Review: Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery.

Welcome to Fool’s Gold, California, a charming community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There’s lots to do and plenty of people to meet, especially women. Because there’s just one tiny problem in Fool’s Gold: the men don’t seem to stick around. Maybe it’s the lure of big-city life, or maybe it’s plain old bad luck, but regardless of the reason, the problem has to be fixed, fast. And Charity Jones may be just the city planner to do it.

Charity’s nomadic childhood has left her itching to settle down, and she immediately falls in love with all the storybook town has to offer — everything, that is, except its sexiest and most famous resident, former world-class cyclist Josh Golden. With her long list of romantic disasters, she’s not about to take a chance on another bad boy, even if everyone else thinks he’s perfect just the way he is. But maybe that’s just what he needs — someone who knows the value of his flaws. Someone who knows that he’s just chasing perfect.

Fools Gold, a small town, where everyone takes care of their peeps. This town kind of reminds me of Walnut Grove in Little House on the Prairie. Josh Golden, a hot, professional bike rider, who won the Tour de France is the most desirable man in the small town that is over populated with women.

He came to town with his mother years ago and was in an accident. His mother abandoned him as a child and seeing that no one was there to care for him, the town quickly took action and took him into their care. One specific woman, Marsha, made sure he was taken care of and eventually he was taken in by the Hendrix family with 6 kids. He rode a bicycle to strengthen his legs from his accident and later became a great bike rider. The whole town was proud of his accomplishments as he represented Fools Gold in competitions.

Charity Jones, the new City Planner comes into town and is hired by Marsha. She is a hard working young lady, not much luck with falling in love, but is intelligent and has a beauty of her own. Her new boss Marsha is very nice to her and Charity finds herself opening up to this boss lady. She bumps into Josh Golden at a meeting and is immediately swooning over his looks, body, his every fiber in his being haha! She thinks to herself what am I doing thinking he would be attracted to someone like me.

As the story unfolds, we find that Charity’s life was one big move after another from city to city with her mother. All her life, she just wanted stability, a place to call home and maybe a family of her own. She really liked Fools Gold and was planning to make it her home. Her mother never told her about family and avoided the subject at all costs. So Charity grew up thinking she had no family.

I enjoyed this book because of all the ups and downs and family connections revealed in this book. Charity’s body reacts like crazy when she’s around Josh and I’m sure he sees it and he feels a little something for her as well. They feel a connection and share a passionate kiss in the hallway of their hotel,(and started it all) which Josh owns as well as other businesses and homes in the town. She helps Josh get over his fears of riding again due to an accident that happened during the Tour de France and he helps her to re-connect and have confidence in the person that she is.

I loved the ladies in the town and how they had a ladies night out every month to unwind, drink and have heaps of fun together. Sounds like something I would like to do with my little circle of friends; definitely something to think about.

Marsha ends up being Charity’s grandmother and Charity doesn’t know how to react. She’s overjoyed she has family, but mad at Marsha for not telling her who she was, but Marsha had her reasons. A heartfelt relationship develops and Charity finds family!

I would definitely recommend this book for the romance between Charity and Josh, the women in the town and their relationships with each other, the tight knit feeling you get with the towns people and how they take care of each other, and many other events that took place in this book. Too many to write about, but definitely a good read.

Review: Shelter from the Storm by Anita Stansfield.

Book #4 of the Jayson Wolf story. I would say it was a good read. Jayson Wolf has fame, fortune, a family, the woman he’s loved since he was 16 years old, the gospel and musical talents from above; what more can a guy want in life?

Jayson and Elizabeth Wolf are happily married, but it was not an easy task getting there. Jayson divorced his wife, after she cheated on him. Elizabeth lost her husband and oldest son on a Boy Scouts Camping trip and through it all they have been friends for the eternities.

After 20 years, Jayson and Elizabeth held tight to their friendship. Jayson lost his loving mother to cancer and Elizabeth and her father Will were right by his side to help him with his loss. He was ready to take his life after his mother died, his daughter ran away at age 16 and his wife cheated on him with a young rock star. He told himself, Lord if you can hear me, show me a sign why I should not take my life right now and I won’t; then Elizabeth called right away and his life was saved. (That was a compilation of the other 3 books.)

Since then, they have had 2 of their own children Derrek and Harmony Wolf. They are now sealed to each other for all time and eternity. Jayson has 1 daughter from his previous marriage and Elizabeth has 2 sons and 1 daughter.
So now they have 5 children and they all live in Utah.

Book #4 was about Elizabeth’s mother, Meredith, who was never a part of her life growing up. She was an attorney and spent all of her time at the office and also cheated on Will (Liz’s father). Liz was the first one to become a member of the church and her father and Jayson later were baptized. Liz always wanted a relationship with her mother growing up, but it never happened. Liz vowed to not be like her mother and be a stay home, caring and kind mother to her children, which she was.

Out of the blue, Liz gets a call from her mother asking if she can visit them and Liz was shocked didn’t know what to say since their phone conversations were always short. She said yes, sure and her mother came over in days. It was weird to see her mother so old and caring about everyone in the family. Liz later found out, her mother had only 2 weeks to live. There was so much cancer in her body the doctors couldn’t do anything for her. Liz cried wanting to start over with her mom.

