Customer Reviews

Miss You Most of All (Platinum Readers Circle (Center Point))

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel. It first impresses with its humorous language and down-home style. But it caught me off-guard with its depth and human perspective on sisters, mothers and daughters, family, love, patience, graciousness, and death. There was more than one part of the book that requires tissues, particularly near the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to others.

Efficient, friendly Rue has been helping her thorny sister, Laura, make the farm Laura inherited from their father into a paying proposition. To that end, they've transformed the farm into Sassy Spinster Farm, a bed-and-breakfast geared to giving an urban female clientele a farm-living experience. Sassy Spinster Farm also takes part in a Community Supported Agriculture program, in which people sign up for weekly boxes of fresh organic produce, as well as selling vegetables at the local farmer's market. These endeavors make for a lot of work. Rue thrives on organizing and brainstorming ways to make Sassy Spinster Farm financially viable --- at least she thrives mentally. Physically, she is still recovering from surgery and chemo treatments for advanced breast cancer.

While Rue doesn't dwell on the ravages the disease and treatment have dealt her body, she can't help but notice that Laura seems more than two years younger than herself. Even at age 36, Laura can recover from her frequent bouts of all-night drinking/smoking binges with no problem. Laura is usually unflappable, too, until she learns that, according to caller I.D., a Heidi B. has been calling the farm's phone. She flips out, afraid that the caller is their once-upon-a-time despised stepsister. When Rue reassures her that maybe the "Heidi B." is someone else, she lets herself be convinced. Laura goes outside to forget her troubles by doing her beloved farm chores (and, incidentally, to avoid having to pretend to be friendly to the B&B guests, since she loathes them). One of her farm workers this summer is her old friend Webb, who is up front about his feelings for her, while Laura does everything she can to deflect any kind of emotional interchange.

Meanwhile, Rue tracks down her 11-year-old daughter, Erica, whose dread of going to her father's house for summer weekdays is magnified by the fact that his new fiancée just happens to be Ms. Dench. Leanne Dench is not only obnoxious, she was Erica's fifth-grade teacher. Erica didn't like her before, and now that she is living with her father, Erica's disgust and trepidation are almost indescribable.

When Rue and Laura's ex-stepsister actually does show up in the middle of the night, secretly hiding out from a potentially deadly pursuer, she acts as a catalyst for unexpected relationships and situations. Heidi and Webb begin spending time together (their friendship is original and quite refreshing), while Rue finds solace in Heidi as a new friend who shares her taste in music and movies. Of course, Laura's continued hatred toward the interloper is fueled by a double case of jealousy: Why, she wonders, does Rue confide in Heidi over Laura? What in the world could Webb and Heidi have in common?

Erica has a new friend, too. Maggie is one of the cool kids, and would never have noticed Erica except that Erica sparked her interest with a lie about a nonexistent boyfriend. Soon, the two girls are plotting and planning what to do about Erica's father's upcoming marriage.

Filled with secrets and revelations, suspense, romance, tons of Texas farm atmosphere, and --- most of all --- celebrating the pleasures of family ties, MISS YOU MOST OF ALL is a truly delightful and warmhearted read. The characters of the sisters are so spot-on that readers will believe they've previously met them (especially the prickly Laura, whose personality flaws are priceless). Author Elizabeth Bass has a true gift for making readers laugh, and also for making their hearts ache with empathy for the characters' predicaments. This endearing novel is a satisfying page-turner and is very highly recommended.

Cancer victim Rue Anderson; her sister Laura Rafferty; and veteran Webb Saunders run the Sassy Spinster Farm in, Texas. The spread proves a great success as the "inmates" guests want to get down and dirty with work on a farm like planting and harvesting, etc. . Having just finished chemo treatment, Rue looks forward to sharing joint custody of her tweener daughter with her ex.

However, her recovery has a setback when the cancer returns. Worse is the return of the siblings' younger pain in the butt stepsister Heidi Dawn Bogue to the farm. Heidi hides her reason for returning to a place she loathed when her mom married the sisters' dad when she was a teen. In fact she needs to stay low as she is on the lam from her psychopathic Brooklyn embezzler boyfriend.

Readers will enjoy this character driven Texas family drama due to a strong lead trio and a solid support cast even if the Brooklyn mobster is somewhat stereotyped. Done with humor and wit (for instance, naming a child Portia is not Shakespeare literary allusion but an expensive car) Miss You Most Of All is a profound poignant relationship drama as three sisters find their groove.

Harriet Klausner

This is a very well written novel. The only thing that keeps it from being 5 stars is the length. I felt it was 50 pages too long. The story between all the characters is amazing and the love between the sisters is heart warming. You will laugh cry and smile. You will fall in love with Rue, the main heroine. I look forward to reading more stories by Elizabeth Bass she will be a very famous author soon. If you want to sit down with a zany cast of characters this is a great book to take you away.

