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marieintheraw's review
5.0
Frankie is possibly my McCready, this is possibly due to my ability to relate to her the most.
gracierolin's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
trudyd's review
4.0
It is always a great day when I get to visit the McCready's and all of their neighbors. So happy for Frankie. She finally got her story and Oh My what a story. So happy to see that she finally gets to grow up and find love.
It is a real peach of a day when the zombies are around.
Finished off the 2018 with an audio of Ain't She a Peach. Love the narrator, she always leaves me with smile and sides that hurt when I finish a book. I think I laughed harder during the audio than when I read the book.
7/1/2021 Binge listening to Southern Eclectic during the heatwave to end all heatwaves in the PNW. Molly Harper's book even make 100plus days easier.
It is a real peach of a day when the zombies are around.
Finished off the 2018 with an audio of Ain't She a Peach. Love the narrator, she always leaves me with smile and sides that hurt when I finish a book. I think I laughed harder during the audio than when I read the book.
7/1/2021 Binge listening to Southern Eclectic during the heatwave to end all heatwaves in the PNW. Molly Harper's book even make 100plus days easier.
redhdlibrarian's review
3.0
Love Molly Harper's humor and quirky comebacks in conversations. I will read any book she writes. All her characters are relatable, real, and I want them to be my friends. This books continues with the same characters from Sweet Tea and Sympathy but with more insight into different characters. But if you loved Sweet Tea, continue on with the series as you follow the same crew.
amym84's review
4.0
Frankie McCready is used to being seen as eccentric. As Lake Sackett's coroner it pretty much comes with the territory. Even though Frankie has a penchant for talking to the dead, she respects them, and she loves her job. That's why when someone keeps trying to break into the mortuary, she takes it personally. Frankie knows exactly who the perpetrator is, in fact she's been involved in a prank war of sorts with this particular individual for quite some time. The only problem is convincing the new town sheriff that the issue is legit and not just Frankie holding a grudge. The fact that Sheriff Eric Linden and Frankie had a one night stand before he moved to Lake Sackett, and they haven't talked about it since, doesn't help matters between the two. His reluctance to initially believe Frankie, coupled with his penchant for always assuming homicide as the reason for deaths in Lake Sakett, only makes Frankie more interested about who Eric Linden is and what brought him to Lake Sackett from Atlanta.
After reading what I can only call an extremely long prologue to this story in [b:Peachy Flippin' Keen|36111003|Peachy Flippin' Keen (Southern Eclectic, #1.5)|Molly Harper|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516581689s/36111003.jpg|57699472], I was excepting something different with finally getting Frankie's full-length story in Ain't She a Peach. I figured it would focus more on building the relationship between Eric and Frankie, but I felt like what we got was more an internal rumination on Frankie's life and wanting to break out of the confines she's built for herself by still living with her parents and suffering from anxiety and hypochondria due to her diagnosis of Leukemia when she was a child. She obviously pulled through and is in remission, but the whole thing has left its scars.
So, those were the main focuses of Frankie's full-length book with the developing attraction between Eric and Frankie as a secondary story thread. I didn't mind the turn, I actually like when I'm surprised by the path an author decides to take with their story, but I felt like we lost a little bit of what made Frankie such a standout character in the previous book / novellas. She's this bright, energetic, pop culture-loving, rainbow hair-colored survivor. While I liked and agreed with most of the catharsis, I missed a little bit of that brightness.
Since the relationship was more relegated to secondary it became ensconced in Frankie's goal of gaining her independence. I really loved the way it was handled once I figured it wasn't going to be the prominent fixture. There's a nonchalance to the relationship. I liked that there's not much made by Frankie or Eric about the whole one-night stand thing. There are some missteps along the way, but as I said they're part of Frankie's realization that her life has been relatively sheltered.
One thing that stood out a bit better this time around was the closeness of the McCready cousins Marianne, Margot, Duffy, and Frankie. I felt like we really saw them band together more as a unit of the next generation of McCready's than in the previous books / novellas. I can only assume Duffy's book is next (since he's the only one left) so I hope this is a trend that continues.
Molly Harper hasn't let me down yet and I've really been enjoying this small-town southern family series, and I'm looking forward to see what happens next.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After reading what I can only call an extremely long prologue to this story in [b:Peachy Flippin' Keen|36111003|Peachy Flippin' Keen (Southern Eclectic, #1.5)|Molly Harper|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516581689s/36111003.jpg|57699472], I was excepting something different with finally getting Frankie's full-length story in Ain't She a Peach. I figured it would focus more on building the relationship between Eric and Frankie, but I felt like what we got was more an internal rumination on Frankie's life and wanting to break out of the confines she's built for herself by still living with her parents and suffering from anxiety and hypochondria due to her diagnosis of Leukemia when she was a child. She obviously pulled through and is in remission, but the whole thing has left its scars.
