I had deleted it yet. I usually just automatically delete them to save room in my storage, but I may keep one occasionally if I think I’d like to reread it. I happen to have kept the galley, A Million Little Choices that I got approved by Tyndale. 😃

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    3. I believe you’re right, Tracey. I deleted my galley bc NetGalley asked that we do that after reading, but I remember the scene now. When the boy said what he did, it was blanked out. If I’m remembering correctly they just put dashes there, Tracey?

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      2. Diane-no, my copy had one word then a period, not 2 words, no dashes either, making it a different meaning. I’m sure anyone reading our comments are thinking what are they even talking about. But really, I think it’s a difference between the book publisher and the audio publisher, and on top of that the narrator saying what she thought it was supposed to say.

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      3. Diane-as far as deleting review copies, not all publishers ask reviewers to delete, some do some don’t. In my approval email for Low Country Lost they didn’t ask for it to be deleted. I’m glad I had my copy to look up the words in question that Kav was talking about 🙂

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      4. Tracey, since I deleted my copy there’s no way to be certain exactly the way the word/words? were incorporated in my galley. Most likely the same as yours since you have it in front of you. I really don’t even like the fact that the word was insinuated. They could’ve just said something like he stomped off in anger. I do remember expressing surprise at that, so perhaps my galley was different. IDK But I agree that this is most likely a one-time thing. Especially if the author was made aware of this.

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      5. I always remove my Net Galley downloads once I finished to save space on my phone but I could still access the audio book afterwards…I kept returning to it thinking I’d made a glaring mistake but every time I checked the word was the same. lol I just couldn’t believe my ears. Glad to hear that it wasn’t present in the print book. Now I’m sorry I didn’t do a giveaway for this book, but since I can’t do giveaways on every book I read any more I pick and choose which ones I do and this one failed my ‘clean’ meter…but it really didn’t! Ah well!

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  12. This has been a very interesting conversation to follow. So, it seems some, or at least this publisher, subcontract their audio books. From a business standpoint that could make sense as it isn’t their original or long held business model, the print industry. However, what a mess was made and other folks who don’t have the benefit of the experienced reviewers on this blog are probably surprised and dismayed. Am heading to check my library for a Kindle copy to place on hold. Thanks for the review!

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    1. Yes — it is confusing and I’m sure frustrating for the publisher if the narrator read in a word that shouldn’t have been there! I would think they’d have quality control, but I can see how trying to check every second of audio would be impossible. I guess they just trust that the narrator will read what is written.

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  13. I seem to be the odd person out on this one. I absolutely loved Lulu’s Cafe. I didn’t care for this one. But I’m glad there are lots of different books out there for everyone.

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    1. I don’t think there is a book out there that will resonate with every reader…with the exception of the bible maybe. 🙂 That’s why it’s a smart thing to have a loooonnnnnnnggggg TBR wish list. Bwahahaha!

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