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THE POTLUCK CLUB TROUBLE'S BREWING
BY LINDA EVANS SHEPHARD & EVA MARIE EVERSON
In THE
POTLUCK CLUB TAKES THE CAKE, Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson
continue the romance and mayhem of the lovable (and some not quite as
lovable) ladies of the Potluck Club in Summit View, Colorado.
If you haven't read the earlier books in the series, THE
POTLUCK CLUB and THE POTLUCK CLUB—TROUBLE'S BREWING, I would advise
that you do so first (this review will have plenty of spoilers
otherwise!). If you begin with this novel, you'll be lost in a maze of
situations and characters. Consider yourself warned.
For those who have read installments one and two, you'll be
happy to discover all your favorite characters picking up where they
left off. Evangeline “Evie” Benson (the founder of the club) is getting
ready for her upcoming nuptials to the local sheriff, but his ex-wife
is back on the scene and stirring the proverbial pot. Evie is also
feuding with wedding consultant and romance coach Lisa Leann Lambert,
who is her co-sponsor of the Christmas Tea and also planning Evie's
wedding down to the last smear of icing on the cake. Goldie Dippel is
trying to patch things up with her estranged husband Jack, but his last
affair seemingly has had disastrous consequences, and whether they can
overcome this hurdle seems dicey.
More mayhem: Single gal and deputy sheriff Donna Vesey, a
self-described “crazy lady with a gun,” is feeling estranged from
faith, even as she is hotly pursued by a bevy of eligible men. Among
them is Vonnie Westbrook's long-lost son, who is the focus of a gaggle
of paparazzi. Meanwhile, Lizzie Prattle's comfortable mid-life routine
is completely upset by a medical emergency, adult children whose
marriage is in crisis, and her mother, who has Alzheimer's and needs
her more than ever. The ever-hopeful Clay Whitefield, the nosy reporter
for the Gold Rush News,
gets a spa day makeover to boost his chances with Donna. He is also
determined to keep his eyes out for any personal developments in the
lives of the Potluckers in hopes of writing a novel about them…and
there's plenty to keep him busy in these 400 pages of Potluck antics.
Whew!
What I enjoy most about the Potluck Club books is
Shepherd's and Everson's good sense of humor. A mischievous tone creeps
into the most unexpected places (“That woman has been around more
tracks than a Derby horse.”). I'd love to see more of that kind of fun.
I'm also a sucker for the recipes that begin each chapter (and are
fully outlined at the end of the book). Good food makes an agreeable
story even better.
The novel is not without its challenges. Readers will have to
concentrate to stay with the many points of view throughout the story.
However, this allows Shepherd and Everson to develop different
characters and situations in a way that helps readers to grow to care
about them. It's also difficult to believe that Goldie doesn't own a
cell phone. A woman on her own without a cell phone? Puh-leaze. There
are some clichés: the emergency baby delivery (how many times have we
seen this done in some form in inspirational fiction?) and the
mysterious child from the past who appears as an adult just in time to
make the characters' lives awkward. The authors work hard to give both
scenes a slightly different twist, which helps them go down easier.
Yet these are small hurdles to jump over in order to enjoy an
entertaining, light story with plenty of faith and romance thrown in
between the covers. Potluck Club fans will be happy to find the same sort of flavorful fare that hooked them on the first two books.
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