Blog Tour & Review: All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank (audio)

Title: All the Single Ladies   

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank     

Narrator: Robin Miles  

Published: June 2015, Harper Audio / William Morrow  

Length: 10 hours 54 minutes / 386 pages  

Source: Personal copy via Audible / Publisher via TLC Book Tours

In this fast-paced and evocative novel, beloved New York Times
bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank again takes us deep into the
Lowcountry of South Carolina, where three unsuspecting women are brought
together by tragedy and mystery.

Lisa St. Clair knows a
thing or two about weathering storms. A dedicated nurse with a healthy
sense of humor, she single-handedly raised her truculent daughter,
Marianne, after her ex walked out on them twenty-four years ago, sending
them a lottery ticket once a year as support. Once day he reappeared
and lured their daughter into a dubious but lucrative venture in
Colorado. Now mother and daughter aren’t speaking.

So
when Kathy Harper, Lisa’s favorite patient, loses her battle with
cancer, Lisa finds herself drawing closer to Carrie and Suzanne, the
devoted friends who were always by Kathy’s side. As these three women’s
lives inevitably connect, they share their concerns about men, getting
older and the horrors of maintaining financial stability. Suzanne’s
ninety-nine-year-old grandmother, a former chanteuse, offers unexpected
perspectives on the mores of the day.  Carrie’s greedy ex-stepchildren
are a chorus of cackling crows. And Lisa’s mother just can’t help
herself as she henpicks herself to distraction.

Somehow their conversations always return to the enigma of Kathy. Who was she? What did her short life mean?

Lisa,
Carrie, and Suzanne power walk the beaches of the Isle of Palms with
Pickle, Lisa’s adorable Westie. Gradually they uncover the truth of
Kathy’s life and unfurl plans to secure their own futures, as fate steps
in to help them discover that being single doesn’t have to mean being
alone. Dorothea Benton Frank shows us that friendship is as powerful as
the turning tide and that love is about more than just finding the right
person. You’ll fall under the magical spell of the Lowcountry and of
all the single ladies who have a whole lot of living to do.

My thoughts: This is the third book I’ve read/listened to by Dorothea Benton Frank and I am now hooked. I just love her writing style and her sense of humor that she infuses into her books! And I love that her books seem to come out just in time to kick off the summer season.

This latest book is told from one character’s point of view – that of Lisa St. Clair, a geriatric nurse. I found this to be particularly interesting at times, because we find everything out about everyone through her. This is the bit different from the other two DBF books I read so far (The Last Original Wife and The Hurricane Sisters) – and I liked how it played out. After a patient dies at the facility where Lisa works, she realizes that she has become close to her friends and decides she not only wants to continue the friendship, but it’s probably healthy to do so.

I just love the characters that Dorothea Benton Frank creates. They’re fun, sassy and the kind of gals you’d hope to have in your life. While these women are all a bit older than me, I do hope when I get to be that age, that I have the type of friendship these women – Lisa, Suzanne and Carrie – have forged. And then there’s Miss Trudie…Oh how I loved her! She’s the type of grandmother everyone wants. She’s sassy and saucy and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind, yet has a heart of gold. 

This book has a little bit of everything in it – a mystery to be solved, some mother-daughter issues that desperately need to be worked out, new relationships that start, new friendships that blossom, and learning to be happy with what you have. While this might seem like a lot, it still manages to have that light-hearted feel to it and makes for a great beach read. I can’t wait for the next book to come out and hope between now and then to pick up a few of Dorothea Benton Frank’s backlist books that I have yet to read.

Audio Thoughts: Robin Miles did a fantastic job with the audio of this book. She is able to give each character their own unique voice and never once did I feel confused as to who was speaking. I just love listening to read the story and feel that she is the perfect match for Dorothea Benton Frank’s books.

About the author: New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was
born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She divides her
time between the New York area and the Lowcountry.

Authors Links: 

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To see who else is participating in Dorothea Benton Frank’s All the Single Ladies tour, click here.