Sherryl Woods
Publisher: Mira
Date: 2007
Format: Paperback
Pages: 388
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Local library
Dana Sue might run the best little restaurant in Serenity, but when you're feeding a small town of neighbors, busybodies and best friends, things can get a bit hot in the kitchen. Never mind that she's putting on too many pounds (an occupational hazard for a chef)—she's worried about her too-skinny teenage daughter, Annie, who has been slowly starving herself since the loud, suitcase-tossing, name-calling fit on her front lawn that left Dana Sue minus one cheating husband.
But sometimes life picks strange ways to mend fences. When Annie lands in the hospital, Dana Sue reaches out to the man she loves to hate: Ron, the husband who took her heart when she tossed him out. Ron is still Annie's white knight, even if he's decidedly more tarnished in Dana Sue's eyes. But he still looks good enough to eat, and maybe, just maybe, to forgive. Once, Ron made the mistake of letting go without a proper fight. But now Dana Sue is about to get another taste of sweet devotion from a man tired of feeling like a fool, hungry for that slice of heaven he found with her.—
A Slice of Heaven by Sherryl Woods is #2 in her Sweet Magnolias series. It is a series that I am reading through, after reading Swan Point which is her latest in this series.
Dana Sue, Maddie and Helen are all good friends and I love how they support each other and also call each other to account when necessary. This book is Dana Sue's story and that of Annie her daughter and Ronnie her husband. Ronnie really regrets his one time that he had a one time fling with another woman. He wants to woo Dana Sue back and he sets about it in a way that is hard for her to resist.
What really interested me in this book was the exploration of eating disorders. Dana Sue had a mother who died from complications of diabetes, and now Dana Sue is at risk of developing the disease as well unless she takes steps to prevent it getting out of hand. It made me conscious of sugar! It is not an easy thing to avoid.
However it is Annie's disease that I was really interested in. Anorexia is a serious condition and I thought Sherryl Woods handled it well. It affects the whole family when a person is taken over by it, has a variety of triggers and is not easy to overcome. People with it are very wily - extraordinarily so. I know as I have a sister who suffered with it. She recovered but never to full health. Some recover, some don't. Fortunately in this book there is a process that is successful for Annie.
I liked the glimpses of Maddie and her family life and the part played by Ty in Annie's recovery. That boy sure knows how to speak his mind! He is going to be someone to contend with. I hope one day he gets his own book.
Sweet Magnolias
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home to Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Where Azaleas Bloom
this series is going on my wishlist, I'm not sure when I'll get to it but ... after I've read the Ocean Beach series I already have of hers. Another lovely review Kathryn, glad the subject of eating disorders was handled well and I love a friendship themed read.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shereee. Yes I have to catch up on the Ocean Beach series. I think I like this one more because of the slightly older age of the characters!
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