The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank- One of my favorite authors!

Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesley’s wildly successful Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherish—’til death did them part—for tanned and toned young Barbie brides.

If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasn’t painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Les’s world and push her to the edge. She’s had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks he’s doing her a favor by keeping her around. She’s not going to waste another minute on people she doesn’t care to know. Now, she’s going to take some time for herself—in the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brother’s stately historic home, she’s going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivans Island. Along Charleston’s live oak- and palmetto-lined cobblestone streets, under the Lowcountry’s dazzling blue sky, Les will indulge herself with icy cocktails, warm laughter, divine temptation and bittersweet memories. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which she’s always dreamed.

4.5 hearts

When a woman falls and spends 45 minutes in an empty catch basin on a trip to Scotland, you know that things are not going to well in her life. Leslie Carter has seen her friends get cast off by their husbands for wife 2.0 until she feels like she is the LAST original wife.  She has had to put up with dinners and events with these younger women and then finds herself on vacation with the replacement wife for her best friend. Her husband, Wesley has dreamt all of his life about golfing at St. Andrews and off the foursome goes to Scotland.  When Les has her accident, the rest of the group keeps walking back to the hotel and doesn’t even realize she is missing. After she is located, Wes leaves her at the hospital so he doesn’t miss his tee time.

Back home, Les realizes that her life has not turned out to be what she expected it to be. Yes, she is still married but it’s a marriage by rote not of passion or caring. Her two adult children are irresponsible and users.  Wes is a controlling guy and has no appreciation for what Les has done for him over the years.  She discovers that financially they are in a much better situation than she was aware of and this is the impetus for her to take a trip to Charleston to visit her brother.   Les has time to think and really assess what her life means and what she really wants to do with her future.

So many books lately feature the discarded wife being screwed by her cheating ex and having to rebuild her life on nothing but pluck.  Then she gets financial revenge and a new man and everything is great.  I love a good revenge plot as well as the next person, (Note: Pawley’s Island by this author is one of the absolute best of that genre) but this book is different. Les decides to take a break from her marriage after a period of reflection and increased self-awareness. She does meet up with an old flame but that is not the answer to her problems. Les needs to see what it is about herself that put her in the position she is presently in.  How did she become ok with settling for less than she deserved? Why does she let other people make her feel that her wants and needs are less important than her husband’s and children’s? Is fear of what your life will be without your marriage a good enough reason to stay?

Wes is not really a bad guy, just self-absorbed and oblivious.   When the couple goes to counseling, the real difference between them is highlighted.  Les wants to find out if this marriage can be saved and Wes just wants his old life back with no changes on his end.

There is an interesting side story about a woman writer from earlier times in Charleston in whose story Les becomes interested. The descriptions of the “Barbie” wives are funny and pathetic at the same time. One of Ms. Frank’s skills is how she defines her characters and integrates the Southern mystique into her books. I thought that this book was a little less South-centric than some of her other books.   That said, I enjoyed reading this book but I expected no less from one of my favorite authors.

The Magic of "I Do" by Tammy Faulkner

With the temporary prohibition on magic on the land of the Fae, Claire Thorne might as well go back to the Regency world. The haut ton has just as many annoying rules as her world, but at least they have parties and dances. Plus, the roguish Lord Phineas "Finn" Trimble is there...

When the feisty faerie tumbles into his room through a magical portal, Finn can't believe how completely unpredictable she is. Even before the two stumble into a dangerous intrigue that threatens both their worlds, Finn discovers that his hitherto carefree life is about to go up in smoke... ( synopsi from B&N.com)

The Magic of “I Do” is the second book in the Faerie series by Tammy Faulkner. Claire Thorne is the daughter of a faerie and a human.  She has spent her entire life with the Fae being raised by her grandparents.  She is also a mission faerie and came to London on a mission with her sister Sophie.  When the book opens she finds herself in a bit of a pickle. She has been abducted by Lord Phineas (Finn) Trimble, the brother of the Duke of Robinsworth. Claire and Finn are forced to stay at his home when a snowstorm occurs and the sparks fly between them, culminating in Claire losing her innocence to Finn.  She is taken away by a faerie wind before they can talk about what happened.  When circumstances throw them together again, Claire is increasing and worried about what it will mean. Finn, in the meantime, is just happy to see the woman who has been on his mind since they were together.

