Bad Girl Creek

I LOVED this book. I couldn't get enough of it. One of my favorite lines from this book is on page 29 "I've just inherited a forty-acre farm, not to mention two luxury automobiles. I'd hardly call that crippled. Phoebe talking to James". I was so totally engrossed that I would lose all sense of time and place. All I wanted to do was see what happened next, and then I was so sad to see it end with out all my questions answered.I want to know if Ness is going to be okay, and what's up with her and David Snow? I know that Nance and James are working their problems out, but does Nance really think that by sleeping with James it will solve all her problems with Rick? Does Phoebe walk down the path to meet Juan? Do they have a baby girl? I also want to see Beryl's wedding to Earl and the Buckethead concert. But most of all I want to meet the newest roommate. I can't wait for the sequel!

Who wouldn't want to spend time with the ladies of Bad Girl Creek? Prerequisites to being a part of the Bad Girl phenomenon is to have a great pet; an open mind; a sense of humor; a desire to work hard, and a willingness to open your heart. Ms. Mapson's "girls" have all of those things and more!Phoebe is the driving "wheel" of the group. She has inherited her favorite Aunt Sadie's flower farm. It is in dire need of money as well as able hands and strong backs to make it go. How to do that without selling out to her brother Stinky? Run an ad in the town newspaper, looking for women who will help her run the farm, in return, they may have room and board for themselves and their pets.As Phoebe welcomes Ness, Nance, and Beryl into her home, each of them brings along their loving pet. They also bring their fears, hopes, dreams and friendship. Unbreakable bonds form among them; they complete and compliment one another. The ladies of Bad Girl Creek have things in common, but each is an individual and strong woman in her own right.The men in this story are also well defined. We come to know each of them and understand them as we do the women they love. Juan who's only desire is to please Phoebe; James a/k/a Stinky, who realizes that sometimes money isn't everything; the self-centered newspaperman; David with his money and his horses, and the best surprise of all for me - "Buckethead".Grab a glass of wine, or a cup of tea. Wrap up in an afghan and cuddle up with your favorite pet. Open this book and enjoy an afternoon or evening with the Girls of Bad Creek. Oh yes, don't forget the chocolate and Kleenex too!!

This book invites you in from the 1st page and doesn't even let go with the last page! I am thrilled that this is going to be a triology. It was too good a journey not to continue. The book starts out with the reading of Pheobe's Aunt Sadie's will. Phoebe has spent her life in a wheelchair just trying to make herself be seen for what she is. A person. And with this will it begins to give Phoebe life. A flower farm is left to Phoebe and she must decide what to do with it and how to make it work to keep it out of her money scheming brother's hands. Phoebe takes in 3 roommates and the story is about how these four women come together, overcome their pasts and insecurities and learn to live for themselves. The wit and the charm of this novel, along with the wonderful animal characters that are also very much a part of this book, make this a fantastic read from beginning to end. Can't wait to read the second in the trilogy.

In the beginning I was not sure if I would like this book because I was thinking that all the involved in the the story were "bad". True each one had their own past with problems but they all needed a second chance. Ness, I black women who left her roaming husband because he got AIDS. Nance, in a relationship with a man for 3 years and no future. Beryl, relased from jail a year before for killing her abusive husband. Phoebe, a small woman in her 30's confined to a wheelchair. Phoebe was left a dying flower farm business when her Aunt passed away. One by one these 4 women come to live together with their animals to help the business in exchange for room and board. In the process they share their problems with troubled relationships, health, men and so on. Girl power, what more can I say.

Yes, smitten. I am smitten with this book. It reads like the journals of the four women who come together to mend their lives before taking off again. They are smart enough to know the right thing to do but end up making some choices which result in emotional chaos in their lives. I am smitten with each of them--Phoebe in her wheelchair; Ness and her horse, Leroy; Beryl and her dark prison past; and Nance. Nance who is probably the most like me. You will relate to every one of these women and you won't want to leave them when the book ends. This is a story of friendship, loyalty, and spirit. A true testimony to what women everywhere long for, if only for a week, a month, or a year. My first Jo-Ann Mapson novel but not my last.