{"product_id":"9781400345632","title":"Southern by Design","description":"Author: Grace Helena Walz\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781400345632\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Harper Muse\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 12 Oct 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 368\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Grace Helena Walz has taken her place among such treasured Southern novelists as Dorothea Benton and Anne Rivers Siddons.\" --Mary Kay Andrews, NYT bestselling author\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is a positively charming debut from a stand-out new voice. Add it to your TBR list immediately!\" --Kristy Woodson Harvey, NYT bestselling author\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSweet Magnolias\u003c\/em\u003e meets \u003cem\u003eFixer Upper\u003c\/em\u003e in this delightfully refreshing debut about a woman bravely chasing her dreams, building a life on her own terms, and maybe even discovering a second chance at love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMagnolia \"Mack\" Bishop is staring down the barrel at single motherhood--thanks to an unsolicited \u003cem\u003epersonal picture\u003c\/em\u003e her husband texted another woman that quickly went viral among every mom group in town. But she's determined to not let it distract her from the professional victory she's inches away from: securing Charleston's prestigious Historic Preservation Design Fellowship, the apple of every local designer's eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut when the final house tour is undone by a host of calamities, Mack's shot at the fellowship goes up in flames. Smelling blood in the water, Mack's mother, the original Magnolia Bishop, breezes in with a project lead--strings attached. If there's one thing Magnolia lives for, aside from maintaining her station atop the Southern social ladder, it's to control Mack's life . . . and that includes keeping the identity of the absentee father Mack never knew in the shadows.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile working for her mother is the professional equivalent of moving into one's parent's basement, Mack spots an opportunity to make it her own when a television network puts a call out for local designers. Pitching the home renovation TV pilot of her dreams--one with a historic preservation twist--might just be the way to finally prove herself. Still, she'll have to do it covertly to avoid her mother's interference.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust when Mack finds her professional footing, at home she spots an impossibly familiar figure unloading his moving truck into the newly sold house next door. She is furious, floored, and regrettably flustered because Lincoln Kelly is the one who got away. Fifteen years earlier he was a summer romance she inadvertently fell in love with, and when he left, following his dreams to New York, Mack was broken-hearted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with characters who could step off the page and a reminder that nothing worth saving is beyond repair, this charming and delightful debut novel will resonate with readers of Southern women's fiction by Mary Kay Andrews and Kristy Woodson Harvey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBook club discussions are included!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46665238053022,"sku":"HPC-9781400345632","price":29.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781400345632.jpg?v=1775101429","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781400345632","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}