Rating: 
Summary: Flamingo Diner
Review: Another GREAT story from Sherryl Woods! Well written, entertaining and even a bit mysterious. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. If you haven't yet read them, be sure and get the Devaney Series from Woods, there are four titles in the series. You can't go wrong with anything Ms. Woods has written!
Rating:
Summary: Flamingo Diner
Review: Another GREAT story from Sherryl Woods! Well written, entertaining and even a bit mysterious. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. If you haven't yet read them, be sure and get the Devaney Series from Woods, there are four titles in the series. You can't go wrong with anything Ms. Woods has written!
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Summary: :)
Review: At first, when I read the title Flamingo Diner, I thought the book would lean towards comedy (don't ask me why). Then I read the blurb on the back and the comparison of the Flamingo Diner to the television show Cheers had me groaning (I hated that show). I then read the 'Dear Friends' letter by the author where it was made clear the issues in this book would be a bit more serious than her past books because the tragedy in this book is suicide. After reading this I wasn't even sure if I wanted to attempt to read this book. Nine years ago (although it seems like yesterday) my uncle took his own life, leaving behind a wonderful little girl and a heartbroken grieving family, including my mother, his sister. I seen the hell she went through and the strength that it took for her to go on with life. I was sure that this story would only leave me depressed, however, I won this book in a contest and felt obligated to read it (plus I loved the authors earlier work). So, I read it. I will be the first to tell you that I was surprised and thrilled at how much I enjoyed it. The focus of this book is not about death and sadness, although it's certainly there. No, the focus is on life, love, family, friends, and community. Suicide is real and unfortunately happens everyday. Flamingo Diner focuses on the aftermath and the pieces that are left behind for loved ones to deal with. Along with the biggest question of all, something everyone wonders, WHY? Why would someone take their own life? Don Killian takes his own life. Now his family, friends, and the community must deal with the consequences. His wife Rosa falls into a deep depression. Jeff, his oldest son, falls apart. Andy, his youngest son, is suddenly wise beyond his years and tries to be the man of the family. Emma, his daughter and oldest child, now has everything put on her shoulders. She is going to need a lot of help. Who better than the man that has loved her most of his life, Police Chief Matt Atkins. This story has so many wonderful elements. One is relationships. Rosa and Don's relationship was destroyed by lack of communication. Jeff and Marisol had a relationship that was presently unhealthy for both of them. Sylvia's marriage. Kim and Jolie's revolving door of men. The relationships between the people in the support group and their loved ones. And Emma and Matt--there is so much to say about them. Mostly, I loved the pure, unconditional, unselfish love that Matt had for Emma. Matt's love for Emma was like a breath of fresh air. I have to admit that occasionally I had to wonder if Matt deserved more than Emma. Emma's hesitation, doubts, and stubborn independence made me want to smack her at times. Any woman would be lucky to have someone like Matt in their lives. But, it's not just about relationships between men and women, but also relationships between siblings, mothers and children, friends, etc.. Flamingo Diner is a story about death, but more importantly it is a story about Life! If I was disappointed with any aspect about the book it would be that the author did not include an Epilogue. I would love to have gotten a glimpse of this family and community a few years down the road, but perhaps in this case it was best that there wasn't one. Most Epilogue's show us a happily ever after for the characters, but in real life not everyone gets a happily ever after and Flamingo Diner is definitely a reflection of real life. Flamingo Diner was an enjoyable read that I would highly recommend. Thanks Sherryl!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Let the Pretty Cover Fool You
Review: Don't let the bright pink cover fool you into believing this is a lighthearted story.. it's not. The main storyline and the characters' interactions are a result of a suicide. The book is sold as a Cheers bar-like story, but there was no real similarity. I had anticipated hearing stories from within the diner and meeting up with a lot of locals and townspeople, but that really wasn't the case. The focus was less on the interactions at the diner and more on discovering if the suicide was accidental or not. I have read a few Sherryl Woods books and this one is remarkably similar to the others - the characters are so-so the romance is minimal at best, and the writing is better than a cheap Harlequin but not as involving as a real story should be. I was disappointed but would still recommend it to fans.
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Summary: Very well done...
Review: Emma Killian escaped her small town home as soon as she could, leaving behind her family business, the Flamingo Diner and all it's know it all gossip. She never intended to return, but when her father commits suicide, finds she has to. Emma returns home with a heart filled with pain, and a mind full of questions. The only man capable of soothing both is the police chief, bad boy turned good, Matt Atkins. His investigative skill might be able to find out the truth behind her father's death, and Matt can definitely give her heart something for which to beat. ***** With the book Ms. Woods enters a new dimension in her career. Though it has its light moments, the topic is more serious in tone than usual for her, yet it is handled with sensitive realism that shows her compassion. ***** Reviewed by Amanda Killgore
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Summary: Touching story of a family in crisis
Review: Growing up in Winter Cove, Florida, Emma Killian couldn't wait to get out. As soon as she graduated high school, Emma headed to Washington, DC for college and later her career. She has however remained close to her family via phone calls and occasional visits. When her kid brother calls her begging her to come home because their father is acting strangely, Emma doesn't believe it's as bad as he says. Two days later, Emma gets a call in the middle of the night that her father is dead. When Emma returns home, she finds her mother in denial about her husband's death and refusing to get out of bed, her middle brother is trying to dull his problems with drugs and her youngest brother mad because Emma did not come home when he asked her to. Although the coroner rules the death an accident, Emma suspects it's suicide based on her brother's phone call. Matters get further complicated when her father's will is read and it's discovered that he not only spent all the family money but has heavily mortgaged the house and the family diner. Emma asks her childhood friend, Matt Atkins, who is now chief of police, to help her find out what really happened to her father so she can have closure. In order to save her family, Emma quits her DC job and stays in Winter Cove to run the diner. This was a very interesting story. Woods did a good job of developing her characters. I felt the anguish of the characters as they came to grips with the suicide of their father/husband. Matt was a great male lead. Emma was a very strong female lead but her obsession with having to return to DC, even when she realized she liked being back in Winter Cove, was irritating after awhile. Overall, this book is worth reading.
