What Matters Most by Bette Lee Crosby

Why how-DY!

Welcome to the site that’s putting the ALL back in YA’LL…Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Okay, I can’t even carry on that pattern of typing for the entire intro let alone a post but it worked for a quick way to jump into the region of today’s title.  Come with me as we step into the land of Women’s Fiction with a big dose of the South.  It’s warm, it’s welcoming, it’s downright hospitable…although our leading lady probably wouldn’t agree with us for a good bit and well frankly, neither would you or I considering the conditions and circumstances and…well, let’s just get to the story, shall we?  Pull up a rocker and grab some sweet tea, it’s time to meet today’s book of choice…

What Matters Most

By

Bette Lee Crosby

9780989128902

Bent Pine Publishing

About the book…

Louise Palmer is a settled-down person.  A woman who wants nothing more than to remain in the same house until the day she dies.  When her husband Clay, announces an intention to quit his job and move to Florida, her life is thrown into a turmoil of mixed emotions and strained loyalties.  Torn between Clay’s desire for “the good life” and the lifelong friendships of her quilting club, Louise struggles with what to do…until her best friend suggests a scheme to thwart the move.

Before she discovers the truth of what matters most, a marriage will be tested, family relationships fall apart and the friendships Louise tried to hold on to will change dramatically.

This is a story from the heart about the many facets of the heart and the trials and tribulations that not only LIFE puts it through…but we create ourselves.

Louise Palmer, who has always wanted to be Penny Palmer (it’s a double initial thing…believes they are luckier in life, though her friend Billie Butterman would beg to differ…a whole lot more on that in the book for you to uncover), is the sorta person who lays down roots and sticks with them.  No backpacking through life for this gal, she knows where she’s going and likes the view just fine.  Too bad for her the man she hitched her star to has decided to throw her a curve ball.

Now before you go getting all riled up with your hair pulled back and your fists of fire ready to fly, it’s not like that.  His midlife crisis is playing out in the form of needing a change of pace and place, not the love of his life…though if she’s not careful, that just might be what happens.  It’s not an ultimatum, it’s a fact and trust me, it’s a truth that’s well deserved but something he is just as responsible for creating.  I mean, how would YOU take it if one day you were told by your significant other that you’re pulling up roots and moving clear across the country with no rhyme, no reason except that the chance existed to try a more relaxed life off the beaten path?  Okay, well some of you may be pumping your fist in the air and doing a happy dance, but others are probably affected similar to our lead here; wary of such a dramatic change in their life because they’ve finally reached where they aimed to be.

Change is hard, no matter the circumstance.  Even when it’s your idea, it can send you for a loop.  When it’s someone else’s idea though, it gives the opportunity for blamed to be placed, fingers pointed, and I-told-you-so’s to be slung about.  So, um…yeah.  Louise doesn’t exactly take the high road but she doesn’t shy away from it all either.  Her plan is more George-Washington-crossing-the-Delaware…SNEAK attack!  Poor, poor Louise though…at every turn it seems something or someone is out to thwart her.  See now that’s the problem with playing things half hidden in shadows…the other never really knows where you stand; of course then there are those that wouldn’t know where you stood if you were standing ON them because they are so involved with themselves.  (Yes Clay…you are guilty as charged here.)  The back and forth, tit for tat, games played and eventually fate, stretch and test the measure of their love both in marriage and of friends.  Will anyone survive the emotional battlefield they’ve created for themselves?  Or will their meant for a lifetime love perish in the flames of change?  Only time will tell, but if you give Cherry or rather Mabel enough time, a good meal and a chair to rest in, she’ll bring you up to speed in a flash.

In conclusion, a story that brings the idiosyncrasies of life to the forefront , shakes and bakes them in the Florida sunshine, and hangs them on the line to dry with flair.  This is one of those books that the story isn’t necessarily earth shattering in what actually transpires but the characters that drive that story make it well worth the read…and then some.  From our mostly practical Penny…er, I mean Louise…to the flamboyant Cherry (though Mabel suits her just as well…she’s still her after all), the on-the-run Billie to backwoods Wilfred, there’s a full house of “crazy” with calamity for a partner but it takes it all in and makes it its own leaving you with a lovable bunch too good to miss out on knowing.

Recommended read for Women’s Fiction fans as well as those that simply like a good story with heart, laughs, and a wacky cast ready and willing to throw down with the best of them or supply a shoulder upon which to cry.  Bookmarks up to the author for a read well done.  Signed ARC courtesy of publicist Coral and author Bette Lee Crosby.  (THANKS! ^_^)  For more information on this title as well as her complete body of works, be sure to stop by her official site, like her Facebook, or follow along on Twitter.  This title is available now from Bent Pine Publishing, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf near you!  Need an online option?  Here's two to start you on your way....Amazon, Barnes & Noble....

Until next time…happy reading.