Customer Reviews

Southern Comforts

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

 

 

Celebrity journalist Chelsea Cassidy has been asked to write southern how-to guru Roxanne Scarborough's memoirs. Chelsea is not to keen on this endeavor, since she has seen the temperamental domestic diva in action. But she owes it to her editor to at least travel to Georgia to meet with Roxanne, who has also hired a documentary filmmaker to record the progress of the renovation of her newly acquired antebellum mansion.

Much to Chelsea's surprise, the architect in charge of the renovation is her college lover. Though she vows to not get involved with him again, Cash Beaudine is a hard man to turn down, and he melts all her defenses, making her decision even more tempting. But Roxanne is not what she appears to be. A true makeover maven, she has made herself over, and erased her white trash past. But there are people that know her secrets and are willing to do anything to bring the diva down even murder.

Ross is the queen of steamy romance, and the chemistry and sensuality between the two leads is incomparable. She gives us plenty of suspects and keeps the identity a secret until the end.

I loved the way Chelsea and Cash's relationship picked back up after all those years. It was also a nice change that Cash realized how he felt fairly early on in the book instead of fighting it to the very end.

The descriptions were great. I could feel the heat and smell the flowers! Which was especially welcome since it was snowing in Ohio when I read it!

Buy this one, you won't be sorry!

This was actually my first Joann Ross book and it hooked me on her other books. I found the characters, plot, and ending well thought out and very thorough. I especially liked how Chelsea ended up with her guy. I liked how it brought the Southern states out in a different angle and I love the complexity of the whole story. I recommend everyone who loves Joann Ross to read this great book!

FINALLY! Ms. Ross is getting back to her usual form. There for awhile I was beginning to think someone else was writing her stories--happy to learn I was wrong. Southern Comforts by JoAnn Ross is a fun story that everyone who reads for the fun of it will enjoy. (Welcome Back Ms. Ross I've Missed You!)

Cash and Chelsea are such a dynamic couple. It is really interesting reading about their relationship in the beginning and when they finally meet again. There's so much chemistry between the two that you can practically see it forming. What I liked was the little twist of all the "accidents" happening. It allowed Cash to step into the hero spot at just the right time.

This book keeps you interested all the way thru. Good reading for adults. Did not want to put it down while reading it.

This is my first read from JoAnn Ross and it was an excellent book overall that kept me engaged, but I feel that too much waited for the ending of the book and after it was said and done, it was rather anticlimactic and left hanging. The cast is filled with interesting characters, many who pose as red herrings, but they weren't developed and I had to question whether they added anything to the overall plot in general. If anything, I would have liked to see some resolution over the many many threads that were introduced. Since it doesn't appear this book belongs to a series, I found myself wondering what happened to all of these characters, including the main hero and heroine.

Chelsea Cassidy is an up and rising celebrity journalist who, in spite of growing up wealthy and doesn't have to work, has a lot on her plate with her work schedule and battling her anxiety over her relationships with her antiquated fiancee as well as her haughty mother. When Chelsea is offered the job to pen the autobiography for Domestic Diva, Roxanne Scarbrough, (think Martha Stuart of the South) Chelsea is very hesitant since she's witnessed first hand Roxanne's nasty temper, but circumstances push her into accepting what she was really tempted to walk away from. What makes it worse is that her old lover from college, Cash Beaudine, is also working with Roxanne on restoring and renovating her newly acquired but decrepit mansion. Chelsea hasn't seen Cash in 7 years and had closed that chapter of her life, but Cash is resolute in taking this second chance. In college, their relationship, if you could call it that, was entirely sexual, but Cash has no intentions of handling it that way the second time around and Chelsea can't help but get caught up in the unexpected complication. While cataloguing the day in the life of Roxanne for the biography, Chelsea finds herself in the mix of an eclectic group of characters including a handsome inn owner, a documentary videographer, a tortured assistant, and a suspicious and creepy construction worker, all adding to a single conclusion that Roxanne is definitely not what she portrays. Unfortunately, what she doesn't suspect is the danger that is lurking around every corner as the cast of characters culminate to Roxanne's deepest darkest secret.

The development of Chelsea and Cash's relationship is the best part of this book and when they do get together, it does not disappoint. What I struggle with in this review is how abruptly it ended. There were red herrings and plot manipulations but alot of them didn't make sense since they didn't add tension like they were supposed to. Roxanne is a huge role in this book and although she was dealing with so many issues at once, we never learn what the result of the biography is or what happens as a result of her tumultuous life in general. In addition to that, we don't find out what happens to any of the characters as their struggles were chronicled. Minor issues were addressed, but in less than a paragraph while others were left hanging. Not only is this book missing an epilogue, it was missing a good two chapters to wrap up the loose ends. If this were a series, it would be one thing, but I found myself attached to the welfare of main and secondary characters and it would have been nice to see how they turned out one way or the other.