small town living | The Opinionated Woman's Musings

This guest post is by fiction author Charlotte Ehney.

Book Review: Hissy Fit: A Novel by Mary Kay Andrews

Keeley Murdock is about to have it all. She is one day away from marrying the handsome and rich A.J. Jernigan. Everyone who is anyone is at her rehearsal party at the country club. But a fateful trip down the hallway on her way to the rest room makes Keeley suspicious about what is happening on the other side of a closed door. Keeley opens the door to discover A.J. and her maid of honor Paige in a most compromising position. What’s a girl to do? Throw a huge hissy fit! And that’s just what Keeley does. Needless to say, the wedding is off.

Keeley tries to pick up the pieces after her dream life falls apart at her fiancé’s infidelity by losing herself in her interior design business. Trouble is, work has dropped dramatically. Keeley suspects that the Jernigans have pressured the town folks not to do business with her. Since the Jernigans run the local bank, just about everyone in town wants to stay on their good side.

Fortunately, the wealthy Will Mahoney steps in to distract Keeley with a huge project. He’s purchased Mulberry Hill, an abandoned antebellum mansion, in the hopes of winning the heart of a woman he’s never actually met. As Keeley works with Will to renovate the majestic and dilapidated Mulberry Hill, he turns out to be something of a distraction himself.

Keeley struggles to move beyond A.J.’s betrayal but it reminds her of another loss she suffered long ago – being abandoned by her mother. Although Keeley had heard the rumors that her mother ran away with another man, she has never discussed it with her father. Finally Keeley decides to search for the answers behind her mother’s disappearance.

Overall, I would recommend Hissy Fit: A Novel. There are a few scenes and subplots that are over the top.

Will Mahoney is a successful businessman. He has purchased a local plant and meticulously researches options to bring the factory back to life. Yet, he buys an antebellum house and sinks a large fortune into renovations and furnishings all for a woman he says he’s in love with but has never met. This doesn’t fit with the image of Will as a logical professional.

Then there is Keeley’s failure to acknowledge her emotions regarding what she learns about her mother.

Despite this, I enjoyed Hissy Fit very much. Author Mary Kay Andrews creates perfect small town, Southern characters. She also nails the inner workings of small town society. Hissy Fit is definitely Southern chick lit. Hissy Fit: A Novel is an easy read with some big laughs. After all, you’ve got to root for a woman willing to pitch a justified Hissy Fit!

Charlotte Ehney is South Carolina native. She contributes to Lakelands Parents Magazine and Greenwood Magazine. Charlotte is the author of two novels, Blood Adversaries (print and Kindle) and Family Vows(Kindle) which are available on Amazon.com. You can find her blog, Cosmic Chaos, at www.charehney.wordpress.com.

Dakota Home – Debbie Macomber

The main story centers around Maddy and Jeb. Years before they met, Jeb, a buffalo farmer, suffered an accident from which his body is not completely healed. Because of that, he is anti-social. His sister usually takes him his groceries but at times “forgets” items to get him out of the house and into town. On one of these trips into town he meets Maddy, new owner of the grocery store. Maddy is adapting to small town and becoming an active member of the community.
Maddy and Jeb are attracted to each other, but of course as goes in many romance novels, the man’s pride keeps him to fully embracing and accepting the fact that he is falling for this woman. But then something happens that snaps him out of his feelings of melancholy. So leaving his pride behind, he goes after the woman he loves. And it is happy ever after for both of them.

This was the first book by Debbie Macomber that I have read. I do not know if this is her style to have the novel focus on two characters but also dwell on the stories of some of the secondary characters at the same time. I do not know how I feel about so many mini stories in addition to the one main love story in one book. It seems that the mini stories were distracting because they were not fully developed. Even though all the people lived in the same town, jumping from couple to couple was like trying to watch multiple shows on television at the same time.

I like for the book to focus completely on one couple and their journey to find love. Other couples can be mentioned in the book, but only in passing without too much of their story. Then when the sequel focuses on another couple, I will have some name recognition and background information as the foundation for their story. The multiple story method got a little confusing. I was tried to keep the different couples separate but it was no use. I focused on Maddy and Jeb and disregarded the rest.

Click Dakota Home to buy your copy and let me know what you think