Customer Reviews

Turn Left At Sanity

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a fun romance that made me smile, with plenty of charm to keep me riveted until the end.

Emmylou and Joe are complete opposites on the surface, but kindred spirits in their need to let go of their internal barriers to loving someone completely. The small town setting is comical, with lots of eccentric characters. Joe finds himself "trapped" at Emmylou's Bed & Breakfast in the midst of a business deal which the town wants no part of (his investors want to build a kitty litter plant there, which they condescendingly think will save the town from their bleak financial outlook.)

The solution appears to be right in front of them from the start, but it's the journey to this solution that is steamy, heart-warming and satisfying. I highly recommend this book for an escape.

Corporate shark Joe Montcrief has not met a deal he could not barter. Until he arrived in Beaverton, Idaho to broker a deal to obtain the deserted sanitarium for his clients that want to turn it into a kitty litter factory.

The only lodging in town is the B&B "Shady Lady," the former house of ill repute; in fact some of the former ladies are still in residence. When the townspeople discover his reason for coming to town, they scheme to keep him there and show him what a great place it is, though he is convinced that all the residents are complete loons! The town will stop at nothing, even so far as to encourage B&B proprietress Emmylou to seduce him to keep him there.

As Joe and Emmylou battle their hormones, and he finds himself without a link to the modern world (no computer, cell phone or palm pilot), the two people destined to never fall in love might just be free-falling without a net. It is hysterical to watch no-nonsense Joe deal with all the odd characters around him including a man with a penchant for Napolean, two oversexed former "intimate healers," and an kleptomaniac octegenerian who returns her ill-gotten gains.

As always, Nancy Warren seasons her story with lots of engaging dialog, hysterical and quirky secondary characters, and just the right amount of sexual tension to keep the reader glued to the page.

There's a reason Nancy Warren is a USA-Today bestselling author, and once you pick up a copy of TURN LEFT AT SANITY, you'll know why. Just in case you're not able to get to your favorite bookstore today, though, I'll go ahead and give you a clue, or maybe even three-a hot, sexy, corporate-minded hero; a twenty-something, bed and breakfast owning heroine; supporting characters who, although in their seventies, still believe they've got what it takes to be mistresses in a brothel; a small town with more eccentricities than an insane asylum; dialogue that will have you laughing so hard you'll need to wipe the tears from your eyes. And those are only a few of the surprises in store for you once you start reading TURN LEFT AT SANITY.

For Emmylou Sargent, being levelheaded, business-minded, and absolutely normal is the way things have to be. After all, she does own a bed and breakfast in Beaverton , Idaho , that just so happened to once be a brothel. And yes, some of the former "ladies of the evening" still reside with her, and many more seem to drop in all too often for tea. Someone has to have a good head on their shoulders, and it seems that Emmylou has been nominated for the position. Regardless of the seventy-somethings who still proclaim their prowess in the bedroom, or the lady who insists they should burn this modern-day Tara to the ground before the Yankees can get their hands on it, Emmylou is determined to lead as normal a life as possible. The only problem with that scenario is that in a town like Beaverton , normal adds up to a whole lot of boring. Boring, that is, until one Joe Montcrief shows up at her B&B, looking for a room.

Tall, dark, and undeniably handsome, Joe's making his way through Beaverton for only one reason-buy some land, make some deals, and get the heck out of dodge. What he never expects is to be almost instantly attracted to the demure innkeeper where he's bedding down-or to be asked what his sexual problems are by women old enough to be his grandmothers. Undeniably intrigued, however, Joe finds himself in no sudden rush to leave this small town; in fact, he's finding more and more reasons to spend time with Emmylou and her "family" of sexual fanatics. The only problem is, the more the former ladies of the night harp on his love life, the more Joe fantasizes about making some new memories with the very prim and proper Emmylou.

TURN LEFT AT SANITY is a hilarious romp through small town life, with characters just crazy enough to keep you entertained throughout the entire story. For Joe and Emmylou, the attraction might be strong and immediate, but these two characters are looking for different things out of life-and a short, one-night stand isn't it. Ms. Warren has done an excellent job, as always, combining a highly charged sexual attraction with real-to-life characters and witty dialogue, resulting in a story that's as heartfelt and genuine as it is amusing.

Get to the bookstore today. You won't be disappointed.

Joe Montcrief, corporate deal maker, intends to wrap up his business in Beaverton, Idaho with all possible haste. If all goes well, he will spend only one night in Beaverton's only lodging, a B&B called the Shady Lady. But Joe has no idea that Beaverton is full of eccentrics and kooks. He is certainly surprised to learn the Shady Lady is a former brothel turned into the home of retired "working girls". The owner of the B&B, Emmylou Sargent, is apparently normal and certainly not Joe's type. So why is Joe going gaga over Emmylou? The only way to keep from going completely around the bend is for Joe to get out of Beaverton. Fast!

Emmylou has always been responsible and normal in comparison to her Beaverton friends and neighbors. She's always been very sedate in her love affairs, but with Joe living at the B&B, Emmylou feels unbalanced. With Beaverton's future hanging in the balance, Emmylou must work to save her hometown. Will keeping Joe in Beaverton, drive them both crazy? Or will it drive them into each other's hearts?

