The Dixie Belle's Guide to Love

The characters in this story are very funny and warm.......Rita who received a run down restaurant in her divorce settlement from her cross-dressing ex-husband. Parnel. is a person who always lived her life to please everyone else.She decided to renovate her restaurant and received help from all her friends who live in this small town in Tenn. Her daughter is away at college and she is feeling kind of down about her now empty life......Her two best friends, Jillie and Cozette decide that Jillie's brother, Wild Billy West is the person who could help rebuild the restaurant and also Rita's self esteem. Billy and Jillie's mother Peggy agrees and they all hope they can help to accomplish this......This story is kind of predictable, however. it is so funny that I found myself laughing out loud at some of the dialogue and situations............I recommend this book.

In Hellon, Tennessee, sixty miles or so from Memphis, Rita Stark owns and operates the Pig Rib Palace. Divorced from her husband Pernel, whose closet of female attire is superior to hers, and feeling empty nest syndrome with their daughter off to school, Rita decides to renovate her dilapidated restaurant. She hires legendary football hero Wild Billy West to do the job. Rita's wacky best friends Cozette Harvey and Jillie West believe Billy is just the right medicine for Rita to regain her former confidence as a card carrying Dixie belle. Though she does not mind wearing the tiara or holding her head high, Rita struggles with accepting a date with Billy as her self-esteem remains in the septic tank. THE DIXIE BELLE'S GUIDE TO LOVE is a humorous satirical look at small town southern living as depicted in many a romance novel. Rita is an intriguing lead protagonist who makes the tale. Though quite amusing, the local dialogue especially when Cozette and Jillie are on center stage, disrupts the flow of the plot as the audience struggles to understand what is being said. Still Luanne Jones provides her audience with a delightfully jocular hometown romance.Harriet Klausner

I put Luanne Jones on my short list of new authors to watch after reading her first book last year. She did not disappoint with this great story. I liked that the heroine was so imperfect. Rita was described as overweight but she didn't have to get skinny to feel worthy of the sexy hero.The hero, Wild Billy, was sympathetic and fun. I adored the way he interacted with his feisty Mom, Miss Peggy. The characters were loads of fun without going overthetop. The romance had a lot of energy and tenderness. As with her first book the relationships between the women were really compelling and I hope one day Jones decides to write a book where she can focus more on those than on the romantic storyline.