Review: The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Series: Cadillac, Texas #1
Pages: 321

Received: Received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley

Release Date: March 1, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

Bestelling author Carolyn Brown makes her first foray into women's fiction with this poignant and hilarious novel about four friends in Cadillac, Texas—where the best jalapenos in the world are grown.

Everything is calm in Cadillac, Texas until Aunt Agnes declares war on Violet Prescott, the president of the Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society, just in time for the annual jubilee. But after the festivities—and the hostilities—are over, it's four friends who are left standing, proving once again that friendship is forever.

My Review:

This was an absolutely adorable story and I had so much fun reading this. The characters were hilarious and you enjoy watching them work through some difficult times. The book mainly follows three women, twins Marty and Cathy and their friend Trixie (who all run a cafe in town together). Along with their Aunt Agnes and their friend Darla Jean they navigate through life, showing how friendship really prevails over everything.

These ladies live in a very small town where everyone knows everything, and as soon as something happens it is all over town. The best part of this book is this war between these two older ladies Agnes and Violet, these two have a feud that has been going on for years, and it has escalated so much at this point that they can`t stand to be in the same room together. I loved how far Aunt Agnes would go to protect her nieces, and the outcome to some of the situations. She seems like a crazy woman, but she has such a big heart and is a great comic relief to some more difficult situations.

The one thing about this book that was difficult was for me to get through was how quickly the voices would change, we follow through all the characters, as well as a few secondary characters get some points of view. I think it is because this was an advanced e-copy, the formatting was difficult, but I think the story could have worked a little better with a few less voices.

I do find this book a bit hard to talk about, just because it is the type of story that really needs to be experienced by readers themselves. These characters are people that you really need to get to know yourself and watch as they grow and learn that no matter what happens they have each other to rely on. This is a true story of friendship and family. Some situations are over the top but they are just so hilarious that you want to keep reading to know how things will work out.