I am a fan of this author and have used a number of her books in my book club. She addresses many irises through her characters so that all book club members could identify personally with something in the story. In this book unlikely people become friends to show that friendship crosses all boundaries and friends can be found in the most unlikely people. A feel good story.

With a lovely sense of place and time afforded to decent character development, Karen White has written an entertaining novel set in the Deep South.

Told from three different points of view, the secrets and ties that bind are universal themes that all readers can relate to, no matter where they are from although it's apparent that the American south is a place where story telling, family secrets and scandals are important grist to the mill.

A good read for the summer.

http://www.goodbookfairy.com/the-night-the-lights-went-out-by-karen-white/

Opening line:

"The Playing Fields Blog: Observation of Suburban Life from Sweet Apple, Georgie; Written by Your Neighbor"

There is a lot of info in the first bit of this book! Smart, sassy, small town with drama.
What a fun and intriguing story. There were times I wanted to put it down when it dragged just a bit but the author made it so I really wanted to see the relationships grow, the memories expanded on and the mystery solved.
The Night the Lights Went Out was told from a three different viewpoints: Sugar (young and old), Merilee and a anonymous blogger. The blog brought in insight and lots of humor; so did Sugar. She's quite a character (in all sense of the word). She's strong, stubborn Southern woman who knows her own mind and will. But her facade, and secrets, slip away as a newly-divorced mother of two rents out her old home behind where she now lives.
Merilee is fresh of a divorce and painful relationship when she meets Sugar and "the love interest (I heard a man's deep voice draw that out...)." Lucky for Merilee, one of Sweet Apple's favorite daughters is there to scoop her up and take care of her "because that's what friends are for!."
This is a story of relationships on all ends of the spectrum and it was enjoyable to watch the build up of where the grenade finally went off.
I would read another of Ms. White's books!

L: a few swear words
V: a murder and fight at the end
S: kissing

Thanks to netgalley for the early read!

Karen White, once again, has written a great book filled with action, mystery, and all the things that make a book enjoyable. This book uniquely weaves two different periods of time together revealing the answers to different mysteries, while also containing a little romance and suspense. And I especially liked the whimsical flair of "Southernisms" which added some lightness and fun. Put it on your summer reading list, you won't be disappointed.

This book was really fantastic, and intriguing. Will be posting about it on Goodreads.

I have read a few books by this author and she never fails to disappoint. Having once lived in this area of Georgia made this book even more interesting to me.

Marilee and her two children, Colin and Lily, move to Sweet Apple, GA after their life is turned upside by their husband/father having an affair with the teacher of one of the children.

Marilee rents a cottage from Sugar - an older, "original" citizen of Sweet Apple. Marilee enrolls the kids in school and starts to become friendly with some of the moms. She also has some secrets from her past that no one knows - or do they?

Someone in town is writing an anonymous blog which has everyone interested and curious - who is doing it? What is going on?

Without giving too much away, the book starts off a bit slow, but it's worth sticking with. I did figure out a thing or two along the way prior to being revealed, but it didn't make me want to stop reading the story.

What Marilee goes through will definitely make you want to keep turning the page. Definitely some "people are not what they seem" in this book.

And *I FREAKING LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE SUGAR*. She is sweetness and sass all rolled into one (although she wants you to think she is only sass).

Thank you Netgalley & Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Merilee is a divorced mother of two. She moves into a rental home owned by Sugar Prescott. Sugar is elderly, and while she can come across as gruff and uncaring, she really is the exact opposite. These two women form an unlikely friendship which becomes Merilee’s lifeline when things take a significant turn for the worse.

While this started a little slow for me, there was just something about these two characters that made me want to continue reading. I am happy that I did. I liked the relationship between Merilee and Sugar. Both women had trouble pasts and this was ultimately what caused them to bond. While I figured out early on who was going to be the troublemaker in this story, I had no idea what kind of trouble this person was going to create. This was part mystery with a little bit of romance. A very simple story about friendship and family. Nicely done!

ARC from Berkeley Publishing Group, via Netgalley. Publish date: April 11, 2017.

Even if I didn’t live in the south, I would still enjoy books set in the south. Southern accents and witticisms make everything a bit more fun. Such is the case with The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White. The story is set in Sweet Apple, Georgia - a suburb of Atlanta. The story begins with Marilee Dunlap and her two children, Lily and Colin moving to a cottage owned by ninety-three year old Sugar Prescott. They are moving into the cottage because Merilee’s ex-husband had an affair with Lily’s third grade teacher, who is now pregnant!

Sugar, much to her own surprise, takes an immediate liking to Marilee and her children. We learn about Sugar from two different times - her current self and her younger self.

We also learn more about Sweet Apple from an anonymous blogger, who has opinions on all of the goings on in Sweet Apple.

Marilee tries to fit in and make friends, one of them is Heather. Heather, who seems to welcome Marilee into her ritzy world.

There are plenty of twists and turns. However, most of the clues are pretty easy to spot and the ending doesn’t really come as a surprise. But that’s okay, I completely enjoyed the journey to get their.

I received an ARC copy of this book.

