Review copy was received from Purchased. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Sunshine Club by Carolyn Brown Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Published by Brilliance Audio on December 7, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 8 hours, 58 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
Sisters of the heart play Cupid in New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown’s funny and heartwarming novel about friendship, family, and finding love. Gussie, Ina Mae, and Blanche have been best friends for more than sixty years. From their humble beginnings of founding the Sunshine Club when they were girls to becoming the matchmaking queens of Newton, Texas, these three were inseparable. When Blanche passes away, Gussie and Ina Mae feel the best way to honor their dearly departed is with a shot of whiskey, some good music, and making a match for Blanche’s niece, Sissy. Never mind that Sissy’s in town for only six weeks. Is there a better reason for her to stay? And is there a better prospect than handsome, charming, blue-eyed local preacher Luke Beauchamp? No and no. The attraction is already there. Now it’s up to Gussie and Ina Mae to make sure the sparks really get to crackling by Christmas. The Sunshine Club is back in business. Don’t underestimate two feisty women who have their hearts set on a happy ending.
After burying her last living relation and most dear Aunt Bee, Sissy faces a lonely holiday season and dreary future. But that was before she discovered the boisterous Sunshine Club had her back and were ready to teach her something about found family and love. I was tickled to dive into a new small town women’s fic from Carolyn Brown narrated by Brittany Pressley.
Sissy, known to everyone outside small town Newton, Texas as Martina, an excellent family counselor, is at a crossroads in her life. She just gave her Aunt Bee a fabulous sendoff and inherited her house, her outlandish raggy rooster, foul-mouthed cockatiel, and her sassy senior friends, Gussie and Ida Mae, but the loss of her aunt was her last mooring to family. Or so she thought.
The remaining members of the Sunshine Club, Gussie and Ida Mae and their long, rich history with Blanche will show Sissy a thing or two about life and living that her counseling degree and life on the road with her eclectic rock n’ roll parents never taught her.
This is Sissy’s story in one respect, but in truth, it’s the story of her Aunt Blanche’s legacy. Everyone surrounding Blanche must pick up the pieces once she’s gone and I loved seeing them go through the sadness of loss to finding a reset on life. Sissy’s reset involved learning about found family and opening herself up to love with the last type of person she thought would be her match, a small town preacher, Luke Beauchamp.
Luke was taken with Sissy from the beginning, but a developing romance isn’t easy for him because an interfering church member never liked him for the pastoral vacancy after his uncle retired and now she really doesn’t like him dating Sissy and is forcing him to make a choice, causing Sissy to backpedal not wanting to be the reason he loses his church ministry.
But, Luke and Sissy have the support of a group of seniors including his uncle and his uncle’s best friend, both widowers, and Sissy’s aunt’s besties who will ‘ride or die’ to help the young pair find and keep happiness and get a little of their own along the way.
All in all, this holiday season read hit the homey spot and left a satisfying feeling when all was said and done. Those who like light and fun women’s fic should not hesitate to put in their earbuds and click play on this one.
Narration:
Brittany Pressley is not a stranger to narrating Carolyn Brown books and I love how well she matches up with the feel of these down home country charmers and the multi-generational casts of characters. She brings a bit of extra sass and sparkle to the story.
Listen to the clip:Â HEREÂ
About Carolyn Brown
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown was born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma. These days she and her husband make their home in Davis, Oklahoma, a small town of less than three thousand people where everyone knows everyone, knows what they are doing and with whom, and read the weekly newspaper to see who got caught.
A plaque hangs on her office wall that says I know the voices are not real but they have such great ideas. That is her motto and muse as she goes through the days with quirky characters in her head, telling their stories, one by one, and loving her job.
She has been married almost half a century to a retired English teacher that she calls Mr. B and he does not read her books before they are published because she cannot afford a divorce. They have three grown children.—and enough grandchildren to keep them busy and young.
When Carolyn is not writing she likes to sit in the back yard and watch the two tom cats protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, other cats, spiders and blue jays.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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This sounds heartwarming and fun. 😀
Oh yeah, the old crowd were a hoot, Lark!
Sounds like another charmer from Brown! I love Brittany Pressley’s narration, too! I’d love listen this at some point!
Yeah, this is a good one to keep for when you want something easy and light to listen to. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving, Rachel!
I still have not read this author! I need to fix that soon. I have listened to this narrator’s work and do appreciate her work. I have a feeling that I would like this one.
Hehe, I’m teasing you with her books now, Carole. Hopefully, you’ll get the chance to listen to this one or one of her others at some point. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
Small town stories can be so much fun,
I agree and there always seem to be some funny townspeople, too.
I didn’t realize CB wrote more contemporary books, other than cowboy. Good to know!
Yeah, look through her Montlake Publishing ‘women’s fic’ offerings. They’re small town, but not necessarily cowboy ones.
The cover makes me miss spring time.
Yeah, its not really representative of the story since its winter and sleeting or icing and its the Christmas season. But, it sure is light and pretty. 🙂
I have several books by this author on my TBR but haven’t read any of them. This sounds absolutely lovely!
They really are once you’re used to the writing style. Hope you get the chance soon, Katherine. 🙂