Poor Joe! I felt sorry for the poor guy faced with so many eccentrics and so much hilarity. Joe is handsome, driven and a good sport. Emmylou is wholesome, pretty, and clever. These two share sexual tension and humor, a great combination!

Turn Left at Sanity is a fun, romantic, and sexy book. The town's eccentrics are laugh-out-loud funny and the erotic love scenes are very steamy. Between the humor and the romance, I was hooked. I'll be on the lookout for the next Nancy Warren book. I recommend Turn Left at Sanity for fans of fun contemporary romance.

Annabelle
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This was a lot better than I was expecting. I actually liked and respected both of the main characters (which is unusual for me). I enjoyed the quirky town and local characters and laughed out loud at the mixed up town play. I'll be looking for more by this author!

Turn Left at Sanity by Nancy Warren is a quirky, funny and all out sexy read.

Joe Montcrief is a corporate wheeler and dealer. He wants to get in and out of Beaverton, Idaho with his deal completed. Joe takes a room at the local B & B, The Shady Lady...a former brothel.

Emmylou Sargent the proprietor leads a simple, quiet life with the "retired" ladies of the night that share her home. Emmylou doesn't know what to make of this workaholic man that makes her senses go haywire.

When an illness forces Joe to stay long, Emmylou pulls out all the stops to get Joe to discover that he is more the just his next deal.

Turn Left At Sanity is hysterical, I just adored the retired ladies. Their gander was a hoot. Emmylou and Joe's chemistry is explosive, tantalizing and HOT. Each brings out something amazing in each other as friends and as lovers.

Nancy Warren has another winner on her hands.

I have read most all of Ms Warren's books and, with a few exceptions, have enjoyed them. So it pains me to give this book a pretty mediocre review. I found the humor heavy handed and often silly; the plot and situations fraught with cliches. This didn't even feel like a Nancy Warren read (I kept thinking I was reading Robin Wells or something!). Her stories usually have a more sophisticated sense of humor and more inspired romance. Though there is definitely sexual chemistry, the romance aspect seemed pretty flat.

Emmylou Sargent is the great-grandaughter of a health (mental, physical, sexual) pioneer who ran what we would today call an alternative treatment facility where health and sexual difficulties were studied and treated with rather unorthodox methods. Today Emmylou has turned the brothel her great-grandmother started to house the facility's "intimate healers" into a (mostly empty) B&B. She lives in sleepy Beaverton, Idaho, a town filled with eccentrics (some former inmates at the sanitarium) and she has become accustomed to and fond of the residents and their eccentricities (a guy who thinks he's Napoleon, a sweet kleptomaniac, a woman who affects a French accent though she's not French, etc). It's a town where everyone accepts and looks out for everyone else. The pace of life is slow, steady and a little bit dull. So when a handsome, sexy, high powered NYC mover and shaker comes to town "on business" Emmylou is more than intrigued.

Joe Montcrief is a no-nonsense workaholic who has come to town to turn the old sanitarium into a factory. He wonders if he's landed on another planet when he meets the weird and wacky residents of this crazy town. The only sane person seems to be luscious B&B proprietor Emmylou. Though he's attracted to her, he's only planning to be in town a day or two to check out the property then he's off to NYC to seal the deal. But the townsfolk discover his plans and scheme to strand him in town until they can come up with a plan of their own to block the factory. And of course who better to distract him than the lovely Emmylou who has already captured his attention? And so Emmylou confiscates his cell, laptop and palm pilot and proceeds to try and show him the wonders of Beaverton, the joys of small town life and how to "stop and smell the roses". Will she be able to prove to Joe that his factory will ruin the town? Will they be able to keep their hands off each other in the process?

Okay, yes there were some cute moments but, call me a cynic, the message was a bit trite - all work and no play makes Joe an incomplete person. Well, yeah, we all get that. But Joe and Em are a bit one-dimensional - she's the standard homey, baking, gardening, nuturing type who tries to make the unaware, workaholic robot see that there's more to life than money. While we all need more balance in our lives, the execution here just seem a bit heavy handed. On the plus side, both Joe and Em are likable people and their sexual relationship was steamy. But I'm not sure I bought into the HEA for them. I felt that the author did a much better job of portraying small town life in prior Brava release DRIVE ME CRAZY where the residents seems more realistic and less stereotypical. Disappointing for me but those who enjoy a silly, wacky type of tale may just enjoy it.

Great quick read. Think whoever wrote the back cover description didn't read the book. The back cover says fertilizer plant when in truth Joe comes to check out feasibility for kitty litter factory. I thought Em and Joe were great together and the secondary characters what a hoot! I read to be entertained and this fit the bill.

The characters have no spark together, not to mention both are cookie cutter versions of typical romance novels protagonists. The dialogue is lackluster, and quite silly oftentimes. Do not read this book if you are looking for complex, rich characters wtih a good plot.

This book was an easy read and it constantly made me laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a great romantic comedy and I would definitely recommend it to others. It was truly entertaining. I usually read during my lunch hour to relieve the stress of the work day and this book definitely accomplished that goal.