So with the remaining days, she spent everyday with her mother, sharing stories, and hearing her mother apologizing for not being there for her. Those were tender moments and memorable moments for Liz and her mother. She did not want to lose her mother because she felt like she just found her true mother. Meredith was able to see all her grandkids, get to know them and share time with all of them. She was so grateful to Liz and Jayson for being kind to her after all those years. Liz taught her mother about the church and life after death. Her mother was grateful and died a peaceful death in Liz’s arms at home.

The other part of the book, Jayson was having a relapse from his days in the Rehab Center. After trying to take his life, Liz and her father noticed he was addicted to his prescription drugs and checked him in to a nearby rehab center.
He completed and came out a new man then later married Liz.

Years later, he has a relapse. One of the ladies in church accuses him of being a bad example to her son. She claims all rock stars lead terrible lives of drugs and immoral acts. So long as Jayson Wolf was in the Young Men Presidency her son would not attend activities or classes. Jayson was released from the Young Men Presidency, and had a hard time dealing with it, and had a relapse. He just was angry all the time and didn’t know how to cope. Liz called the counselor from rehab and had a few sessions with Jayson to help him cope with the pressures of others. He managed to get a better understanding and thanked his wife for going behind his back to call the counselor…wives always know what to do haha!.

In the end, everyone is happy and crying because they discovered that their older son Trevin has developed a great musical talent for the Bass guitar which reminds all of them of Jayson’s best friend Derrek, Liz’s brother and Wills’ son. They lost Derrek to a car accident in his senior year and he was the bass player for their band “Gray Wolf.” No one ever replaced Derrek, but with the talent and potential of Trevin, they think they’ve found a new bass player to help with Jayson’s albums.

The series was a good read and definitely a lot of ups and downs and twists in the stories to be enjoyed. I enjoyed the life of Jayson and Liz and how despite the fact that they loved each other as teen agers; they weren’t able to reconnect or become man and wife until after they lead separate lives 20 years down the line. Talk about relationships that endure to the end.

Chicago: A Hawthorne High School Production.

The musical “Chicago” was performed by the students at Hawthorne High School this past weekend, June 17-19, 2011. They performed at Lawndale High Schools New State of the Art Theater, which is really a beautiful building.

So I went on Saturday night, June 18, 2011, to watch my cousin Shannen perform. Her role was Momma which was played by Queen Latifah in the original movie. She did a great job singing and acting. She really gets into her character as Momma and even has the accent.

So we’re sting there, my family watching, the lights are dark, then bam, the spotlights turn on and we hear her singing in the aisle. I was like holy goodness, she was just singing her song and waving her boa around like nobodys business. Then she walked to the other side of the aisles and sang her song, it was very nice! We were surprised to see her get into character and not pay attention to anyone but her and her part in the play. I enjoyed it. For a high school production, I think the students did very well. Good job Shannen!

Review: Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery.

Back in high school, Liz Sutton was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Then she’d stolen the heart of the most popular boy in town, and their secret romance helped her through the worst of times. Until Ethan Hendrix betrayed her and everything they’d ever meant to each other. Devastated and pregnant, Liz left Fool’s Gold, California-forever, she thought…

Now Liz must return to town and face the man who doesn’t know of their son’s existence. And this time she won’t have the option of making a quick getaway. Ethan and Liz can’t deny their passionate attraction, even after all these years. But will their desire be enough to spark a second chance at love?

This book was a delight to read. Fools Gold, a small town, with people who know everything and anything about you and your past, but is still yet a charming place. A town that takes care of their own people. Well for Liz Sutton, the town’s people back in the day, did not really take care of their own. She grew up in a home where her mother was the town’s slut and she was being smacked around and forced to raise herself. She had a brother, Roy Sutton, who moved away when she was 12 years old. When he left, she felt so alone.

She falls in love with the most popular boy in school, Ethan Hendrix. He knew there were rumors being spread around the school about Liz being a slut just like her mother, but he got to know her and fell in love with her for her and didn’t pay any attention to the rumors. Liz was known as the girl from the other side of the tracks, but she was smart and beautiful. Although Ethan loved Liz, he couldn’t reveal to any of his friends that they were together and told Liz to keep it a secret. She was young and thought it was romantic. Until one day at work she over heard Ethan’s friends ask if he was with Liz and he told his friends, no I wouldn’t be interested in someone like her. She was so hurt, grabbed a milkshake poured it on his head and left work and never went back.

Eleven years later, Liz Sutton, is a reputable author of murder books and has made a good life for herself in San Francisco with her son, Tyler who is 11 years old. Yea I know, you can imagine who the father is. Unfortunately, Ethan has no idea he has a son. She is forced to go back to Fools Gold, a town she has hated in her youth. Her brother (Roy) has 2 daughters and are left alone in their old house. Their father is in prison and his wife left the girls with $100 to raise themselves. It’s been 2 months and the oldest daughter, Melissa Sutton (14 yrs old) emails her aunt whom she’s never met and asks for help. Without hesitation, Liz packs up her and her son’s things and they take a road trip to Fools Gold. A trip that was planned for a few weeks soon turns into a long stay.

Does Liz tell Ethan he has an 11 year old son? Does the town accept Liz’s return? Do the rumors stop circulating about Liz being a slut? Does the town embrace her fame with books or shut her out as an outcast due to her past? Lots of questions can be answered if you read the book.

I really enjoyed this book because so much was going on. Besides the main characters Liz and Ethan, other things were going on in the book which just kept me reading more and more. I love it when a book has that effect on me. I love Fools Gold and the people who now are trying to protect their own and be there for their town’s people. A good read and I plan to read Susan Mallery’s other books and I’m sure I’ll enjoy them all.