This was an interesting blend of paranormal and regency. The Rules of the Ton and the Unpardonable Errors of the Fae serve to cause difficulties for the two lovers.  Even though they are attracted to each other, Claire knows from her own life experience that a fae child of a human parent causes problems in both worlds.  Added to the mix, a vengeful Earl is determined to cause Finn and his brother trouble. Claire being a mission faerie and Finn being an Agent mean that they are both headstrong and wanting to rush right in when there is a problem. They are stubborn when it comes to their feelings for each other as well and it takes time for them to realize that they can’t live without the other.

I don’t usually like to read books out of order and I didn’t realize this was a sequel until I had already started it. I was enjoying the story so I kept going. As soon as I finished, I made sure to purchase the first book “A Lady and Her Magic”. The next book in the series “ The Magic Between Us” comes out in January of 2014.

Skinny Bitch in Love by Kim Barnouin

Clementine Cooper is a born vegan, com­mitted in every way to the healthy lifestyle she was raised with on her father’s organic farm. But how bad could a little butter be? Bad enough to get the ambitious and talented sous chef fired when an influential food critic discovers dairy in Clem’s butternut squash ravioli with garlic sage sauce. Though she was sabotaged by a backstab­bing coworker, Clem finds herself unceremo­niously blackballed from every vegan kitchen in L.A.

Like any vegan chef worth her salt, however, Clem knows how to turn lemons into delicious, cruelty-free lemonade cupcakes. She launches the Skinny Bitch Cooking School in hopes of soon opening her own café in an empty space near her apartment. But on the first day of class, sexy millionaire restaurateur Zach Jeffries puts a fork in her idea with his own plans for the space—a steakhouse. Clem is livid. For a carnivore, Zach is more complicated than she anticipated. He’s also a very good kisser. But could dating one of the most eligible bachelors in the city—and a meat-eater—be as bad for Clem as high-fructose corn syrup? Shouldn’t she fall instead for a man who seems to be her perfect match in every way—like Alexander Orr, a very cute, very sweet vegan chef?

Clem thought she was open-minded, but as she confronts the challenges of budding entrepre­neurship, old rivals, ex-boyfriends, and tempting suitors, she begins to wonder if she can ever say “I love you” to a man who hates tofu. ( synopsis from Goodreads.com)

This is a really unique twist on a popular romance theme right now- chef and bakers.  Clementine Cooper is a successful vegan chef until one of her co-workers slips butter into a dish being served to a restaurant reviewer. All of a sudden Clem becomes persona non grata in the vegan cooking world and ends up doing private chef work and holding cooking classes in her apartment. She meets Zach Jeffries when he starts constructing a steak house in the space she has been secretly hoping to rent for her own restaurant.  She’s an unemployed vegan chef and he’s a billionaire meat lover, could there be a more perfect match?

While there is instant chemistry between the two, there is also instant antipathy on Clem’s part. To see her dream restaurant replaced by a total homage to beef and by a guy who thinks his money can buy anything makes her crazy.  She is focused on rebuilding her career and he is focused on getting into her pants. Initially, Zach seems like a bit of a cad with lots of women in his life and a know-it-all attitude.  Zach gets some competition from Alexander, a good looking chef from England but the chemistry isn’t there for Clem.  Things are rocky until Clem understands that for Zach helping out is his idea of a loving thing to do.  Zach has to learn that Clem won’t be happy unless she makes it on her own and sometimes he needs to just shut up.  They do have a torturous journey getting there.

I enjoyed the supporting characters in the book.  Clem’s roommate, Sara, is a slightly plump actress waiting for her big break and ends up in the cooking class.  The other two students also add to the pace of the book with their backstories and their interactions with Clem and Sara.

This was a cute read with some steamy parts to it.  I learned a lot about vegan cooking without being bored. I ‘m hoping that there will be a follow up book that includes Sara or Alexander. As a side note, I am a confirmed meat eater but there were some recipes that sounded really good.  I might have to check out the author’s cookbooks!

Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Rising media star and lifestyle blogger Grace Stanton’s own life gets torpedoed after she drives her cheating husband’s pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool in a fit of anger. Soon she’s locked out of her own palatial home, checking account, and blog, forced to move in with her widowed mother who lives above, and owns, The Sandbar, a rundown beach bar. Attending court-mandated weekly “divorce recovery” therapy sessions with a group of three other women—marital misfits whose only common denominator is betrayal—Grace and the women soon ditch their therapist and move their Wednesday “Ladies’ Night” sessions to The Sandbar. They begin to help each other, walking a fine line between revenge and justice, as each one finds closure in ways previously unimagined. Can Grace figure out a new way home and how strong she needs to be to get there? ( synopsis from Mary Kay Andrews.com)

I started this book on audio and had to switch to the book because it was making me crazy that it was going so slow. Not the story, just listening to it.  Once I got the actual book, I really enjoyed the story. My only quibble; for a smart person, the heroine was a bit of a doormat after she caught her hubby Ben "being assisted" by her assistant J’Aime.  My aggravation level dropped once she got divorced and had to start rebuilding her life.

