Marriage and Mary Ann

This is the sixth novel in the Mary Ann series. Obviously, Mary Ann gets married, but do not be fooled into thinking this book is about HER marriage. As Mary Ann and Corny do not tie the knot till the very end, it is about Mary Ann's parents and their marital troubles. Mary Ann's da, Mike is going thru a midlife crisis. He is on the verge of having an affair as well as hitting the bottle and it is once again Mary Ann to the rescue. Can she succeed this time tho? I enjoy these Mary Ann books, but quite frankly I am ready for her da to die. I am tired of him and his drinking and his problems and the way Mary Ann always defends him. Thus, four stars instead of five. I did, however, get a good laugh or two as usual with a Mary Ann book.

In this volume Mary Ann must deal with her beloved father'sattraction to a young, conniving woman named Yvonne, who,along with her conspiring mother, plot to woo Mike away fromLizzie and the family. Mike, flattered by the attention, ignores pleas to show thetwo women the door, and continues the dangerous association,forcing a wedge between himself and his loving daughter.Against the backdrop of their Michael's wedding to SarahFlanagan, Mary Ann once again must find a way to bring Mikeback to his senses and into the family's loving fold.It's good to see Mary Ann's fiery spirit still intact; the convent school may have smoothed out some of her rough edges butnothing will ever change her true character, and her fierceloyalties to her family and her benefactor Mr. Lord. Once moreshe displays the courage to act on her own instinct, which neversteers her wrong in the end. I enjoyed seeing young Michael and Sarah's love changing themboth for the better. I sympathized with poor dear Lizzies' problems with one-of-a-kind Mike Shaughnessy. I worried alongwith Mary Ann as she gets cold feet before her marriage to Corny, will she really be able to live away from her belovedhome, her family, and be known from now on as Mary Ann Boyle?Let's not forget the irrepressible character of hearty, poverty-stricken Fanny McBride. Read the novel of the same name for more of this tough, delightful old woman.I was once again taken across the water to North Country Englandlistening to Susan Jameson's excellent reading of this terrificbook.