Ladies' Night

I have always enjoyed Mary Kay Andrews books. It is like it is written as a perfect summer novel.Find a lounge chair and settle in. This book is just a great diversion and will leave you cheering on the group that meetsfor Ladies' Night.

( Warning Paragraph 4 contains some spoilers) I started this book on audio and had to switch to the book because it was making me crazy that it was going so slow. Not the story, just listening to it. Once I got the actual book, I really enjoyed the story. My only quibble; for a smart person, the heroine was a bit of a doormat after she caught her hubby Ben "being assisted" by her assistant J'Aime. My aggravation level dropped once she got divorced and had to start rebuilding her life.Grace loses everything, her husband, her blog, and her lifestyle after catching her hubby in the act and then destroying his car in a hissy fit (LOL). While she is licking her wounds, he is neatly taking everything away from her and even sabotaging her efforts to recoup her life. She ends up in a touchy feely anger management group with a bunch of other divorced people who had the misfortune of having their cases heard by the same judge. The best part of the story takes place from this point onward as Grace discovers a way to get her self-esteem and even her career back on track. I like that she realizes that she doesn't need all of the expensive and fashionable things which defined her life and even her blog before the divorce. Grace gets back to her essential self and rediscovers the joy in rehabbing a small vintage house not a mcmansion.She meets Wyatt in her divorce group and they make a real connection after some false starts. He has also been taken for a ride by his ex, but he has a child involved, which makes it worse. The members of the group start to figure out that there is something fishy going on with their so-called therapist and the judge that heard their cases. The ways that the group investigates the situation add some real humor to the book. There are also parts that show just how toxic divorce can really be if the parties don't work hard to prevent that from happening even after the court hearing is over.I have to say that Ms. Andrews is a nicer person than I am because I think that Ben and J'Aime don't suffer enough in the end. But, that is really the lesson that we learn in a divorce. I remember reading in a book something about the anger you keep in your heart leaving less room for love to come in. Grace learns that lesson and is the better person for learning it.PS... Now that I have read the book, I am going to re-listen to it because the narrator really did a good job. It wasn't her fault that I was too impatient to wait and enjoy the book.

I am a fan of Mary Kay Andrews. You don't get too many surprises with her plot lines but the characters are always well drawn and I love the Southern backdrop with so many references to familiar places and things. A real treat when you are by the pool/on the beach.

Good read.

I love Andrews. I first read her after a trip to Savannah, because before and after I travel to a place, I read all I can about it, and that includes fiction books set in that area. I fell in love with her easy going and fun writing style, as well as the dream worthy locations they took place in. I have read just about all of her books; that being said, I think Ladies' Night is my favorite. I think it dealt with a more serious issue that most of her other books.Grace is a famous lifestyle blogger, with a beautiful home with beautiful linens and tableware and husband, Ben. Or so she thinks, about her husband. When one night she finds him schtupping her assistant, she goes berserk. After driving his expensive car into their pool, she heads home to her mother, to her childhood homeplace, above a bar in a marina.What happens next is horrible. Her estranged husband locks her out of her gated community, her home, her bank accounts, and her income. His paramour takes over Grace's blog, and Grace finds herself powerless to change her circumstances. The judge at their first divorce hearing orders Grace to an anger management therapy class, and does not award any of Grace's assets back to her. even though she was the maligned and hurt party.Grace goes to the class, and finds that everyone there, except one, is female. All have gotten the shaft from the same judge. What the heck is the deal with this judge? Does he hate women? Grace and the others soon become confidantes, and learn some disturbing facts.The only man in class is Wyatt, the owner and manager of a run down jungle theme park called Jungle Jerry's. He also has a father who seems to have a memory loss at sundown, an assortment of animals, and shared custody of his young son. His estranged wife is just as bad as Ben, if not worse.Grace attempts to get her life together, starting a new blog and a new major project, but Ben, and his girlfriend J'Aimee, cause some pretty disturbing and deplorable problems for her.I think this book more than Andrews' other books, dealt with more serious topics. The trouble the character's ran into was kicked up a notch, a little darker than her previous books. Grace is made of tough stuff however, and fights back.This book also did have its cute parts too, it wasn't all serious. The relationship that develops between Wyatt and Grace, and the one that Grace develops with a dog that she rescues bring brightness and light to the story. And you know I love that Andrews' advocates for animals! All in all, I really loved this book.