Grace loses everything, her husband, blog, and lifestyle after catching her hubby in the act and then destroying his car in a hissy fit (LOL). While she is licking her wounds, he is neatly taking everything away from her and even sabotaging her efforts to recoup her life. She ends up in a touchy feely anger management group with a bunch of other divorced people who had the misfortune of having their cases heard by the same judge. The best part of the story takes place from this point onward as Grace discovers a way to get her self-esteem and even her career back on track.  I like that she realizes that she doesn't need all of the expensive and fashionable things which defined her life and even her blog before the divorce.  Grace gets back to her essential self and rediscovers the joy in rehabbing a  small vintage house not a mcmansion.

She meets Wyatt in her divorce group and they make a real connection after some false starts. He has also been taken for a ride by his ex, but he has a child involved, which makes it worse.  The members of the group start to figure out that there is something fishy going on with their so-called therapist and the judge that heard their cases.  The ways that the group investigates the situation add some real humor to the book.  There are also parts that show just how toxic divorce can really be if the parties don’t work hard to prevent that from happening even after the court hearing is over.

I have to say that Ms. Andrews is a nicer person than I am because I think that Ben and J’Aime don’t suffer enough in the end. But, that is really the lesson that we learn in a divorce.  I remember reading in a book something about the anger you keep in your heart leaving less room for love to come in. Grace learns that lesson and is the better person for learning it.

PS… Now that I have read the book, I am going to re-listen to it because the narrator really did a good job.  It wasn’t her fault that I was too impatient to wait and enjoy the book.

The Summer He Came Home- first in a new series by Juliana Stone

Falling asleep in a different bed every night has made it easy for Cain Black to forget his past. It’s been ten years since he packed his guitar and left Crystal Lake to chase his dreams. Now tragedy has forced him home again. And though Cain relishes the freedom of the road, one stolen moment with Maggie O’Rourke makes him wonder if he’s missing out on something bigger than fame.

For Maggie—single mother and newly settled in Crystal Lake—love is a luxury she just can’t afford. Sure, she appreciates the tall, dark and handsome looks of prodigal son Cain Black. But how long can she expect the notorious hellion to stay?

The last thing either of them wants is something complicated. But sometimes love has its own plans. ( synopsis from  www.julianastone.com)



Juliana Stones’ series, the Bad Boys of Crystal Lake, starts off with a winner. The Summer He Came Home tells the story of Cain Black, a rock star who has come home to attend the funeral of his childhood friend.  His marriage has broken up and he has just found out his band mate was screwing his ex-wife.  After an on-stage fight, Cain finds out about his friend’s death and heads home.  Suffice it to say, he is not at his charming best when he arrives.  Then he sees Maggie O’Rourke and his life takes a turn for the better.

Maggie O’Rourke is a newcomer in town who works as a cleaning lady.  She supports herself and her young son and pretty much keeps to herself. When she meets Cain, she is attracted but wary. She is keeping a secret about her child’s father and has no interest in complicating her life.

Although the story is a romantic classic, bad boy meets downtrodden woman with a secret, it feels fresh in this book.  There are several plots going on at once, some with Cain, some with Maggie, and others with the secondary characters.  The romantic tension between the two main characters is pretty hot and Maggie fights it pretty hard.  I liked that she put her son first before finally letting herself get involved.  I also liked the fact that Cain kept his grouchy, “I’m an island” persona for most of the book.  It just made the ending so much more satisfying!

There were plenty of hints of the stories that will work into the later books and that just made the anticipation that much more.

Next in the series:

Publication date October 1, 2013

The Biscuit Witch by Deborah Smith

Biscuit witches, Mama called them. She’d heard the term as a girl. She’d inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them.–Tal MacBride

Welcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to discover just how important their family once was, and still is, to the proud people of the Appalachian highlands.
Tallulah MacBride hasn’t been back to North Carolina since their parents’ tragic deaths, twenty years ago. But now, Tal heads to cousin Delta Whittlespoon’s famous Crossroads Café in the mountains above Asheville, hoping to find a safe hiding place for her young daughter, Eve.
What she finds is Cousin Delta gone, the café in a biscuit crisis, and a Scotsman, who refuses to believe she’s passing through instead of "running from.” He believes she needs a knight in shining flannel.
When a pair of sinister private eyes show up, Tal’s troubles are just beginning.
For Tal’s brother and sister—Gabby, the Pickle Queen, and Gus, the Kitchen Charmer—the next part of the journey will lead down forgotten roads and into beautiful but haunted legacies.( synopsis from BelleBridge Books.com)

I have been a huge fan of Deborah Smith’s books for years. Her newest book, The Biscuit Witch, takes place in the same small town as one of her previous books.   It’s been about six years since her last book and I was so excited to find out that she is writing a  new series of three novellas about the MacBride siblings. 

