Sandy M’s review of Talk of the Town by Karen Hawkins
Contemporary Romance released by Pocket 18 Nov 08

With all the Karen Hawkins historical books on my shelves, you’d think one of those would have been my first read of hers.  Nope.  Instead I started off with her first contemporary book, and I’m glad I did.  I had a heck of a good time with this book.  It’s full of laughter and fun, and I chuckled out loud a number of times.  Ms. Hawkins has a wicked sense of humor and I can only hope I find some of it when I finally read her historicals.

Roxie and Nick spent four glorious weeks together when they were in high school.  They went their separate ways after an argument, both eventually leaving Glory, the small North Carolina town they couldn’t wait to get out of.  Roxie was brought up by a mother who wanted everything perfect, but that only came across as snobby to the kids in school.  So she ended up marrying a man she later realized she never loved.  Nick was the bad boy who went through girlfriend after girlfriend, until it came to Roxie.  But that’s something she never knew back then.  He finally got his act together, ended up on the straight and narrow by becoming a cop.

Nick has been back in Glory for a couple of years now.  He’s the sheriff, does everything by the book after going through a rough time at the Atlanta PD where he’d turned himself around with the help of a mentor who was more like a father than anything else.  It’s peace and quite he craves after the big city and he’s found it in Glory.  But when Roxie comes barreling back into town, with her brother and a maid in tow, when her mother needs help after a heart attack, she ends being the talk of town because she’s not the Roxie they remember.  It’s not the Roxie he remembers either, but the lust still hits him fast and hard just like it did all those years ago.

She found her husband in bed with someone else, which led to a huge dip in her self-esteem, so it’s time for her to make some changes.  And make them she does.  Roxie goes blonde, gets a belly ring and a tattoo, along with an attitude adjustment.  No longer is she the timid, shy girl Glory knew in the past.  She goes for what she wants now, and she definitely wants Nick.  But Nick tries to keep his distance, not wanting anything to distract him from his job.  He learned a hard lesson in Atlanta and he’s not about to let the same thing happen to him in Glory.  He finds keeping his hands off Roxie is harder than he’d ever imagined, however.

In the middle of all of this is Roxie’s mother, one of those controlling, take-charge women who don’t listen to what anyone wants. It’s what she wants that matters.  Roxie and Mark have an adult perspective when it comes to their mother now and they treat her accordingly, which gives us some great scenes between them.  Tundy, Roxie’s maid, is helping taking care of Mrs. Treymayne, and she is a hoot!  My heavens, the things that come out of that woman’s mouth are hilarious. She nearly steals every scene she’s in.

Then there’s the Murder Mystery Club whose members are senior citizens who reside in an assisted living home, and they buck the rules every darned chance they get.  Roxie ends up trying to solve a murder with them, which frustrates Nick to no end, but he eventually comes to realize he needs all the help he can get, thus riotous pandemonium ensues.

One of the best scenes in the book is the showdown between Roxie and Robin, the mayor’s girlfriend.  Nick and Susan, his dispatcher, are present for the entire thing, with Susan interpreting every move for the poor man.  It’s all womanspeak and I laughed through the entire scene.  Absolutely priceless.  Also, the revealing of the seniors’ still they’ve been using since the owner’s death was great funny twist in their murder mystery.  There’s a number of other scenes like that throughout the book, all making it so worth the read.

I’m hoping Ms. Hawkins might write another book about Glory and its citizens with Mark and Susan as the main characters.  There’s something there, given to us in bits and pieces, and I think it would be fun to find out what can happen between them.  I checked her website, though, and didn’t see anything about it.  At least it’s something to ponder, Ms. Hawkins.  Please consider it!

Grade: A+

Summary:

DO BLONDS HAVE MORE FUN?

Newly divorced Roxie Treymayne is dying to find out. After years of being the perfect Southern lady, all she ended up with was a cheating husband. So she goes bombshell blond, gets a provocatively placed tattoo, and prepares to live it up as a Bad Girl. But then her mother falls ill, Roxie is forced to return to Glory, North Carolina where, no matter how she dresses now, she’s known by one and all as ‘that nice Treymayne girl.’ Only Roxie is feeling anything BUT nice!

HE’D LOVE TO KNOW.

Once the town bad boy, Nick Sheppard is now Glory’s highly respected sheriff. When the hot blonde he stops for speeding turns out to be formerly prim Homecoming Queen Roxanne Treymayne, Nick doesn’t quite know where to look – though he’d like a much closer one at the tattoo peeking from her shorts.

BUT IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO.

Roxie and Nick had a steamy fling in high school, but a love affair between a Southern princess and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks was doomed from the start. Now they have a second chance. Can they get it right? Or will they just end up . . . the talk of the town?

Read an excerpt. (scroll down)