The perennial New York Times bestselling author returns with an emotionally resonant novel that illuminates the power of friendship in women?s lives, and is filled with her trademark wit, poignant and timely themes, sassy, flesh-and-blood characters, and the steamy Southern atmosphere and beauty of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry.Few writers capture the complexities, pain, and joy of relationships¥between friends, family members, husbands and wives, or loversÂ¥as beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank. In this charming, evocative, soul-touching novel, she once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry where three amazing middle-aged women are bonded by another amazing woman?s death.Through their shared loss they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire? How will they maximize their happiness? Security? Health? And ultimately, their own legacies?A plan is conceived and unfurls with each turn of the tide during one sweltering summer on the Isle of Palms. Without ever fully realizing how close they were to the edge, they finally triumph amid laughter and maybe even newfound love.

I have liked all of her books and am just catching up on the ones that I missed. ( )

Did not enjoy this one as much as another title of hers, but Miss Trudie was an endearing character and saved the story. The other female characters had some traits I do not admire. Lisa was close minded and self-righteous regarding her daughter's Colorado legal marijuana enterprise. Carrie was submissive, man hungry, and coquettish. Suzanne was ok, a bit bland, not much to say about her. All three women were so sickening sweet, it did not ring genuine. The men were not the center of the story, but I liked Paul. Lisa and Paul's romance: Not much meaningful dialogue.

The premise of women who are supportive of their friends was appealing, but the character development was so shallow. I never felt a kinship with any of them. They were one dimensional. Think cardboard cutouts of Steel Magnolias. There was a flimsy mystery thrown in, that made little sense. If you like just light breezy stories, where you don't have to think too hard, that are sweet with no substance, similar to the Krispy Kremes all the ladies loved so much, then you will enjoy it. Will not read this author again. Audiobook note: I enjoyed the narrator's southern accent for Miss Trudie--think Jessica Tandy---wonderful. ( )

I used to love Dorothea Benton Frank's books. I still have five of her first books on my shelves at home and I don't know how her books about the lowcountry that I used to absolutely adored just turned into what most of her books are now to me, which is just a really boring way to pass the time. I am so mad that I bought this book in hardcover too. A little voice was like, no Blue, don't do it. Just wait and see the reviews. But shiny cover and the fact that I was fondly remembering past books and not the latest ones which I have found more difficult to read made me buy this book.

At one point I was outside on my patio, sipping a cup of tea and watching my cat do her headbutt thing into the screen door and I said out loud, yeah me watching the cat do that for hours is more enjoyable than this book.

Apologies now, because me trying to sum up the characters and plots/side plots may make you wonder if I hit my head or something. I assure you that I did not.

We follow three characters in this book. Lisa, Carrie, and Suzanne.

Lisa works at a nursing/adult home and finds herself getting close to her patients. It's not said, but it seems like Lisa does this because she is divorced, lonely, and estranged from her only daughter.

Carrie has been widowed three times and is looking for husband number four...yeah I remember thinking what sane man would marry her.

Suzanne is concerned about trying to date and find love.

What ties all three of this women together is the character of Kathy who is at the nursing home and is dying of cancer. Carrie and Suzanne are best friends with Kathy, and Lisa feels slightly jealous of the threesome's friendship. Once Kathy passes away, the three women who set up a vigil around Kathy, are reluctant to part from one another so an unlikely friendship springs up between Lisa with Carrie and Suzanne. And I say unlikely because I can't imagine that many people running around with their now dead friend's nurse and then just telling them all of your business.

The character of Lisa was aggravating. She was self righteous to the point that I was hoping she would get her comeuppance, but nothing doing. Lisa is estranged from her daughter, because her daughter sought out and became friends with her father (Lisa's ex husband) and now the two of them are in partnership growing marijuana in Colorado. We have to keep hearing Lisa shrieking about how awful and disgusting it is what her daughter is doing. And even though it's legal she still keeps going on and on about it. I was kind of fascinated by the thought someone was legally growing marijuana and appeared to become rich overnight. It would have been nice to get a rational discussion about that going, but nothing doing in this book.

I really could have done with less Carrie and Suzanne. Neither character stuck out for me at all.

The love interests that emerge should have been called cardboard cutout #1, #2, and #3. I am too lazy to go and look up their names and honestly it doesn't really matter. Neither of the three men that are introduced feel like flesh and blood characters.

The characters of Lisa, Carrie, and Suzanne trying to figure out Kathy's past really didn't ring true to me at all. And I hate to say it, but the character of Kathy's big reveal didn't make a lot of sense to me at all. I wished that the character was around to explain the decisions that she made and why, but she wasn't, so you had to just go with it in the book.

The character of Kathy's former landlady was awful, and I absolutely hated how this was a big thing in the first half of the book that was largely forgotten until the very end with a deux ex machina being dropped right in to reveal all. I think I rolled my eyes so hard for a minute they got stuck.

The writing was not that great. The whole book felt like a mish-mash of some of her first few lowcountry books and I was seriously bored. And the southernisms in the book if you can call them that, were bad.

The flow was awful from start to finish too. At one point I was just counting down the minutes til I got to the end of the book. I don't think if this book figured out if it wanted to be a romance, a mystery, or a chick lit type frothy book. Either way it failed at all three genres.

The setting of the lowcountry has always been one that I adored in prior books and I felt really sad that for the most part that was not even enough to save this book for me. There was nothing that drew me in like there was in the first book I read by Ms. Frank, Sullivan's Island (Lowcountry Tales #1).

The ending was a hot mess. Seriously. I think we are supposed to say oh what a happy ending. I said to myself, well that happened. ( )

So enjoyed reading a book about more mature women, without a lot of female drama. ( )