Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!!!
Review: A wonderful easy fun book to read! Perfect book to make you smile and think about all the wonderful things in your own life. I loved these characters and the visit was too short!!! You won't be sorry to pick this book up and add it to your library and I will be making sure to pick up her other books!!
Rating: 
Summary: excellent read!
Review: Every time I read a Jeanne Ray book, I'm convinced it's the best book I've read until I read another by her. I didn't want to read Step Ball Change because it was the last book of Ray's that I hadn't read. Unfortunately, I finished it and now have to wait for more by her. This book is such a wonderful book. It made me feel good about people and life. It made me smile. It made me wish for more. I love Jeanne Ray's writing and hope she has many more stories up her sleeve. It's not a sappy, unrealistic book but is more of a collection of stories about life that have a happy ending. Keep writing Ms. Ray!
Rating:
Summary: excellent read!
Review: Every time I read a Jeanne Ray book, I'm convinced it's the best book I've read until I read another by her. I didn't want to read Step Ball Change because it was the last book of Ray's that I hadn't read. Unfortunately, I finished it and now have to wait for more by her. This book is such a wonderful book. It made me feel good about people and life. It made me smile. It made me wish for more. I love Jeanne Ray's writing and hope she has many more stories up her sleeve. It's not a sappy, unrealistic book but is more of a collection of stories about life that have a happy ending. Keep writing Ms. Ray!
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Summary: She'd better not quit...
Review: I read somewhere that Jeanne Ray only plans to write three books and then quit. I hope not! I don't know what it is about her writing, but I adore it. I polished this in a day, most of it spent in a room full of miserable people at H&R Block. I laughed so many times it was rude, but I couldn't help myself. As a wife, a daughter, a woman who planned many weddings only to elope herself and the mother of a nine-year-old who lives to dance, this book was the best. (not to mention that it was full of lawyers and I'd just polished off Grisham's KING OF TORTS). I love all Ray's husbands too. Probably because they're so much like my own--hard-working, hard-loving everyday guys with kids and bills and regrets who still know how to make you laugh. Sure there were a few dips here in there in this story, but I loved every moment of the ride. It's what I love about her books, I know exactly what I'm getting, but I'm never quite sure how I'll get there. And the characters... George was a dream. What better son, brother, fiance' could you have? And Kay, well, let's just say I couldn't be a bit mad at her. Been there, done that. Picked the right guy. Taffy probably made the longest trip of anybody in the book, much like Ruth's mother in EAT CAKE, but in a different way. I would have liked more flesh on Woodrow. (He was at the table but didn't seem a full partaker? I felt he had more to give) All in all though, it was great, refreshing and I hope she never quits. If she does, I'll keep writing drivel. She's one of the few people who make me consider quitting all together.
Rating:
Summary: Cool read for a hot summer day!
Review: I really liked Julie and Romeo and couldn't wait for Ray's latest Step-Ball-Change. This is truly a delightful read. We meet Caroline and her husband Tom who are trying to save the foundation of their house which has developed a few cracks in it.
All of a sudden their personal lives seem to take on the same aspect. Caroline's sister Taffy calls to say she is coming for a visit as her husband has left her for a woman younger than their daughter. At the same time Caroline's daughter calls to tell her parents she is engaged to the wealthiest boy in town. From there on the story starts to roll. Caroline and Tom begin to see their retirement fly right out the window as they invision having to pay half of a million dollar wedding. The quiet contractor Woodrow, training Taffy's viscious tiny leg biting dog into being a calm house pet and trying to fix their house before it totally gives way. I love the way dance is brought into this book. Caroline has been a dancer all her life and this book tells the story of how one family learns to dance together. That time goes by too fast and that you have to speak up and say what you feel and always dance.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful family to spend time with
Review: I think everyone reading this book will wish they had a family like Carolina (Minnie) has -- even when her family is creating problems for her, the warmth and love in the household shines like light coming from a Kincaid cottage painting. For those prepared to dismiss the book as simply being about a series of love stories, I would say that while this is true, the same criticism could be made of Jane Austen. This is a book that women will particularly warm to, about the relationships and struggles that form our lives. The theme of this book is love -- mother/daughter relationships, husband/wife relationships, boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, sister/sister relationships, etc. Although Carolina/Minnie has a great marriage (after 40 years), her sister Taffy does not. When Taffy learns that her husband has been having an affair with a much younger woman and wants a divorce, Taffy calls her sister and is invited up for a visit. She arrives with a lot of luggage and no definite time period for the visit. The two sisters have never been close -- they're very different and rivalries have left a strained relationship between the two. But family is family, so Taffy is welcome, although the undisciplined fox terrior she brings with her is not so welcome, particularly after he starts biting people. At the same time, Carolina's daughter Kay becomes engaged to Trey, a wealthy man from a prominent family. His family expects a wedding well beyond the means of Carolina and her husband George. Where will such a large amount of money come from? Then there is Woodrow, the contractor who has been working on their house for quite a long time and shows no signs of ever finishing. What started out as an addition has turned into major repairs on the cracking foundation of the house. The workmen are often off working on some other job, and the work shows no sign of completion. The contractor Woodrow makes himself at home and seems to be a fixture at their kitchen table. This is a very funny book with some great lines. It's well written and the kind of book you can't wait to get back to. It is perhaps only a certain tidiness in the ending that prevents me from giving the book 5 stars -- everything falls perfectly in place, and although some readers may like this kind of ending, I don't think Jane Austen would have ended a novel quite so neatly.