So, those were the main focuses of Frankie's full-length book with the developing attraction between Eric and Frankie as a secondary story thread. I didn't mind the turn, I actually like when I'm surprised by the path an author decides to take with their story, but I felt like we lost a little bit of what made Frankie such a standout character in the previous book / novellas. She's this bright, energetic, pop culture-loving, rainbow hair-colored survivor. While I liked and agreed with most of the catharsis, I missed a little bit of that brightness.
Since the relationship was more relegated to secondary it became ensconced in Frankie's goal of gaining her independence. I really loved the way it was handled once I figured it wasn't going to be the prominent fixture. There's a nonchalance to the relationship. I liked that there's not much made by Frankie or Eric about the whole one-night stand thing. There are some missteps along the way, but as I said they're part of Frankie's realization that her life has been relatively sheltered.
One thing that stood out a bit better this time around was the closeness of the McCready cousins Marianne, Margot, Duffy, and Frankie. I felt like we really saw them band together more as a unit of the next generation of McCready's than in the previous books / novellas. I can only assume Duffy's book is next (since he's the only one left) so I hope this is a trend that continues.
Molly Harper hasn't let me down yet and I've really been enjoying this small-town southern family series, and I'm looking forward to see what happens next.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
raembooks's review
4.0
We are taken back to the charming town of Lake Sackett in Ain’t She a Peach. Frankie McCready is the local embalmer and county coroner and not your typical southern woman. She just wants to live her life, but her well-meaning relatives won’t stay out of her business. When a new sheriff comes to town, Frankie is fascinated with him and why he moved to the small town. Harper brings her charm and humor to this fun novel about learning to take chances and being yourself.
ssimpson92's review
4.0
3.5/5 Rating rounded up
This review is for the series including Books 1 - 3.
High-brow “literary” fiction these are not. Southern Eclectic is just pure, unadulterated, silliness. If you’re expecting anything else from a story about an “eclectic” family, based in a small southern town, that run a combined funeral service/bait and tackle shop (which locals refer to as the “bait and bury")… well…you’re just not paying attention. But, if this kind of preposterousness doesn’t immediately put you off, then maybe, just maybe, you’d enjoy this delightful little yarn spun by Molly Harper. I actually listened to the Audible version of these books, so for me, it was like having that funny, full of life, family member/friend come to your house to share a drink and a tale. A tale told on the back porch at the end of a good meal, for no other reason than to make you laugh. The characters are … well … characters: quirky, prone to predicaments and downright likeable. The things they get themselves into make for a funny story – humorous, with a touch of snark and embellished with just enough exaggerated mischief to make you laugh till you snort your beer. Nothing is too outrageous to include, from the flamingo raid on the shrimp canapes at a fancy gala, to staged zombies in the autopsy room at the funeral home, to crazy bubba-brawls at the annual trunk-and-treat. Yup, crazy antics, stuff you wouldn’t think could ever work, but somehow does. All that and a romance thrown in. The whole series is a very quick "read" and just delightful!
Sometimes you need a break from stories bent on deep social commentary or demanding empathy for the plight of others. For me, these books fill that need.
This review is for the series including Books 1 - 3.
High-brow “literary” fiction these are not. Southern Eclectic is just pure, unadulterated, silliness. If you’re expecting anything else from a story about an “eclectic” family, based in a small southern town, that run a combined funeral service/bait and tackle shop (which locals refer to as the “bait and bury")… well…you’re just not paying attention. But, if this kind of preposterousness doesn’t immediately put you off, then maybe, just maybe, you’d enjoy this delightful little yarn spun by Molly Harper. I actually listened to the Audible version of these books, so for me, it was like having that funny, full of life, family member/friend come to your house to share a drink and a tale. A tale told on the back porch at the end of a good meal, for no other reason than to make you laugh. The characters are … well … characters: quirky, prone to predicaments and downright likeable. The things they get themselves into make for a funny story – humorous, with a touch of snark and embellished with just enough exaggerated mischief to make you laugh till you snort your beer. Nothing is too outrageous to include, from the flamingo raid on the shrimp canapes at a fancy gala, to staged zombies in the autopsy room at the funeral home, to crazy bubba-brawls at the annual trunk-and-treat. Yup, crazy antics, stuff you wouldn’t think could ever work, but somehow does. All that and a romance thrown in. The whole series is a very quick "read" and just delightful!
Sometimes you need a break from stories bent on deep social commentary or demanding empathy for the plight of others. For me, these books fill that need.