Read an Excerpt from “Sing Me Home to Carolina” (Exclusive)

Author Joy Callaway’s first foray into contemporary romance takes readers

Bethany Callaway Photography, Alcove Press

Joy Callaway’s Upcoming Contemporary Romance Novel “Sing Me Home to Carolina”

Joy Callaway steps outside the historical drama genre with her debut contemporary romance novel, Sing to me at home in Carolina — and PEOPLE magazine gives us a first look at the cover and an exclusive inside sneak peek!

The Charlotte-based author, known for such historical dramas as The Grand Design: A Novel by Dorothy Draperbills its first attempt at contemporary romance as Schitt’s River is meeting Dixie’s Heart.

The novel tells the story of event planner Hattie Norwood, who returns to her hometown of Mountain View, South Carolina, when she learns that her family farm is in danger.

“But then a city councilwoman begs Hattie to use her event-planning skills to help Mountain View organize a charity music concert that will stop the construction of a new Carolina Panthers stadium — a project Hattie supports, much to the residents’ chagrin,” reads the official synopsis.

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Just a week later, Hattie “agrees to stay until Founder’s Day, just as her old flame, former MLB player Leland “Lee” Lockhardt, comes to town after a career-ending injury.”

“When the handsome and mysterious new owner of Fox’s Hardware, Fox Ryan, proposes moving the Founders’ Day celebration to the Norwood barn in an attempt to transform the run-down farm into a concert and event venue, Hattie agrees, unaware that the move will thrust the town, her love life, and the escalating tensions surrounding the stadium into the public eye,” the synopsis reads.

If you are a fan of love triangles, Sweet Magnolias and “unusual characters,” mark your calendars for Callaway’s June 10, 2025 release date. Sing to me at home in Carolina.

While you wait, you can read an exclusive excerpt below.

Alcove Press

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Alcove Press

Recess press

“Sing Me Home in Carolina” by Joy Callaway

The hardware store was at the very end of town. Light poured from the expansive glass windows in alternating shades of yellow, pink, and green, indicating that Sterling was now waving his arms in circles at the back of the store, his limbs barely avoiding the jars of local honey and containers of nails.

I turned the corner to park, and my body froze. My ex-boyfriend Leland Lockhardt’s palomino quarter horse, Slugger, was tied to the railing that bordered the sidewalk. Lee definitely wasn’t home. He’d started as a shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, and they’d been in San Diego playing the Padres that week. Maybe his dad or brother had started riding into town as a sort of tribute to Lee when he’d left. Mom and dad hadn’t said he’d come home either—but then again, they’d barely mentioned his name since we’d broken up.

I pulled into a parking space between the Slugger and Fox’s electric Ford F-150, the buzz around town, and got out of the car. The transition from horse to 1950s truck to 2024 electric truck looked like a transportation museum exhibit.

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I looked at Slugger again, patted his neck, then squinted at the storefronts, trying to figure out if I needed to prepare myself for my first in-person meeting with Lee in eleven years. The last time I’d seen him, we’d been in Mr. Robinson’s truck, kissing the night before I left for college, when he’d stopped kissing me to tell me we should take a break instead of keeping our distance, that Wake Forest and South Carolina were too far apart. In that moment, I’d broken down, saying I regretted our four years together and hated him. A few hours later, he was hanging out with my friend Willow.

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Though we followed each other on Instagram for a few years — until he deleted his account to focus more on gaming — I… mainly over what had happened, the truth was that I wasn’t completely. I knew it was childish to be so worked up about a high school breakup, but my heart didn’t care. To be honest, I’d never loved anyone else, and that was probably the problem.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t moved on. I’d been dating Austin, a Sigma Nu guy I’d met at a frat party my sophomore year, for almost two years, but I’d never been able to tell him I felt the same way. Then, after college, I casually dated a couple of guys my friends called “The Jocks”—a former quarterback-turned-nurse named Kenny and a former quarterback-turned-investor named Harris. While both were funny, they weren’t relationship material. Then there was Hunter, a sweet lawyer I’d met at a networking party and been with for almost a year before I realized, when he told me he loved me, that our relationship was Austin all over again.

Something crashed inside the store. I heard the distant sound of breaking glass, then a collective groan. Fox would be in a mood. Even though I’d only met him a few times since he’d taken over the store after old Fox died a few years ago, he always seemed in a mood. Then again, he hadn’t started the whole thing about your store turning into a bar on Fridays, and I think it was probably annoying that you had to babysit the city after hours.

I walked down the sidewalk toward the entrance. I caught a glimpse of myself in the original, twisted glass windows and backed away. I’d forgotten what state I was in—my hair pulled up from the farmwork earlier, the bags under my eyes from crying just before they broke out accentuated my makeup-free face. I was wearing cutoff jeans—not the kind from a fancy boutique, but real jeans I’d cut off earlier that day—and a twenty-year-old T-shirt from my fifth-grade softball season.

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Sing to me at home in Carolina will be released on June 10, 2025, and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.

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