Living on the Gulf Coast where humidity is so high it feels like you’re breathing underwater, What Matters Most is like a cool breeze.
What better way to spend the day then with a glass of chilly iced tea or a mint julep, the sound of gulls calling high above and a really good book.
I had a sense of familiarity while reading this book, like coming home.
Bette Lee has charmed me again.
Just when Louise thinks she has everything she ever wanted, her husband, Clay, throws a wrench in the works.
She has her family, her perfect home, and her circle of quilting friends. Louise would be perfectly happy to spend the rest of her life right where she is.
Clay, on the other hand, is tired of shoveling snow, and his boring job at the bank is draining the life out of him.
When a letter arrives, it looks like he’s saved. His Uncle died and left him a small house in Florida. They’ll move south, enjoy the balmy weather, make new friends, and enjoy the good life.
His nightmares of dropping dead at his desk are gone. Now that he has a chance to change things, he’s like a dog with a bone. Nothing will stop him now.
Louise is at her wit’s end. She doesn’t want anything to change. She wants everything to stay the way it is.
She gets with her best friend and they come up with a Plan A.
She hires the absolute worst realtor out there to list the house with. But, go figure, he gets a bite quickly and they even get the asking price, which she set high to discourage buyers.
Now what can she do?
Clay’s going through a mid-life crisis and Louise is pulling her hair out, trying to stop this run away train.
My thoughts
You know that saying, “Life goes on?”
I look back to that perfect time in my life and wish I could go back. But then real life comes crashing in, reminding me that time stands still for no one. You can never go back and nothing stays the same.
Poor Loiuse was always stable and secure in her life and now she’s ripped out of her happy home and driving to points unknown.
Clay changed from mister predictable to this dreamer. He romanticized the move, seeing a fantasy come true and his sights are set on Florida, believing the move will make him happy.
Poor Louise, you can feel her desperation, her panic. The road trip is insane. Her Plan B fails. I don”t know how she ever thought it would work.
I guess she had nothing left to lose.
I was really hoping for this one thing to happen at the end of this story, and Bette didn’t disappoint me. I had my, “You go girl” moment.
I’ve read several of Bette Lee Crosby’s novels and each time I read a new one I say to myself this is the best one yet. I could never choose a favorite as they have all touched my heart.
Bette’s southern accent sneaks into What Matters Most, subtly charming you, while tickling your funny-bone, and leaving you happy and wiser.
5 Stars
Giveaway
I have an awesome giveaway from Bette!
Alert! This is a Tag Team Event!
Sherry and I, the Tag Team Sisters, are both posting our reviews and having a giveaway.
For a second chance to win visit Sherry at fundinmental
I have one paperback copy to giveaway.
*****Us/Canada Only. Sorry to my International friends.*****
Good news!
I also have one e-book to giveaway.
***Anyone can enter for the e-book!***
To enter, please leave your email address and specify if US (everyone will be entered for the e-book) and answer this question:
“Do you find it hard to except change or do you relish it?”
Giveaway ends June 10th.
Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bette Lee Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006, when she won the National League of American Pen Women Award for unpublished fiction with What Matters Most. Her novel, Cracks in the Sidewalk, received the 2009 Royal Palm Literary Award and then went on to win the 2011 FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal. In 2011 Spare Change received the Reviewer’s Choice Awards and it garnered a second Royal Palm Literary Award. Her books have earned numerous five-star ratings with readers acclaiming them as heartwarming and captivating.
Most recently, Bette completed a memoir written for Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as The World’s Longest Living Quadriplegic.
Other Books by Bette Lee Crosby
Spare Change
2010 Royal Palm Literary Award
2011 Reviewer’s Choice Award
2012 FPA President’s Book Award Silver Medal
The Twelfth Child
National League of American Pen Women
Women’s Fiction Award
Cracks in the Sidewalk
2011 FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal
2009 Royal Palm Literary Award
Cupid’s Christmas
A holiday romance.
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