Review: The Blue Ribbon Jalepeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown

Title: The Blue Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee

Published: Sourcebooks March 2013

Status: Read from March 02 to 03, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Sourcebooks/Netgalley}

My Thoughts:

This delightful novel is author Carolyn Brown’s first foray into women’s fiction after forging a very successful career as a romance novelist, having published more than 50 books in the last 20 years or so.

The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee, set in small town Texas, is a hilarious, warm-hearted story of friendship, love, feuds and food. While Trixie sneaks her ex husband, Andy, into her room above Miss Clawdy’s Cafe every Wednesday night for a little fun, Cathy is busy burying herself in the erotic novels on her ereader instead of planning her wedding to Ethan Prescott, Cadillac’s political candidate. Marty, Cathy’s twin sister, would kill Andy stone dead if she caught him in Trixie’s bed bust she is too busy fretting about voting against Trixie’s induction to the Jalapeno Society for reasons she can’t reveal and hoping Cathy will come to her senses and break off her engagement to Ethan before she is trapped in a life with his mother, Society president and town queen bee, Violet. While neighbour Darla Jean, a former hooker turned preacher, offers the women wise counsel as they grapple with their life’s choices, Aunt Agnes stirs up trouble with a shotgun and laxatives.

I was giggling from the first chapter as Marty bursts into the Jalapeno Society meeting,

“Hells bells, who had done pissed on their cucumber sandwiches before she got there anyway? A person didn’t drop dead from lack of punctuality did they?”

The humour is in the mix of saccharine southern sarcasm, and the occasional curse word, and a cast of quirky southern characters who thrive on gossip, grudges and revenge tempered by fierce loyalties and unconditional support. Marty, Cathy, Trixie and Darla Jean are a tight group despite their differences and their friendship sustains them through the turbulence of heartbreak and joy. None of them can escape the watchful eye of Aunt Agnes whose eccentricities are lovingly tolerated. These women are the heart of the novel and invite you into their circle to laugh and cry with them.

There is also plenty of drama and secrets and to keep things interesting. Violet’s attempts to shut down Miss Clawdy’s Cafe, owned by the twins and Trixie, and control Cathy’s relationship with her son creates plenty of conflict. Trixie’s ill-advised relationship with her ex husband, and the scheming of his new girlfriend Anna Ruth provides a touch of intrigue. And Darla Jean rescues a victim of domestic abuse and discovers her true calling. There there is the hilarity of Aunt Agnes’s confrontations with Violet.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee, it is charming, fun and oh so southern. If your day needs brightening, get yourself down to Cadillac, Texas and drop by Miss Clawdy’s Cafe – if you are lucky Aunt Agnes will drop by – just don’t accept any fudge from her!