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Summary: Touching story of a family in crisis
Review: Growing up in Winter Cove, Florida, Emma Killian couldn't wait to get out. As soon as she graduated high school, Emma headed to Washington, DC for college and later her career. She has however remained close to her family via phone calls and occasional visits. When her kid brother calls her begging her to come home because their father is acting strangely, Emma doesn't believe it's as bad as he says. Two days later, Emma gets a call in the middle of the night that her father is dead. When Emma returns home, she finds her mother in denial about her husband's death and refusing to get out of bed, her middle brother is trying to dull his problems with drugs and her youngest brother mad because Emma did not come home when he asked her to. Although the coroner rules the death an accident, Emma suspects it's suicide based on her brother's phone call. Matters get further complicated when her father's will is read and it's discovered that he not only spent all the family money but has heavily mortgaged the house and the family diner. Emma asks her childhood friend, Matt Atkins, who is now chief of police, to help her find out what really happened to her father so she can have closure. In order to save her family, Emma quits her DC job and stays in Winter Cove to run the diner. This was a very interesting story. Woods did a good job of developing her characters. I felt the anguish of the characters as they came to grips with the suicide of their father/husband. Matt was a great male lead. Emma was a very strong female lead but her obsession with having to return to DC, even when she realized she liked being back in Winter Cove, was irritating after awhile. Overall, this book is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant
Review: Her sixteen year old brother Andy calls pleading with Emma Killian to come home because their dad is acting strange; Don has even yelled at his beloved wife and two sons in front of patrons of the family run FLAMINGO DINER. Emma, busy working at the DC based Fashionable Memories Antiques store, blows away her sibling as being an alarmist. Two days later, Don apparently committed suicide driving his car into the nearby lake. Emma returns home to bury her father and to help her mother and siblings cope with the tragedy. Police Chief Matt Atkins who witnessed the death tries to help the family too, but especially Emma, a woman he loved since his teen years. As the four surviving Killians try to regain their equilibrium, Emma falls in love with Matt, but she feels that Winter Cove is not cosmopolitan enough for a big city antiques dealer like her. This is a strong character study as each one of the four Killians struggles in their personal way to cope with the apparent suicide. They go through the various stages of grief starting with none of them accepting that Don killed himself. Returning to normalcy is impossible as each copes with their feelings of guilt. Sherryl Woods provides her audience with a taut touching tale and readers will appreciate the depths the author reaches. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Not Her Usual
Review: I felt this book was not the usual for Sherryl Woods. It had romance and some humor, but it was too serious with the talk of suicide. After a long day, you want a book you could slip away into and imagine you are there. After reading the first few chapters I wanted to cry. I liked her other books much better and hope she stays light-hearted in the future. Book was very well written though.
Rating:
Summary: Not Her Usual
Review: I'm going to be the odd one out here, and say that I didn't really like this book. The book played up all the emotional heartstrings, but it left me rather cold. I found the main character, Emma, to be extremely annoying and selfish. Perhaps it's just that I have a differing viewpoint of death and suicide, but I just couldn't understand the survivor guilt. Emma's dogged pursuit for the reason behind her father's suicide, knowing full well that any verification of it would jeopardize the insurance money that her family desperately needs, just made no sense to me. I disliked the fact that she began the investigation and involved a public official in it unilaterally, never bothering to discuss her action with her mother or her siblings until after the fact. Also, coming from a family where my mother was widowed young, I had absolutely no sympathy with the mother locking herself away for weeks in her room nursing her own hurt and anger when her children needed her. My mother never behaved that way, no matter how much she was hurting. Perhaps this reflects a real-life experience, I don't know, but I could not respect the mother after that. Regarding the romance between Emma and Matt, this was one of those situations where you have this gorgeous bad-boy who's made good type in love with a woman forever, she loves him, but she's afraid to commit to him because she has an independent life elsewhere. Nevermind that in that other life she's basically a glorified shop clerk who's never going to be able to do the job she actually wants to do, nevermind that she apparently has no social life and only a limited amount of friends. THAT life is better in her eyes than being with a man whose love she reciprocates, having her beloved family nearby, and the possiblity of owning her own antiques business. Just made me want to give her a smack upside her head.
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