Small Town Girl by LaVyrle Spencer

Tess McPhail is a superstar country singer that has returned to her small town after 18-years of making it to the big time in order to care for her mother, Mary. Mary will be having hip surgery and Tess’ older sisters have decided it is her turn to care for Mary.

Tess secretly resents having to give up her busy career to return to small town living. She is also hurt that her mother doesn’t seem to value the gifts that Tess sends and will not let her build her a new house. She almost finds herself a stranger with her mother after so many years. They don’t really understand one another. Tess dutifully helps her mother through surgery and stays for four weeks to help her get back on her feet, literally.

Tess has two older sisters, Judy and Renee. Judy is a hairstylist and has great resentment for Tess and her fame. It doesn’t help that Tess thinks that Judy has let herself go and could stand to lose a few pounds. Renee and Tess get along great, but Renee is busy helping her daughter prepare for her wedding.

Her first night in town, Mary’s neighbor, Kenny Kronek, stops by with salt for the softener. He walks right in and annoys Tess by ignoring her presence. Kenny remembers Tess as a stuck-up high school girl, and Tess remembers Kenny as a klutzy nerd. The two clash at first, but slowly Tess sees how Kenny is an important part of her family’s life and she also loves Kenny’s daughter Casey. Casey has an amazing voice and Tess is determined to help start her career.

Will Tess be able to change her life to keep her family at the heart while maintaining her high profile career? Will Tess be able to find love . . . with the boy next door?
Truthfully I thought this novel was okay, but not the greatest. I feel bad as it is the September FLICKS book club selection and I know a couple people in my book club love this book. I just didn’t fall in love with the romance in this novel.

SPOILER ALERT

Tess’s hatred for Kenny at the beginning of the novel felt forced and I didn’t really like them together. I really didn’t like how Kenny has had a girlfriend for eight years, Faith, and she seems to be a wonderful woman. But although Kenny and Casey love her and she is an important part of their life, they seem to have no problem throwing her away for Tess. I did like how Kenny was able to put his business on the back burner to be a part of Tess’s life. I guess overall I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two leads that I would expect in a romance novel. I also am not a country music fan, but I don’t think that lessoned my enjoyment of the novel.

SPOILER END

Overall, I thought Small Town Girl was an okay novel. I did enjoy reading it, but didn’t love it. I much preferred Spencer’s Bittersweet to this novel. Am I the only person who didn’t love this book? What are your thoughts if you have read it?

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Bitter Sweet by LaVyrle Spencer

A tragedy has happened . . . the Mom's Club I belong too started a book club and NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT IT! I got an email earlier this month about the second pick, Bitter Sweet by LaVryle Spencer, which I thought must be the first pick. I emailed back in much excitment only to discover there had been a meeting already - WITHOUT ME. I was distressed! How could there be a Mom's Club book club without me? I guess that's what happens when you miss a business meeting because you were up until 4 AM doing some exciting engineering modeling:-) It sounds like this book club will be more on "lighter" reading material than my Kewaunee library book club.

Anyway - I finished this book on Friday and really enjoyed it. It has been a hectic last few weeks and this was the perfect book for me to read during a hectic time. It was an enjoyable, light read.

This book tells the story of Maggie Pearson. She has recently been widowed after her husband died in a plane crash. Now at 40, she finds herself alone as her only daughter leaves for college in Chicago (Maggie lives in the state of Washington). She gets back in touch with her old high school friends from Fish Creek, Wisconsin. That's right - this book is set in Door County, Wisconsin, just north of where I live. It made me want to drive up there and check it out - I still have never been further north than Sturgeon Bay! I'll be up north later this summer when we go camping with Corinna, Phil, and Clara. Anyway, Maggie visits her old friends in Door County and decides that she wants to change her life and use the insurance money from her husband's death to buy an old victorian house in Fish Creek and make it into a bed and breakfast.

She meets up again with her high school sweetheart, Eric Severson. Maggie and Eric were in love in high school, but drifted apart in college. Eric married a beautiful woman named Nancy, who is very career oriented. They lived in Chicago until Eric's Dad died and they moved back to Door County to help his brother run the family charter fishing business. Eric finds himself unhappy in his marriage as he wants children before it's too late and Nancy does not. At this time, he finds himself drawn to his old love, Maggie. And you have to read the book to find out the rest!

This book had very well drawn three-dimensional characters. So often in novels, "evil" characters are written as very one-dimensional people. In this book, that would have been Eric's wife, Nancy. Nancy does do a lot of negative things, but the book makes sure to point out that Eric has changed too and has not been the best husband to Nancy. Maggie's mother is also not a very nice person, but the book at least attempts to write about how things are from her point of view.

I enjoyed this book. If you want a light, enjoyable read about Wisconsin's beautiful Door county - I highly recommend it!