Savannah Blues

Rating:
Summary: Fun summer read!
Review: My book club picked this book for our July read. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. The characters are fun and well developed. The story is easy to follow, although some chapters are written in the first person and others in the third. Nevertheless, it was very entertaining and enjoyable. I found myself laughing outloud several times and very intrigued at others. I can't wait to read the other books of Mary Kay Andrews.

Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL, FUN READ!
Review: This story had everything -- first, it took place in the South, a great place to be. The heroine, Eloise "Weezie" Foley, is a hoot. Then there's her mother's alcoholism and her uncle, a resigned priest who is just coming out of the closet. There's Weezie's jerk ex-husband Ty and his man-eating fiancee. Quite a bit about antiques. We can't forget her new/old hunky boyfriend Daniel. Oh yes, and a dead body and a mystery. It doesn't get any better than this. I love the author's style. There are so many funny lines in this book, it kept me laughing. I wish the author would write a sequel. I would rush to the computer to buy another book about Weezie!

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes Love is Better the Second Time Around
Review: This is a story about divorce and revenge and really super antiques. Eloise "Weezie" Foley is an antiques picker who has to deal with a large estate sale, eccentric relatives, a hot ex-boyfriend, her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, who is living in a house that Weezie herself restored. As you can see there is a whole lot going on in this book that just goes to show you that love is sometimes better the second time around. I love this book and if you've got half a heart, you will too.

Rating:
Summary: Fast, quirky, funny.........wonderful!!!
Review: When Eloise, a struggling anitque picker, divorces her wealthy husband Tal and decides to live in the carriage house behind Tal and his girlfriend, Caroline, you know that the author has a quirky and wonderful story that will unfold page by page!!!
Eloise sneaks into an old home where an estate auction is to be held and is found beside a murdered woman. She has motive and opportunity but claims innocence. While fighting to prove her story she relies on her Uncle who is about to reveal a family secret. On top of all this, Eloise' mother has a problem that will need the entire family to "circle the wagons" and help out.
Mary Kay Andrews brings her delightful sense of humor and a delightful sense of timing to this fun, fast story that deals with some serious issues and yet never takes itself to seriously.

Rating:
Summary: Good Entertainment
Review: I liked this book. Actually I REALLY liked this book. There are some little factual errors that may muddle the mind of the most finicky of readers but as long as you understand going in that this book isn't meant to be fine literature you won't be disappointed. That being said it is a good read and as far as chick lit goes, very well written and entertaining. Books fulfill many needs for their readers and this one is pure mind candy. It isn't heavy, deep literature with political or social overtones. It's a fun read that isn't too taxing but it isn't trash either. I think I'll call it great Entertainment Fiction and leave it at that.

Rating:
Summary: The great escape
Review: After 9 years of not reading for fun (after the birth of a challenging child) and with the confirmation that my husband would be overseas with the military for a year I picked up this book with the vow to make time for myself. What fun! I laughed outloud, couldn't wait to find time to read and was disappointed only that the story ended. The test was lively and flowed as if I was engaged in the conversation. Awesome, fun, non-pondering reading. Isn't that what reading for pleasure is all about? I have passed it on to 4 friends. I so enjoyed it that I bought the follow-up in hardback and about choked on the expense of a new hardbook. But I savored it too.

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous Romp!
Review: SAVANNAH BLUES is the second book that I have read by author Mary Kay Andrews, the other being HISSY FIT. I finished each of these novels feeling that I wanted to move to Georgia immediately, so vividly does Andrews create a sense of place.

Can this woman ever write! The story just flies, with fun on every page. It is not merely the plot--which is excellent--but also the prose that makes Andrews' work such a treat.

In addition, the author clearly knows her antiques, and anybody reading one of her tales will come away with a painless education in the decorative arts as a bonus to a damn good yarn.

As I am coming to expect from Andrews, SAVANNAH BLUES has as many layers as an onion, with subplots regarding ecological and historic preservation, alcoholism and even restaurant management.

The characters are vivid, the dialogue sparkles. The author is a woman with amazing powers of observation and insight, and a swell way with a turn of phrase.

Now, I'm off to read her LITTLE BITTY LIES. Can't wait!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable summer reading fling
Review: Somewhere between airy chick lit, Janet Evanovich and Elizabeth Lowell, Savannah Blues is an easy read, perfect for the end of summer.

The characters are deliciously drawn here; I could easily see myself befriending Weezie or Bebe or even human tornado Merijoy. The love interest Daniel is not just gorgeous, he's also funny and sweet; the dirtbag ex-husband Tal is not just a piece of scum, he's also pathetic and whiny. Andrews has obvious fun with some of the names of her characters (twins Ross and Rachel, Tripp, Flip and Phipps), but their personalities are so earnestly described that you can almost imagine Savannah filled with such people in real life.

The loving attention to details of antiques is worked so seamlessly into the narrative that you don't realize you've learned some oddball tidbit about glassware or furniture until you've finished the book. Andrews also shows how much she enjoys the local cuisine, with descriptions of food and recipes that will make your mouth water - Daniel's seafood bisque in particular. The writing is superb, the plot moves pretty quickly, the dialogue is smart and funny and the characters are interesting and compelling. The romance is sweet and believable, moving along at a good pace with a nice backstory.

I'd have liked to give this book a 4.5 - the only thing holding it back from a 5 star rating is the utter implausibility of the police investigation into the murder (or non-investigation). While I don't expect total reality in my fiction reading, it struck me as strange that the author would choose to make the police so utterly uninterested in solving any of the crimes that were uncovered. It's a minor quibble, just one thing that nagged me long after I'd finished reading.

Rating:
Summary: Fun summer read!
Review: Mystery, romance, antiques, women getting their lives back together. In general this was a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I loved all the info about Savannah, plantations and of course, the food. The characters with unique and they all had their own funny quirks. BeBe's attitude and way of getting things done was admirable. The only problem I had was with Weezie's attitude with Daniel. It was obviously the guy was in love with her and she didn't treat him very well.

Other than that I enjoyed the book.