Cradle Cap, Mean Girls and Wicked Tongues...oh my!

Hi guys!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...the place that aims to fill your wish list whatever your reading tastes.

So, you may have noticed a slight lapse in posts being up every single day....let's just blame it on the holidays, okay?  No seriously....it makes life in general pick up in busyness as well as one of my jobs so when time is overly crunched, to peck out a review/post/or what not feels more chore-like than fun, which is of course the whole point of this endeavor.  So, if you don't hear from me EVERY day, my apologies....but the lapse won't be long if it's there at all.  Okay?  Good, good....now that that is settled.  On with today's post....

The book I've chosen today is a recent read (as in literally finished it yesterday) and one that while being drawn from real life experiences, packs a punch in the funny bone...or is that to your funny bone?  Oh hey, it's funny is my whole point!  Allow me to introduce you to a woman who is not afraid to let her less than perfect side show, admits her faults freely and would probably sew them on a girl scout sash if given the chance; today's book of choice is....

I was in Love with a Short Man Once...

...and Other Tales from a Crazy Southern Irish Girl

by

Kimberly J. Dalferes

From the author....

Have you ever wondered if the life of the woman standing next to you in the check-out line is as weird as yours? Could it be possible that you are trapped in a bizarre reality show, where the object of the game is to get the crazy lady to flip-out; just one more time? If so, then this book confirms that you are in good company. I Was In Love With a Short Man Once is an essay collection written from the perspective of a crazy southern Irish gal. Follow her as she reflects on: growing up as a child of limited means in South Florida; managing a self-financed college education; balancing work as a federal official with the joys of single motherhood; and navigating the amusing challenges of being a second-time-around wife.

If you like to look at laugh through another’s eyes and experience the ups and downs with a heaping dash of humor…this one’s for you.

I know from the synopsis, it doesn’t sound all that exciting…right?  Oh, just admit it; it sounds like just another person putting pen to paper to record what life has sent there way thus far.  I promise you, this is not THAT book….but rather a book that draws the humor out of some of the least humorous situations (though plenty are HI-larious too!) and presents it front and center with a healthy dose of life experience.  The hint of what’s in store is there for all to see with the title (of which the origins are explained in the book)! 

It’s the book you hope to leave behind for your own children or their children so they can learn a thing or two not only about you (as in “Not a Libra”) but about life in general and that even when things seem at their worst, there is something better around the corner.  Take “Free Lunch” for example, where we discover the atrocities committed between Middle School kids (as if you didn’t know already…oye!) just because someone needs a little more help than another.  Ms. Dalferes could have merely shown us the “bad” side of things, but instead turns things 180 and has her reflecting on her own treatment of others at that age with an opinion apology in case she affected anyone’s life in the same manner. 

 It’s also the book to gather your closest girlfriends and giggle over with stories such as “Jezebel” and “Naked in a Hot Tub in Vegas”.  What?  Is it MY fault they say whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?  I didn’t think so….and you’ll be laughing it up at the fun time she had with her girlfriends there too.  Of course, we can’t forget “Static Cling”…which by the way ladies?  If you ever see a fellow girl in need of a “hey-more-than-your-assets-are-showing” due a lack of dryer sheet usage or bathroom mishap, for the love of Pete, TELL THEM (or me!)!  Yeah…can’t say that hasn’t happened before.  *ahem*  Moving on…. 

From the wonders of the afterlife through the eyes of a perceptive child (“Fairies”) to a go-to “saint” for those times when finding a close parking spot is REALLY a necessity (“The Patron Saint of Parking”) and not simply a get-out-of-walking-a-few-steps-because-I’m-lazy excuse, and everything in between.  There is not a situation covered that you won’t smile, chuckle or nod knowingly at and THAT my friend is what makes this a fun read indeed.  The author has a great knack for storytelling, as she so humbly mentions in the introduction (okay, no so humbly…LOL…but she’s right!), and so her writing style leaves you feeling like one of her inner circle, not merely a passerby.  By book’s end, you’ll have learned not only a thing or two about the author, but also about yourself…and in my mind it takes talent to turn a “memoir” style work back on the readers.  (KUDOS!)

Recommended read for teens and beyond!  Take a walk in the footsteps of someone who has been there, done that and depending on the outcome, may very well do it all again, but this time around her smile won’t be one of hesitation but anticipation!

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About the author...

Kimberly "Kimba" J. Dalferes is a native Floridian, but has spent the past sixteen years pretending to be a Virginian. I Was In Love With a Short Man Once is her first book. She is a bit worried that much of her current writing seems to center on public transportation and she has no rational explanation as to why this is true. Her accomplishments have included successfully threading a sewing bobbin, landing a 35 pound Alaskan King salmon, and scoring a blue and white Chinese vase at an estate sale for $1. She recently discovered that there is a very real possibility that she might be related to Princess Margaret Tudor, the sister of King Henry the VIII (on her mama’s side). A proud Florida State University graduate, she often sings the Seminole fight song out loud for no reason other than she still knows all the words. She currently lives, works, and writes in Fairfax, Virginia with her husband Greg, dog Taz, and occasionally her son Jimmy, when he is home from college.

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Review copy received courtesy of author Kimberly J. Dalferes (or as we come to know her, Kimba!).  THANKS!  For more information on this title as well as her next work in progress, be sure to visit her online, like her on Facebook, or follow along on Twitter!  This book is available now via Friesen Press so be on the look out for it on a bookstore shelf or online retailer near you.

Until next time...happy reading!