The 6 Women’s Fiction Best Bets for April 2017
Scarlettleigh
“We dance round in a ring and suppose, While the secret sits in the middle and knows"
-Robert Frost
Don’t you just love a good secret?  Except when it is your own, of course. Some months the theme that brings the month’s best books together is a bit broad or loose, but this month the underlying premise is surprising strong. Secrets never stay hidden, and keeping them will always change a person— as our heroines discover.
Of course, each story is uniquely different, but within the story each author has taken a secret and spin it into a fascinating tale –of intrigue; of lost love; and in some cases, scenarios that test the bonds of family.
You’ll find a fascinating journey within the cover of each book.

The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
Marin Bishop has always played by the rules, and it's paid off: at twenty-eight she has a handsome fiancé, a prestigious Manhattan legal career, and the hard-won admiration of her father. But one moment of weakness leaves Marin unemployed and alone, all in a single day. Then a woman claiming to be Marin's half-sister shows up, and it's all Marin can do not to break down completely. Seeking escape, Marin agrees to a road trip to meet the grandmother she never knew she had. As the summer unfolds at her grandmother's quaint beachside B&B, it becomes clear that the truth of her half-sister is just the beginning of revelations that will change Marin's life forever. THE FOREVER SUMMER is a delicious page-turner and a provocative exploration of what happens when our notions of love, truth, and family are put to the ultimate test.
Strengths:Wonderful exploration of new family bonds; challenging scenarios; Multi-faceted, flawed characters; Uplifting ending;
Measure of Love: Teaspoon
Mood: Poignant
Why You Should Read this: Brenner is a wonderful storyteller and she takes you on such an intriguing journey. Marvelous theme of forgiveness, and the strength of family.

The Hideaway by Lauren K Denton
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
After her last remaining family member dies, Sara Jenkins goes home to The Hideaway, her grandmother Mags’s ramshackle B&B in Sweet Bay, Alabama. She intends to quickly tie up loose ends then return to her busy life and thriving antique shop in New Orleans. Instead, she learns Mags has willed The Hideaway to her and charged her with renovating it—no small task considering her grandmother’s best friends, a motley crew of senior citizens, still live there.
Rather than hurrying back to New Orleans, Sara stays in Sweet Bay and begins the biggest house-rehabbing project of her career. Amid drywall dust, old memories, and a charming contractor, she discovers that slipping back into life at The Hideaway is easier than she expected.
Then she discovers a box Mags left in the attic with clues to a life Sara never imagined for her grandmother. With help from Mags’s friends, Sara begins to piece together the mysterious life of bravery, passion, and choices that changed her grandmother’s destiny in both marvelous and devastating ways.
When an opportunistic land developer threatens to seize The Hideaway, Sara is forced to make a choice—stay in Sweet Bay and fight for the house and the people she’s grown to love or leave again and return to her successful but solitary life in New Orleans.
Strengths: Multi-generational characters; Appealing setting; Past and Present love story; HEA
Measure of Love: Teaspoon
Mood: Poignant and lighthearted
Why You Should Read this:  Touching story of a granddaughter finally coming to understand her grandmother. Denton writes in a way, that just makes you want to reach out to family. The charming Alabama setting is a plus.

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.
 
Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.
Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world.
In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....
Strengths: Intriguing mystery; Multi-faceted characters; Uplifting ending
Measure of Love: Teaspoon
Mood: Poignant and Suspenseful
Why You Should Read this: Karen White has a reputation for writing intriguing mysteries with wonderful southern settings. And this one fits the bill. This book is perfect for readers who love a story filled with revenge, and murder along with some fascinating relationships.

One Good Thing by Wendy Wax
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
Embroiled in a battle to regain control of their renovation-turned-reality TV show, Do Over, Maddie, Avery, Nikki, and Kyra find themselves holding tight to the frayed ends of their friendship and relationships.
Maddie must face the realities of dating a rock star once again topping the charts and dealing with her hapless ex-husband, while Avery is caught up in family drama even as she attempts to transform a tiny cottage into a home for the newly impoverished heiress who helped bankroll their last renovation. Put on bedrest, a hugely pregnant Nikki can’t quite believe love can last, or trust in her own maternal instinct. And Kyra, who has secretly put Bella Flora at risk in an attempt to salvage Do Over, must decide whether to accept a desperately needed bail out from her son’s famous father that comes with far too many strings attached…
But friendship is made for times like these, to keep each other—and their dreams—from crumbling.
Strengths: Challenging life changing scenarios; Engaging characters; Continuing storyline; Uplifting ending
Measure of Love:  Teaspoon
Mood: Poignant
Why You Should Read this: This series is so addictive. Readers have come to know the characters over the last five books, and their lives continue to keep us enthralled. With its appealing HGTV type theme, you get the best of all worlds – decorating, romance and strong female friendships. 