Rating:
Summary: Warm & Witty
Review: It was charming from beginning to end, never dull, never over-the-top and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it. Having recently read two very lackluster "chick-lit" type books this story was a refreshing change of pace. There was no bitterness, no over the top shenanagins, no ridiculous situations and no 20 or 30-something nitwit heroine. Instead the story is told from a happily married 60-ish heroine (Caroline) whose life is turned upside down when she receives two phone calls simultaneously from hysterical woman. One is her daughter, Kay, who is crying tears of joy because she's become engaged to the catch of the century and the other is from her sister Taffy whose husband just ran off with a very younger woman. Taffy & her nasty little dog Stamp temporarily move in with Caroline and Tom while she decides what to do with the rest of her life. Caroline is less than thrilled with the fact that her daughter is marrying into such a wealthy family especially when she learns that they intend to invite 900 guest. Poor Caroline sees her retirement plans flying out the window. This story is about life's little (and bigger) bumps and all of the interwining relationships. I also really enjoyed the way the author incorporated dance into the story ~ it read like it was her true passion and added a lot of depth to Caroline, Taffy & George. There are many touching moments and wise observations about love, romance and marriage. The characters were all terrific and came alive for me and I hated to let them go when the book ended (something I rarely say about a book these days!). At times I wanted to shake some sense into Kay and felt like she was totally insensitive and selfish but it turns out she's only human (and really not so bad in the end) just the rest of the folks in this book . I smiled and my eyes teared up quite a bit while reading this and I'm adding this author's other books to my wishlist when I find a few spare minutes. My only complaint? This book could've been longer as I felt it all ended too quickly but maybe that's just because I enjoyed it so much.
Rating:
Summary: A delight!
Review: Jeanne Ray is another author I will be checking to see if she has written another book. This is the second one I've read and I really enjoyed it. You have family, humor and sass all tied into one novel and it makes for a quick and delightful reading! There is Caroline who is happily married to her husband of over 40 years, Tom, who is a public defender. Daunted by the fact that their only daughter is engaged to a rich man in town ~~ they try to figure out ways to help pay for a lavish wedding. To top it off, their house is in process of being rebuilt ~~ after getting an order in for a "Florida" room, the contractor discovered that their foundation is cracking. He'd get to it when he can among all the other jobs he had lined up. To throw this in the mix, Caroline's sister, Taffy, is coming up for a visit since her husband left her for a woman who is two years younger than their daughter. To add even to the interesting mix is more romance ~~ Caroline's daughter becomes involved with two men while trying to make up her mind about whom to marry. Then there is Caroline's youngest son, in law school and teaching dance classes. Caroline does the only thing she knows how ~~ taking refuge in her dancing studio. And the problems all sort themselves out in a delightfully funny way. It is truly a story to read in a day ~~ it's funny and sassy and you can't put it down! 2-13-04
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Summary: A Tap Dance of a Read
Review: Like Julie and Romeo (Jeanne Ray's first bestselling novel) Step-Ball-Change is a comic novel full of light moments and romance. It is a domestic novel in the most literal sense of the phrase: most of the scenes take place around the McSwain's kitchen table. Caroline McSwain, age 62, is happily married to her husband Tom and enjoys her job as a dance studio owner and instructor and her role as a mother of four grown children. Though there is a constant low level of chaos in her life due to the renovation work being down on their home, the chaos level jumps at the beginning of the book when two tearful phone calls come at the same time. The first is from her daughter Kay, who has just become engaged to Trey Bennett (of The Bennets, who own the local hospital and bank). The second is from her sister Taffy, who is in need of comfort and a place to flee her philandering husband. Though Caroline and Taffy have never gotten along well, Caroline invites Taffy to come stay for an indefinite period of time. How Caroline dances the ever thought-provoking exchanges with her sister while keeping the home fires burning for her adult children makes for an entertaining tap dance of a read. Jeanne Ray makes the sixth decade of live seem vital and full of humor and possibility, while also capturing the depth of the sister relationship. This was a wonderful book to read, and I look forward to Eat Cake, which will be published in May of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Another fun novel from Jeanne Ray
Review: No one can make domestic chaos as much fun as Jeanne Ray. In her second novel, Ray creates two delightful characters in Caroline McSwain and her long-time husband, Tom. Just as they congratulate themselves on having a quiet night with a dinner for two, the McSwains are interrupted by two phone calls. One of them is from their emotional daughter Kay, who has just become engaged to one of the wealthiest men in town, and the other is from Caroline's sister Taffy whose husband is leaving her for another woman. Thus starts the delightful chaos which envelopes the McSwains and their friends. One especially enjoyable character is Woodrow, a contractor who is making the McSwain's home improvement project into his life's work. In his spare time, he trains Taffy's wayward dog and begins to restore her self-esteem. By the time things are worked out and the proper people have become couples, the reader has had some good laughs and has grown very fond of Ray's loveable characters. Ms. Ray, please keep these delightful books coming!
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