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Summary
Summary
Scandal has rocked the small Southern town of Poplar Grove, and it all seems to be about Betty Sweet's daughter, Maggie She's gone and left her husband of nineteen years and taken a job in the local beauty shop. And she's reconnected with her old high school sweetheart, too.
No one is more shocked by Maggie's behavior then her tight-knit, by-the-book Southern family. Her twin seventeen-year-old daughters are mortified and her grandmother is refusing to speak to her. Of course, Betty is stuck in the middle of it all. But when Betty unexpectedly meets someone special, she soon discovers for herself that the course of true love is never smooth. With a little encouragement from her best friend and some newly discovered inner strength, Betty comes to grips with her own happiness and helps Maggie do the same.In its heartwarming and uplifting finale, Betty Sweet Tells All proves that even in the most troubled times, true love and family prevail.Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The many fans of Styles by Maggie Sweet will find equal riches in the second installment of this multigenerational saga, and newcomers to the adventures of the Poplar Grove, N.C., family will feel at home at once. Betty, a nurse who works with Alzheimer's patients, "wonders if it's her destiny to be surrounded by contrary, confusing people." Her daughter, Maggie, has just left her husband, the irksome but reliable Steven, and their twin daughters, Jill and Amy, who have recently graduated from high school. Adding to Betty's stress is her live-in mother, Mama Dean, a widow with a will of iron. Betty not only has her hands full trying to reconcile two equally stubborn women, she has to deal with being the town scandal when it becomes clear that Maggie has run off with her high school heartthrob, Jerry. And is it all Betty's fault? After all, she left her own husband when Maggie was a tot. But thanks to her longtime friend, Annie, who lures her out to the coast, and a charming Australian named Charlie, Betty renews her own life while managing her mother's and learning to accept her daughter's. Stacy knows when to switch from one point of view to another, and she captures the vivacious banter of her characters with ease. (May) Forecast: The recent sale of the film rights to Styles by Maggie Sweet suggests a bright future for the series, which will appeal to readers of Ann B. Ross's Miss Julia books. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Betty Sweet's family needs to cope with a lot of change. Betty's daughter, Maggie, has left her overbearing and condescending husband of nearly 20 years, which angers and alienates her teenage daughters, Amy and Jill. Even worse, Maggie has taken a job at the local beauty parlor and lives behind the shop. Soon Jill becomes unhappy with living at home and lands on Betty's doorstep. But changes in family dynamics are felt hardest by the family matriarch --Betty's mother, Mama Dean. As Betty and Mama Dean come to accept Maggie's new way of life, small-town gossip decreases to a low simmer and the Sweet women prevail. No one needs romance more than the overworked Betty Sweet, and with the help of her longtime friend Annie, Betty meets a kind and attractive Englishman. This southern novel centered on four generations of determined women will capture readers looking for light and entertaining summer reading. --Michelle Kaske
Library Journal Review
In this follow-up to humor columnist Stacy's Styles by Maggie Sweet, it is summer in Poplar Grove, NC, and Maggie has left her husband of 19 years for high-school boyfriend Jerry. Her mother, Betty, grandmother, Mama Dean, and Maggie's teenaged twin daughters all have opinions they're not afraid to express. As Maggie struggles for independence and happiness, so does Betty, sandwiched between Maggie and the domineering Mama Dean (reminiscent of "Mama" on the Carol Burnett Show). This novel involves some rehashing of the first, making it a ho-hum sequel; libraries should buy only where demand merits. Don't miss works by the best of the new Southern women writers: Jeanne Ray's Step Ball Change, Catherine Landis's Some Days There's Pie, and especially Pamela Duncan's multigenerational Moon Women. Rebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