In this first book, Tal MacBride and her daughter Eve make their way to the small town where her fellow biscuit witch and cousin Delia owns the Crossroads Café. On the run from her ex-lover and trumped up legal issues, she doesn’t plan to stay in town but merely to make a short visit before moving on.  When the first encounter she has in town is with a bear trying to eat cupcakes out of her back seat and lick frosting off her knees, she has her first inkling that things aren’t going to go as planned.  Tal is saved by local veterinarian Doug Firth, a few hundred sheep, a goat named Teasel and two gay women who run a shelter/farm for abused women.

While in Asheville, Tal finds herself drawn to the easy going Doug and becomes part of the fabric of the town. She discovers that the town holds the key to her future and the answers to some big questions about her family’s past.

I loved this book.  The romance between Tal and Doug is sweet and unfolds perfectly. There are quirky town folk who are part of the healing that happens for both Tal and Doug. There are parts of the book that will just make you laugh out loud (I will never look at fondant in the same way again) and parts where you just feel like you would love to live in Asheville and be part of the community.

Since this is the first book in a trilogy, it sets up the next book by ending with a mini cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the book to come out!

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman- LOVED this book!

“My little brother was so wonderstruck by the world around him that never once did I hear him cry. He’d sit in that old buggy with his eyes wide and his ears pricked sharp as a deer’s. It seemed to me that nature spoke to him more plainly than any human voice … as if the wind moving through the trees and the subtle change in a blackbird’s song told him the truth of things.”

Each time Teddi Overman leaves her antiques shop in Charleston, South Carolina and visits the Kentucky farm of her youth, she’s drawn to the mysterious beauty of Red River Gorge where her brother Josh went missing. Though his absence remains unimaginable, Teddi builds a life as unexpected and quirky as the customers who frequent her shop. As she comes to terms with the events that shattered her family and finds love in the most surprising way, Teddi must decide what to let go of and what to keep.

In Looking for Me, bestselling author Beth Hoffman brings forth an evocative, multilayered story that moves between the charms of Charleston and Kentucky’s woodlands while exposing the fragile wounds and strengths of a woman who comes to understand the words once written in a simple note and the remarkable boy who penned them. ( synopsis from bethhoffman.net)

This is such a good book.   When I started reading it, I couldn’t stop, and I read it cover to cover until late in the AM. Teddi Overman is a woman who owns and operates an antiques business. Ever since she was a child in Kentucky, she has been drawn to old things and the inherent beauty within them. She has a complicated relationship with her mother, an embittered widow. She also had or maybe still has a younger brother who disappeared many years ago. In her heart, Teddi feels that Josh is still alive even though common sense would say otherwise.   Josh was a sensitive young man who was intensely connected to the wildlife near their home, especially birds. An episode with an abused dog is the catalyst for Josh’s disappearance.

The love that Teddi has for older things is integral to the story and how she can see the most beat up piece of furniture and find the beauty in it.  Her mother always wanted her to do something more practical and has never even visited her home or shop in Charleston. Fortunately, she has a good relationship with her grandmother who lives in a facility and who gives her the emotional support she needs.   

The other characters in the book are well developed and add color to the story. Reading about how Teddi developed her business and met her employees was interesting and gave the reader more of Teddi’s history. Her friend Olivia is a book restorer and is obsessed with old books much like Teddi is with her antiques.  Teddi has a persistent shoplifting customer who indirectly leads to Teddi finding romance in her life. 

What was interesting to me was the fact that Teddi was able to see the value in older things, but was so blind when it came to her mother. It isn’t until it’s too late that Teddi discovers that there was so much more to her mother’s life the Teddi never knew about and that shaped who her mother was.  Like Teddi’s beloved antiques, her mother had many layers that covered the person within, presenting an old worn out appearance that Teddi couldn’t see behind. Teddi does resolve her issues with her mother in a way that is satisfying but sad at the same time. The mystery of her brother’s disappearance is also resolved on some level.  When the book ended, I wanted more. I wasn’t ready to stop reading. I look forward to reading a future book by this talented author.