I liked this book a lot because it had such a small town homey feel to it. The characters in this book, especially Attalee made me smile a lot as I was reading! The story was slow but enjoyable and easy to follow. I felt so bad for Elizabeth, wanting to return to work after staying home with her new baby for a few months. I also liked the fact that the author writes about older women and finding love after sixty! If you like a story about a nice southern small town that gives you a good feeling that is also free of swear words then you will enjoy this story.This review was originally posted on ( )

This is not really a mystery, though it certainly has a cozy feel. At the Bottom Dollar thrift store the employees and their friends, ladies of a certain age, are getting swept up in the frenzy of the town's upcoming sweethearts dance. Love is in the air. Some of the women embrace it, like the randy Attalee, the octogenarian who is heading towards marriage. Elizabeth, the youngest of the group, is sick of staying home all day with the baby, but she's afraid to voice her feelings to her husband. The ladies all have strong feelings about love and romance, but life doesn't necessarily conform to their desires. It leads to two of the friends competing for the same man, and some of the women finding love when they weren't looking for it.

This is primarily a story about female friendship. It is a book populated by feisty and entertaining characters. This is a book for those who like feel-good reading. It's also a book for those who like sassy southern ladies, and those who prize characters over plot. ( )

Life goes on in Cayboo Creek, South Carolina for a group of female friends - Attalee, Mavis, Birdie, Mrs. Tobias (Gracie) and Elizabeth. Although each very different people, and ranging in ages from Elizabeth's twenty-something to Attalee's eighty, they still have a strong bond tying them together as they've spent their lives living and working near each other. But lately, things are going to get heated up and change...

Attalee is bound and determined to wed her 78-year-old boyfriend Dooley, and wants a big wedding with all the trimmings, much to the dismay of her friends. Elizabeth is unhappy being a stay-at-home first time mom and wants to return to work, but her husband Timothy is dead-set against it, having been raised by a succession of nannies while his own mother worked. Mrs. Tobias, who lives nearby in Augusta, is longing for something in her life, but never expects that it will come in the form of Rusty, an attractive man who, although from a different social circle as her, shows her a different way of living and makes her happier than she's been in a long time. And when Brewster Clark, an old high school friend of Mavis and Birdie's returns to town, their close friendship might just be threatened.

While Birdie supposedly has supposedly sworn off men, and Mavis figures at her age there probably isn't anyone out there who wants her, both are surprised by the intense rivalry that pops up when Brewster, an ex-football star, returns to Cayboo Creek to take care of a house that was willed to him. Both women have decided to woo the eligible male behind each others' backs. As Brewster convinces Mavis to help him plan a high school reunion, the womens' rivalry intensifies and they stop speaking to each other.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth isn't able to convince her husband she hates staying home, and he starts sabotaging all her efforts to find a part time day care so she can look for a job. It gets to the point where they stop speaking to each other. And Attalee, even though she's eighty, wants a real wedding complete with white floor-length gown, veil, bridesmaids, and all the trappings including a bachelorette party.

Reading this book, I could almost imaging being in a small town in South Carolina. These women, all widowed save for Elizabeth, have developed a bond for each other, and they're just trying to live every day as best they can, while always hoping that maybe, just maybe, there might be someone out there for them again. And even if they find the person they think might just be the perfect one they want to spend happily-ever-after with, they find that it just could be that what you thought you wanted and what you really wanted aren't the same thing after all. Highly recommended. ( )

Sissy: Senior citizens and romance! Those are two things you don't often hear about together, but why not?
Bubby: Definitely something to aspire to when I get closer to your age, Sissy...Read full review at www.bubblebath-books.com ( )

Funny, sweet and endearing. The antics of Cayboo Creek continue. ( )