Another delightful installment in the Southern Eclectic series, this one giving us the adorable and forthright Frankie McCready, undertaker and coroner extraordinaire, having to deal with the outright rude and ever-suspicious big city cop-turned local sheriff, Eric Linden.
If there is one thing I hate in romance — or in life — it is an alphahole, and Linden’s abrasiveness made me pretty furious for a good long while. Eventually, he softened (and yes, I get the point of the archetype, the whole redeemed-by-a-good-woman thing that has infested all genres of literary pursuit since time immemorial), and eventually, he seemed somewhat worthy of the most excellent Frankie, but it took me longer to warm up to him than it took her, and that kind of affected my enjoyment of their story.
Nevertheless, this was certainly another good time, full of Harper’s signature snark along with some completely lovable secondary characters, and I have already bought books 2.5 (another e-novella!) and 3, released this year — plus, I will definitely be adding all Southern Eclectic novels to my TBR as and when they appear in print. I also have a few of Molly Harper’s books already in my possession — a couple even deal with werewolves — and I have a feeling they will be appearing on my reading list sooner rather than later.
Even if they do appear to feature some of her (seemingly favourite) alphaholes.
SCORECARD
TBR DAY 180: Ain’t She a Peach (Southern Eclectic #2) by Molly Harper
GENRE: Romance, Romantic Comedy
PUBLISHED: 2018
TIME ON THE TBR: 1 year.
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon.
KEEP: Yes.
My previous experience with Molly Harper is in the realm of funny, charming paranormal romance. Her Jane Jameson series, beginning with Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs, is set in the US South, and has a very Southern sensibility about it, all ladylike behaviour and “bless her heart” (which is a curse, not a blessing) and ostentatious courtesy and hospitality, but also, vampires. It’s very fun.
Hmm.
Right up until it’s fiercely unsatisfying conclusion — the ninth novel in the series, 2018’s Scourged — I really loved Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series, so when he released this, the first novel in a whole new series, and in the midst of awaiting the final adventures of Atticus, Granuaile and co., of course I snapped it up right away. 
I bought this one on a whim, having almost enjoyed Sally Rooney’s debut novel Conversations with Friends. But I didn’t start on it until my friend Kaitlyn mentioned this evening that it had been assigned for her book club, and we decided to compare notes.
Rather more along the lines of The Four Graces than Miss Buncle’s Book, this charming tale of an insecure and somewhat oppressed-by-duty young woman who at last strikes out on her own and takes a holiday in the Scottish Highlands is pure confectionery fluff, but delightful for all that.
Educator Charlotte Fairlie isn’t yet thirty, and yet has been engaged at headmistress of the elite St. Elizabeth’s–much to the displeasure of the hateful, hopeful aspirant to the title. In between the petty staff room politics, her pursuit by the local boys’ school headmaster, troublesome new girl Tessa, the school board, the local gossips, and the trauma of the upcoming school play to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it isn’t quite the dream job Charlotte had imagined.
John Scalzi is a science fiction author of skill and renown, and I loved his Star Trek-inspired satire Redshirts and his Old Man’s War series, set in space and featuring cloning technology and brain transplants.
When waiting for a friend to deal with a tradesperson, while I was visiting for afternoon tea — that’s how civilised I am; I go to “tea” at people’s houses now — I picked up this book from her coffee table and dove straight in. I was most distressed when she returned a mere few minutes later, because I was already so immersed into the story that I did not at all want to leave it.
I continue to be awestruck by the cleverness of Agatha Christie, which I know is a rather trite observation to make, given that she has been astounding readers for decades with said cleverness, but it bears repeating.