Kentucky author Beth Pride Releases Debut Novel
Kentucky author Beth Pride releases debut novel BACK TO BLUE HOLLY to positive reader reviews and early praise.
Lexington, Kentucky—Beth Pride, author of THE COMMON WEALTH OF KENTUCKY PROJECT is excited to announce the release of her debut novel BACK TO BLUE HOLLY, now available wherever books are sold. This anticipated new novel is a funny and heartfelt exploration of reinvention, community, and the unexpected twists of rebuilding one's life.
About the Book:
In BACK TO BLUE HOLLY, Dottie is divorced and depleted when she ditches her Louisville home, loads up her dog and four Hefty bags of clothes, and heads back to Blue Holly and the Quinn family lake house, where the promise of family and a gallery job beckon her like a moth to a flame. She arrives to find her childhood sanctuary with a massive culture chip on its north Georgia shoulders. Aunt Lo has lost her feud with Fannie Fraser and the Citizens Against Virtually Everything, closed the gallery, and is packing to leave.
Before Aunt Lo leaves, she gives Dottie the keys to the Red Arrow, a condemned hardware store, and says if Dottie fixes it, she can keep it. Dottie can't get a loan, is sick of being alone, and knows nothing about using a drill, but when she spots an old moonshine still, she decides on a new, if dissonant, direction in an evangelical town with little taste for liquor and tourism. Dottie and a relatable cast of damaged characters, including the handsome Crawford Woody, unite to fight against time and undeniable forces to transform the Red Arrow into the first microbrewery in Bluff County—finding love and community and rebuilding each other along the way.
Critical Acclaim for Beth Pride and BACK TO BLUE HOLLY
Amazon #1 New Release in Rural Life and Humor
"It's the rare book that engages readers on multiple levels, but Beth Pride's expertly crafted debut novel, Back to Blue Holly, is riveting from the get-go, with its captivating plot, people, place, and pace. Also? It's both hilarious but serious, romantic yet action-packed, and simultaneously small-town and universal. In short, Back to Blue Holly is, like its protagonist Dottie Hogan, multi-faceted—a gem readers will savor from every angle as they follow Dottie from heartbreak to breakthrough and from Kentucky to Georgia, where she undergoes an epic rebuilding of herself, her heart, and a beloved local landmark that ultimately unites not just Dottie and the Quinn family, but also the once-divided community at large." –Award-winning author, Whitney Collins, author of Ricky and Other Love Stories and Big Bad.
"Beth Pride is a remarkable talent with a voice that leaps off the page. Back to Blue Holly is a charming tale of small-town politics, southern roots, and the joy of finding your place in the world. Readers will cheer for this delightful cast of characters and enjoy every moment of this southern getaway of a novel." —Cynthia Ellingsen, Amazon Charts Bestselling Author of the Starlight Cove series.
Author Quote:
"BACK TO BLUE HOLLY is set in the two places I've loved most—Kentucky and the North Georgia mountains. It's a funny and ultimately heartwarming story about the power of human connection and the good that happens when people come together, no matter how different they are or how difficult the circumstances. Without question, the themes and experience of traveling, writing, and producing THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY PROJECT with artist Kelly Brewer inspired certain themes and stories you’ll read in BACK TO BLUE HOLLY.”
Author Bio:
Beth is a freelance writer and marketer in Lexington, Kentucky, where she lives on a Thoroughbred breeding farm with her husband and thirteen other studs. She has two grown kids who are excellent and no excuses for waiting twenty years before writing her first novel. A career in education and marketing led Beth in 2021 to write full-time. She published the nationally celebrated COMMON WEALTH OF KENTUCKY PROJECT with artist Kelly Brewer in 2022. BACK TO BLUE HOLLY (2025) is Beth's debut novel. She is hard at work writing a new novel set in Kentucky about horsewomen.
For media inquiries, review copies, or author interviews, please contact:
Beth Pride, 859-492-4363, bethinccreative@gmail.com
BACK TO BLUE HOLLY is available wherever books are sold (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo).