Baggage Check by MJ Pullen

Not too long ago, a friend of mine started posting the books for which he had been a beta reader. From what I know, he's a big science fiction/fantasy/general fiction reader, so I was more than a little surprised to see a hot pink book cover as one of the books  for which he'd been an early reader. Then, I was even more surprised to see that same book on the shelf as a new arrival at my library, thought the coincidence too much, and checked it out. I also broke one of my  unspoken rules about picking up books in mid-series (I made that rule after trying to jump into The Wheel of Time® series on book three. That worked out well, she lied.)

Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Usually the "group of women friends" books make me want to chomp down on some hard core fiction to get the taste of sweetness out of my mouth, but this one actually tackled some interesting issues. I'm not sorry I didn't read the others in the series (especially as one of my least favorite characters was featured in one of them) but I did enjoy the interactions between the women, their sweethearts/husbands, and families. And I did like the value placed on friendship, support, and most of all honesty and humor.

Bottom line? Families are not perfect: both those we're born into and those we make for ourselves. But if you face challenges together, there's a lot that can be worked thorough, even if it's festered for a while. MJ Pullen created a group of characters that seem genuine, who both care for each other and grow, and maybe make a mistake or two. But it's done with a light touch and a crisp writing style that made the book a pleasure to read.

tags: 2016-read, i-liked-it, part-start-of-a-series, read, set-in-the-south, sometimes-fluff-is-good, thank-you-charleston-county-library