Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book Info
Paperback, 400 pages
Expected publication: June 24th 2014 by Harlequin MIRA
original title Talking After Midnight
ISBN 0778316319 (ISBN13: 9780778316312)
edition language English
series Plum Orchard #3
other editions None found
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Shields up, sugar—things in Plum Orchard are about to get real.

Marybell Lyman is notorious for two things:

Her look. The wicked hairstyle, multiple piercings and practiced sneer that say: "Stay back—I bite."

Her voice. The syrupy lilt that's her bread and butter at Call Girls, the prim little town's flourishing phone-sex company.

Hunky handyman Taggart Hawthorn is mesmerized by the contradiction: such sweet tones inside such a spiky shell! He wants to know more about mysterious Marybell, to hear more of her sexy talk—all for himself.

But Tag's attentions, delicious as they are, have Marybell panicked. She's been hiding a long time. She's finally got a home, a job and friends she adores. She won't have it all snatched away by another stupid mistake—like falling in love. So when Marybell's past comes calling, she and the Call Girls will prove no one handles scandals like a Southern girl!

My Thoughts

By now having spent two earlier ventures into the world of the characters who inhabit Plum Orchard Georgia this third book is liking coming home to find out what is going on with old friends. One of those friends is still kind of a mystery, Marybell Lyman is in your face with her multi-colored spiked hair-the Goth makeup and clothing-her piercings and most of all stay-away attitude so when she catches Tag Hawthorn’s eye she has mixed feelings about acting on the mutual attraction due to the fact that of all people if Tag finds out the secret she has been hiding she is afraid the explosion to follow will be of epic proportions.

Some of us never have to worry about where we will lay our head, what we will eat for a next meal, whether someone is there when we need a shoulder to lean on or a hug to help ease our worries. Marybell Lyman however learned very early on that these things were not to be taken for granted. Once grown she found herself for the first time with a stable lifestyle, that is until it was all taken from her!

Now living in Plum Orchard she has made friends with her fellow co-workers and created a home for herself that makes her feel safe and secure, the problem is will she fight for what she wants or once again run at the first sign of trouble when it comes calling thanks to meddlesome Louella Parsons?

Tag Hawthorn was once the owner of his own construction company, until he was swindled out of it and he lost everything including the woman he thought loved him until she proved she loved his money more.

Having further lost his way by allowing himself to wallow in misery Tag gives in to the lure of too much alcohol, he almost loses the support and love of his brothers Gage and Jax until he is forced to face facts and get help. Now living in Plum Orchard Tag finds himself finally getting to the point he can face his past and move on, when he finds himself fascinated by Marybell he realizes that it is much more and works even harder to straighten out his life so they can have a future together if possible.

Two broken people who finally find the one who allows the pain from past betrayals to slip away, at least until one of their past secrets comes to light and has the power to tear them apart forever.

This is the conclusion to Plum Orchard series and it is honestly the most inspiring story of them all as it takes a long hard look at just how easy it is to find oneself at the mercy of others being forced to do things to survive that one would never do otherwise! The intensity of the emotions you will experience once again as these beloved characters face public animosity and the possible loss of one of their own means the tissues need to be kept handy, the laughter that some scenes invoke however will make the tears worth shedding!

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]