Review: Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay

LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN by Hope Ramsay
FORMAT: Paperback
GENRE: Contemporary
LENGTH: 356 pages
PUBLISHER: Forever (February 1,2012)

Dear Reader,
Gracious me, my beautiful daughter Rocky sure could use my help. I always knew she wasn't much interested in the local boys - but who'd have thought she'd come home with English royalty?
Trouble is, Hugh wants to buy some of our folks' land. We don't want to sell, but Rocky's job depends on her closing the deal. And though Hugh's obviously smitten, I'm not sure he's right for my Rocky. Oh, he's classy and handsome - and you should've seen the way he judged pies and fixed stock cars at our Watermelon Festival! - but what do we know about him, really? I know I sound like a nervous mother hen, but after forty happy years with my Elbert, all I want is to see my little girl find the same.
Well, time for me to quit chattering and get back to Miss Bray's wet set. Always nice talking to you, and remember: the Cut 'n Curl's got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.
See you real soon,
Ruby Rhodes

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Where To Buy: Amazon(pb) | Kindle | B&N(pb) | Nook | Book Depository
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

I loved it

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REVIEW:
This is a charming story full of laugh-out-loud moments and a sweet, down home feel that bring to mind peach cobbler, watermelon festivals and Southern beauty queens.

Caroline Rhodes has worked very hard to separate herself from her small town roots. She's now the aid to a senator and has been tasked with trying to convince the owner of Golfing For God to sell his land to an English lord so he can build a textile factory.

9 Problems and A Mean Girl Is One of Them...
1. The owner of the mini golf attraction is none other than her father. Who happens to talk to angels. Don't laugh. The angels and he have quite the relationship.

2. The dashing English lord (Hugh deBracy aka Lord Woolham) personifies every woman's vision of what an English lord should be. It's like he's stepped out of the pages of a romance novel. *sigh*

3. Caroline's real name is Rocky Rhodes and she's a former Watermelon Beauty Queen. Not something you want to announce to the outside world. She's changed her name, taken to wearing conservative clothes and straightening her hair.

4. Rocky's ex still has a thing for her while her BFF has a thing for her ex. Bubba Lockhart embarrassed the heck out of Rocky in front of the whole town by proposing to her even after she told him 'no' the first time. Now that she's back in town, he's ready to rekindle whatever they had...12 years ago. Rachel, the BFF, has always had a thing for Bubba but being the friend that she is, she kept her feelings to herself.

5. Cissy Warren, the senator's daughter, has her eyes set on Hugh and his loom design. She will do anything and everything to get it. After all, no one says 'no' to Cissy Warren.

6. Miriam Randall has foretold what kind of person each resident of Last Chance will end up with for quite some time and she's never been wrong. She sees a working man for Rocky and someone who will hand him a fortune for Hugh. According to that, Rocky and Hugh aren't supposed to end up together but what do two people who are attracted to each other do? No one wants to end up with their heart broken.

7. Small towns are notorious for having gossip spread like wildfire. It's like a horrible game of telephone where one person says one thing and it ends up being something else at the end of the line. The town thinks Bubba and Rocky are going to get back together then Dash Randall lassos her off the float and rides away with her so now the town thinks they're sweet on each other. But then Rocky was seen kissing Hugh...

8. The Committee to Resurrect Golfing for God... no one likes to tick off a group of church ladies. There's just something about the power of them that gets everyone shaking in their boots. They're totally against Rocky's father selling the land even if it means no revenue to help the small town of Last Chance not end up like other small towns who have been hit by the economic downturn.

9. A bad business partner has got Hugh in a bind. Before disappearing in a "plane crash", his business partner bought some land in Last Chance for Hugh to set up his textile factory. Thing is, there's swampland, the land was bought at a higher price and the man who owns the land next to it won't sell it because of a tourist attraction called Golfing for God. Welcome to the South Hugh.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

Too bad her libido didn't believe in Miriam Randall and her forecasts.

OVERALL: A wonderful story full of Southern charm and hilarious small town antics. Um, why have I not read any Hope Ramsay books before? This was such a cute story. Take one former Watermelon Beauty Queen turned senator's aide trying to hide her past, throw in a dashing English lord who either has to make it work in the small town of Last Chance or go home and marry a wealthy heiress, add the resident mean girl and background BFF, some eccentric family members (one both sides including a father and niece who talk to angels and an aunt who can see spirits) and a crazy ex-boyfriend and you've got one heck of an unputdownable read. Take one part Hart of Dixie, 2 parts Sweet Home Alabama and a whole lot of Southern comfort and you get a giggletastic modern day Cinderella. I'll be putting the rest of this series on The List.

***review copy provided by publisher***