Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for A Girl's Guide to Having it All by Leslie Kirby DeVooght, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Title: A Girl's Guide to Having it All
Series: Magnolia Bluff #3
Author: Leslie Kirby DeVooght
Publisher: Lanier Price Publishing
Release Date: April 30, 2026
Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction with Romance
She mastered her career. Finding a husband? Not so much.
High-powered political lobbyist Carleigh Chastain turns thirty-five with an impressive résumé, a packed calendar, and no love life to speak of. When her longtime friend—and former marriage-pact partner—Lawson announces he’s marrying a woman he barely knows, Carleigh does what any sensible best friend would do: she drops everything in DC and jets to Magnolia Bluff, Georgia, determined to save him from a costly mistake.
Instead, her plans unravel, forcing Carleigh to confront the choices she’s made—and the ones she’s avoided.
Meanwhile, Spencer MacDowell, her steady, loyal best friend since law school, is done waiting in the friend zone.
As faith, friendship, and romance collide, Carleigh wonders if she’s been too busy chasing success to notice where God—and her heart—have been pointing all along. Funny, heartfelt, and romantic, this story asks what “having it all” really means.
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
Book Excerpt
“It’s my birthday! My thirty-fifth birthday!” I waved my phone, adrenaline pumping through my veins like it was preparing my body for battle.
With his brows tugging together, Spencer retreated a few steps. “I know. Generally that’s why people light candles and put them in cupcakes.” He said the words haltingly, as if he was speaking a different language and I needed time to interpret each word.
Normally, his patronizing pace would’ve frustrated me, but in this moment, time needed to slow down and not just in the metaphorical sense. Actually, time needed to stop and reverse. If anyone still had a clock with hands, I’d have grabbed them and slung them in a counterclockwise direction. Instead, I zeroed in on the candles’ taunting flames and puffed them out.
“I’m surprised you’re this upset about being a year older. You seemed fine earlier.” Spencer reached out slowly and clasped my arm. “Let’s sit down.” He guided me to the couch and placed the offending cupcake with its accursed candles on the coffee table. “I know thirty-five is sort of a milestone birthday, but what about it—”
“It’s not the age thing.” I collapsed against the couch, covering my face with my hands.
“Ohh-kaay,” he drew out the syllables, adding an extra one to the end.
“Sorry, you don’t understand.”
“I’m really trying to.”
“I have to marry my best friend.”
More in This Series
About the Author
Publisher’s Weekly Bestselling author Leslie Kirby DeVooght writes women’s fiction with faith, love, laughter, and a lot of Southern charm. Her stories are inspired by romcoms, coastal Georgia, and fried okra! When Leslie isn’t writing, she’s cheering on her three children, and enjoying date nights with her husband, who loves that she researches kissing.
In addition to writing her own stories, Leslie co-owns Spark Flash Fiction, an online magazine that publishes short, short romance collections four times a year.Guest Post by Leslie Kirby DeVooght: Writing Journey for the Magnolia Bluff Collection
When I first started writing contemporary romance novels, I set them on St. Simons Island, Georgia because it’s my hometown. They, whoever they were (I can’t remember. It’s been a minute…a long minute), said write what you know, so I did. Unfortunately, “they” forgot to mention that you can’t control what happens to real places. Islands are particularly problematic because of hurricanes.
With this knowledge, I created a fictional world for the Magnolia Bluff books, including the small town of Haslemere. It’s loosely based on Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, especially the gazebo and the town meetings. Many places in Georgia owe their names to General James Oglethorpe, so I used parts of his history to name the streets and the town. Haslemere was Oglethorpe’s hometown.
In the first Magnolia Bluff book, Stealing Magnolias, the main character, Wren. She is from Chicago but obsessed with all things Southern, something I know a lot about, and her chance encounter with her favorite romance author, another subject I have an abundance of experience with.
For the second book, How to Sparkle, I wanted to share Wren’s design associate, Zoe’s love story. This novella was so fun to write. Although the timeline crossed with the first book which nearly killed me trying to make everything meld perfectly.
For book three, A Girl’s Guide to Having it All, I finally got to write a story I’ve been dying to tackle for years. I’ve always wanted the movie, My Best Friend’s Wedding, to have a happy ending for the Julia Robert’s character. It seemed easy until I realized how terrible the character’s goals are. Seriously, no one likes the person who breaks up a wedding, but I worked with Carleigh’s story until I found a way to make her both relatable and ready for a major transformation. John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, really helped me develop Carleigh’s character in a way that hope also helps the reader. This story more has a lot of me in it and was actually really healing to write.
I’m excited to be polishing the fourth book in the collection and plan to give the novella to my newsletter subscribers at the end of June. Perfectly Imperfect is the story of Willa and Lawson who are the bride and groom in book three.
Magnolia Bluff has become like a real place to me. When I’m driving near where the fictional town would be in Georgia, I can’t help but want to take a side road and hope to find Haslemere. I’d really like a peach milkshake from the General’s Diner, but for now, I’ll settle with writing two more books for the collection. My plan is to write Willa’s brother, Wyatt’s story as a novella, and then to round out the collection with a full length novel about Wren’s sister, Robin.
As much as places change, so does life, so I can’t promise when to expect those stories, but I hope you’ll follow me for updates. If you want to visit another one of my fictional small towns, join me in Woodley, Georgia for my Love Inspired book, Taking a Second Shot, and for my newsletter giveaway book, If Only.
Tour Giveaway
(2) winners will each receive a bookish tote bag with all three books from the Magnolia Bluff series (A Girl's Guide to Having it All, How to Sparkle, and Stealing Magnolias)!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight May 6, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on May 13, 2026. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
