The Mile-High Hair Club [Paperback]

Naomi Neale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2005

North meets South in this comic tale of romance and hairspray set in rural Virginia, where Manhattan entertainment executive Bailey Rhodes has arrived dressed head to toe in Prada to help her mother recuperate from a stroke. What's a girl to do when faced with impending aunthood, a house full of contestants for the annual Miss Tidewater Butter Bean pageant, and a mother with secrets she's unable--or unwilling--to reveal? Why, fall in love with the agronomist next door, of course, and fight back with New York City street smarts . . . while learning a few beauty secrets along the way.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bailey Rhodes plans to spend just a few days back home in Virginia visiting her mother before she returns to her "fabulous" life in New York City. Once she arrives in Crestonville, however, Bailey finds that she isn't quite so eager to leave. Sure, Aunt Bits and Aunt Bubble still know exactly how to drive her crazy, and, certainly, when her younger sister, Jeanne, turns up pregnant and sans husband, it only proves that she is just as irresponsible as ever. And, of course, being surrounded by a bevy of local beauty contestants her aunts are "coaching" for the sixty-fourth annual Miss Tidewater Butter Bean Pageant is pretty darn annoying, but Crestonville does have one advantage over New York: hunky -agronomist-botanist Taylor Montgomery. Neale takes the requisite elements of chick-lit fiction and neatly blends them together with a cast of quirky, yet surprisingly realistic characters and lots of saucy southern charm to create a story of family, friendship, and love that is deliciously fun and simply irresistible. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 369 pages
• Publisher: Making It (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843955643
• ISBN-13: 978-0843955644
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humorous and sweet, April 28, 2006

By 

Nick Burns (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mile-High Hair Club (Paperback)

This is an funny, sweet story. The author's Southern heritage and love of the region is on display here, in the pages and in all of the characters. The heroine and her potential beau are appealing, but the real fun to be had is with the colorful supporting characters - the eccentric aunts and the must-read-to-be-believed character of Shirley Jones. (And I don't mean Mrs. Partridge, y'all.)

The book also manages to, in the midst of all of the fun, make a few insightful comments about the beauty pageant world. It comes together at the end in a fizzy blur, just as a nice glass of champagne should.

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars, September 5, 2005

By 

AK "Bro" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mile-High Hair Club (Paperback)

Following her mother's stroke, Bailey finds herself pulled from her fast lane life back to her slow moving small town. It's hard to tell which is hardest on her, the culture shock or family shock. Her once vibrant mother is trapped in an almost alien body. Bailey's younger sister is back at home, unwed and pregnant, and her two aunts, Bits and Bubbles, are consumed with beating out Shirley Jones; not the former Mrs. Partridge, a man who manages beauty pageant contestants, at the Miss Butter Bean Competition. Their main hope of a victory lies in a young woman with an acerbic tongue and enough arrogance to fill three contests. Before she knows what's hit her, Bailey finds herself helping her two slightly daffy aunts in this event, and making it her project to help a young girl with technicolor shaded hair and a desire to shock, become the Butter Bean Queen. Somewhere in the chaos, Bailey begins to find love, but that is a secondary consideration at best; crises take priority.

*** Peppered with cultural references to eighties television and Southern vs. Northern humor, this book takes readers on a wildly rambling, yet not unrealistic ride through a small Southern town. Sharp observations are toned down with laughter. Seeing a bit more romance might have been welcome, but if you enjoyed Steel Magnolias, then you will like this as well. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.

4.0 out of 5 stars Steel Magnolia version of You Can't Take It with You, July 27, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mile-High Hair Club (Paperback)

Bailey Roberts left Crestonville, Virginia for New York City several years ago to make her mark in the theater. Though she nearly succeeded as an actress, she has fine job as the talent producer at Expedition Network and has a boyfriend for four years who fails to get the message of what an empty drawer in her apartment means.

With her mother recovering rather oddly from a stroke, Bailey goes home to help her younger sister Jeanne with their mother, but her sis is missing in action. As usual home is chaos, assisted by her Aunts Bits and Bubbles competing against Shirley "not the Partridge" Jones to sponsor the winner of the Miss Butter Bean Competition and by her sibling who has come home pregnant and man less. However, this time beleaguered Bailey finds herself attracted to the agronomist next door Taylor Montgomery, which makes her stay more than palpable; it makes it lovingly divine.

The Roberts extended family is the Steel Magnolia version of You Can't Take It with You. Bailey is the "normal" one in a sea of likable nutcases, but the "runaway" soon gets caught up in the zaniness and becomes a born again convert to the world of the southern small town eccentric. Though the acerbic satirical scrutiny is somewhat abated by the amusing situations, readers will enjoy this slice of Southern lifestyle.

Harriet Klausner