I finished "Miss You Most of All" several months ago, and still, even now, I drift back to the story, to its inimitable and memorable characters. Main or minor, Bass gives life to all her characters.

You will befriend the Sassy Spinsters Farm family. You will laugh and you will cry along with them. You come to care for them and wish them happiness. Bass has created wonderful characters, whose foibles you will readily recognize in yourself. And they will be what you will miss most of all once you read the last line and closed the book.

I truely enjoyed this book. Basic idea: it's sisters on a farm who have issues and desire love and one is fighting cancer. I loved that it wasn't predictable most of the time. Very well written and the descriptions make the scenes come alive.

Elizabeth Bass's debut novel, Miss You Most of All, is a book that will make you laugh, cry, and never lose hope. Set on a small farm in Texas, two sisters house boarders as a way to generate funds for their farm. Typically women, these boarders learn how to plant crops, sell them, and learn the daily chores of a working farm. While each set of boarders is limited to 2 weeks on the farm, Elizabeth Bass brings to life these smaller characters who the reader finds missing every time there stay has ended. From Becca, the attorney who loves to have an early morning run, to Janine who is a single woman that endlessly flirts with Webb, a worker on the farm, each of these characters are charming and bring some much needed breaks to the seriousness in parts of this book.

Rue is the oldest of the two, who has recently ended chemo treatments for breast cancer. She is the peacemaker in the family and finds the best in everyone. Ever so positive, despite her own battles with cancer, she is the calm and steady persona in an eclectic household. She has one daughter, Erica, who lives on the farm with her. Erica is a mini-Laura: loves the farm and her animals, has a mind of her own and will share it, and has no fear.

Laura is the younger of the two, who has a brassy attitude and never holds back her thoughts. Laura is the character that most readers will certainly disagree with her attitude and interactions with others. While she is a difficult character, who certainly lives up to her name: Sassy Spinster, underneath all that tough skin is someone that loves her sister tremendously and worries for her always. She also loves her chicken, Fred, who has his own challenges, too!

While both of them are hosting their first boarders of the season, their estranged step-sister, Heidi shows up at the farm unannounced. Heidi has an unusual dilemma and is hiding out on the farm in hopes to evade those who know what happened in NY. Heidi shares the same love Rue has regarding classic movies and music of all genres. Together, they enjoy challenging each other with movie trivia and watching old movies with their boarders. While on the farm, Heidi realizes her potential and soon begins helping Rue with the cooking duties.

Elizabeth Bass is exceptional in the way she brings everyone's lives together, while also letting their own stories develop. The characters have some interesting twists and turns that will bring lots of joy as you read it. I must say, I balled my eyes out during certain parts of the book. Worse, I had to continue reading through tears and snot, afterall...how else would I know what finally happens???

While there were some predictable moments and some far fetched scenarios, I still found myself deeply engaged in the story. When Erica realizes everyone has been acting as if Rue is fine and does not have cancer, I realized I was no different. I found myself wishing her to be cancer-free and doing much better than what was really happening. I lov the tender moments Rue has with her family and the crazy moments Laura has, too. I certainly won't watch The Wizard of Oz without thinking of the Sassy Spinsters and wishing their farm actually existed, too!!

During this particular summer, life on Sassy Spinster Farm, surely will never be the same. And....neither will you! I highly recommend this book!!

What a wonderful modern farm story based in East Texas. Loved how sisters, stepsister, daughter, male friend relationships were explored from childhood backward glances to trying to fix things as adults. You will fall in love with the characters by the end of the story. There's plenty going on to 'entertain' you to the end.

When I got about 100 pages into this story I felt as if I had figured everything out that was going to happen and truely I did for the most part, however the shocking thing here is that I styed with this book, read the whole thing even sure I knew what was going to happen. Equally shocking is that I highly recommend this book dispite the predictablility I felt it had. The characters are so well developed and the setting is calm, the story just pulls you in. You get so involved with the characters that you cannot help but start reading quicker and quicker. I was sad to see the book end! It reminded me a great deal of the Friday Night Knitting Club (minus the knitting!) which I loved. If you are interested in getting involved with a fictional family, feeling their sorrows and joys, then read this one, it will stay with you for quite a while.

I read with great interest the book, Miss You Most of All, which brings together a great array of family issues and how they were resolved. The crispy sister, Laura gave the book some punch to dress it up and keep the readers on their toes. The transition between Rue as the mother and her daughter's Erica's issues were written very delicately and with passion. Good old Webb just waiting around until things turned out for him. Highly recommended.