The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again

When my 23-year-old daughter gave me this book as a Christmas present, I was taken back! Yea, I feel like I'm a card-carrying member of the hot flash club (which I didn't know existed until she gave me this book), but I was surprised she would find something I might actually enjoy reading. I read it within a 24 hour period, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. This story looks at the lives of four women, three who are very different, and how they resolve the problems of their lives: Carolyn, a 37-year old executive, juggling her family fortune, her job within the family business, a complicated first pregnancy, and then when Father marries a much younger woman (THAT was predictable!). Beth, young and alone, intelligent and goal-oriented, meeting a soul mate from a working class family with an original manipulative mother who wants to rule her kids, their lives, and their loves. Julia, the not so wicked stepmother to a troubled young girl, will never win the respect of her husband's former mother-in-law. Polly, who loses her husband to death, her son and grandson to a "ME" oriented earth mother, and then her mother-in-law's pending death. These women work through their problems, and fortunately for them, they do have the love, respect, and support from good husbands as well as forming a lasting friendship with one another. What I liked about the story: the men in their lives were important and they valued and respected the women. Not all of the endings were happily resolved. (Beth still realizes that she doesn't have Bobbi's approval, never will, but she did confront Bobbi.) None of the women felt sorry for themselves nor expected others to do so. They just worked through their problems, not always solving them, but still they lessened them somewhat. For light-hearted, good ole chick lit, this is great!

Polly struggles to keep the peace with her mother-in-law. Beth has fallen in love with her soul mate, Sonny, but can't seem to fight off insecurity. Carolyn fights to keep her family business "in business", while dealing with the side effects of pregnancy. And last, Julia struggles to deal with yet another mother-in-law who will stop at nothing to have her husband's troublesome daughter, Belinda, move in with them. The Hot Flash Club strikes again with four new women struggling with relationships, and mother-in-laws. They all find comfort in wine and chocolate and through friendship. Once again, Nancy Thayer gives the readers a strong look at the complexities of the extended family. Though the characters are slightly younger than in the original piece, The Hot Flash Club Strikes again still teaches us "middle-aged" women and those looking to get there that you are never too old to enjoy life and live it to the fullest. What would be better than taking a few friends, wine and some chocolate along the way? Rolanda, Nothing BUT Page Turners Book Club

I enjoyed the first book "The Hot Flash Club" but I really enjoyed this book much more! What I also liked about this book was it gave a "refresher" on the characters from the first book, so I was able to remember everyone. I really enjoyed all of the ladies in the stories. Also, you are able to differentiate between everyone because each woman has such a strong storyline. With so many books coming out focusing on relationships between 3-4 women, sometimes they blur into one another and you find you only care about what happens to 1 of them. That didn't happen with this book. Each character has her own amazing life, but each of them is blended well enough together to make the perfect read.

Much better than the prequel, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again has our old favorites from the first book, plus a whole new group of really interesting women that anybody can relate to. What I liked best about this book was that friendships transcended age barriers, and that women in their 60s were valued and loved as much as those in their 20s, despite their rueful horrors of growing older. There was much more substance to the individual stories as well, which concentrated on clashes through the generations: mother/daughter, wife/mother-in-law, fiancee/husband's mother. All true, all fascinating, and all grouped together to make a really really fun read. I read this in one night: It's that kind of book. I also found some real truths; it is not a merely silly book at all, despite its title.

For almost two decades Polly struggled to maintain a positive relationship with her mother-in-law the frozen tundra Claudia. She vowed to warmly welcome into the family the wife of her son David. However, she has deep concerns when David weds a Birkenstock organic farmer Amy; she struggles with her relationship with David. Reticent PhD candidate Beth Grey and athletic carpenter Sonny Young fall in love. However, she feels like an intruder because his outgoing family displays open affection while she grew up in quiet shelter. He thinks she hesitates because he has no college degree. In her late thirties, Carolyn Sperry overworks trying to keep the family business at the forefront of the market. However, she is pregnant and suffers from high blood pressure; her doctor tells her to rest and relax. The problem is neither the business nor her spouse Hank; it is her septuagenarian father who eloped with an average looking shy bank clerk younger than she is. Thirty years old photographer Julia married widower dentist Tim Hathaway. With Tim comes his young daughter Belinda, whose manipulations of the adults would please Machiavelli. Adding to Julia's woes is Tim's -mother-in-law demands that Belinda move in with her and will do anything to make that happen. With four new women struggling with family relationships, each finds solace with friendship, wine, and chocolate for the soul. The tales rotate between the families as fans obtain a deep look at troubles that could destroy relationships if individuals fail to talk. As with the first novel, Nancy Thayer strikes again with a strong look at the complex modern day extended family. Harriet Klausner