Slightly South of Simple by Kristy Woodson Harvey
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
Caroline Murphy swore she’d never set foot back in the small Southern town of Peachtree Bluff; she was a New York girl born and bred and the worst day of her life was when, in the wake of her father’s death, her mother selfishly forced her to move—during her senior year of high school, no less—back to that hick-infested rat trap where she'd spent her childhood summers. But now that her marriage to a New York high society heir has fallen apart in a very public, very embarrassing fashion, a pregnant Caroline decides to escape the gossipmongers with her nine-year-old daughter and head home to her mother, Ansley.

Ansley has always put her three daughters first, especially when she found out that her late husband, despite what he had always promised, left her with next to nothing. Now the proud owner of a charming waterfront design business and finally standing on her own two feet, Ansley welcomes Caroline and her brood back with open arms. But when her second daughter Sloane, whose military husband is overseas, and youngest daughter and successful actress Emerson join the fray, Ansley begins to feel like the piece of herself she had finally found might be slipping from her grasp. Even more discomfiting, when someone from her past reappears in Ansley's life, the secret she’s harbored from her daughters their entire lives might finally be forced into the open.

Exploring the powerful bonds between sisters and mothers and daughters, this engaging novel is filled with Southern charm, emotional drama, and plenty of heart.
Strengths: Engaging Characters; multiple storylines; Uplifting ending
Measure of Love: Teaspoon  
Mood: Poignant 
Why You Should Read this: One reason of course, is the fascinating secrets – but the relationships between mother/daughter; sister and sister are so well-drawn with sometimes funny –sometimes a bit snarky but always great inter-dialogue.

The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick
(Amazon | B&N | Kobo)
Every garden is a story, waiting to be told…
At the nursery she runs with her sisters on the New England coast, Sorrel Sparrow has honed her rare gift for nurturing plants and flowers. Now that reputation, and a stroke of good timing, lands Sorrel an unexpected opportunity: reviving a long-dormant Shakespearean garden on an English country estate.
Arriving at Kirkwood Hall, ancestral home of Sir Graham Kirkwood and his wife Stella, Sorrel is shocked by the desolate state of the walled garden. Generations have tried—and failed—to bring it back to glory. Sorrel senses heartbreak and betrayal here, perhaps even enchantment. Intrigued by the house’s history—especially the haunting tapestries that grace its walls—and increasingly drawn to Stella’s enigmatic brother, Sorrel sets to work. And though she knows her true home is across the sea with her sisters, instinct tells her that the English garden’s destiny is entwined with her own, if she can only unravel its secrets…
Strengths: Wonderful backdrop and settings; Engaging characters; Intriguing mystery
Measure of Love: Teaspoon
Mood: Poignant
Why You Should Read this: Readers who love bits of magic along with a bit of gothic ambiance will thoroughly enjoy this book.  It has such a wonderful atmosphere! It is the second in a series, so I do recommend you read the first book, Sparrow Sisters first. And if you’ve already read Sparrow Sisters – then I know you have been anxiously waiting for Sorrel’s story.

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White is a cross between women's fiction and mystery. Recently divorced Merilee and her two children rent a house from Sugar, who is a 90+ year old true southern woman. An anonymous blogger seems intent on hindering Merilee from starting over by airing much of her family's dirty laundry. Her friendship with the practically perfect Heather feels like the only bright spot. One tragic night threatens everything and opens closets full of skeletons Merilee would rather keep hidden. The book dragged at times with the blog posts being the only bright spot. The last quarter of the book was by far the best. It kept me reading until I finished. Overall this was a good, southern themed book and makes me interested in reading more by the author.

Great book. Likeable characters, good plot. The setting becomes another character in the story, the history, the people, it provides a great background for the story. I always enjoy Karen White's books,. This book is one of her best. A good story and a good mystery, quite a twist at the end that I did not see coming. Highly recommended.

I've been a longtime fan of Karen White, who I consider to be one of the very best at Southern storytelling, so I was excited to get an early copy of "The Night the Lights Went Out." As with all of her books, this did not disappoint.

"The Night the Lights Went Out" is the story of the recently divorced Merilee, who, along with her children, move into a home on the property of Sugar, a spunky 95-year-old woman. A lot of gossip surrounds Merilee as she moves into her new home across town because her husband had an affair with their daughter's third-grade teacher. Because of all the drama surrounding the divorce and affair, Merilee has enrolled her children in a private school, where she is instantly drawn in by Heather, the "queen mother."

As with any town, this is one full of secrets, and each main character in this story has their own. Much of these secrets are speculated over in the town blog, which is written by an anonymous author, who seems to have her pulse on everything that is going on in Sweet Apple.

This book is extremely captivating and much more suspenseful than Karen White's other stories. She does an excellent job of capturing Merilee and Sugar on paper, and you truly get the feeling you know both of these women. This could very well become my favorite book by her.

**I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much for approving me for a copy of this book. Unfortunately, I'm having a very difficult time connecting with Merilee and Sugar and their stories, and I don't have a connection to the culture of the book. I am not finishing this book, and am therefore not assigning stars or posting a review - I would not want to give a negative rating based on personal experience. Thank you again.

I freaking loved this book. Karen White's ghost stories always scare the bejesus out of me - but I keep reading them - so I'm always so excited when she does a non-Tradd Street book. The Forgotten Room, (one that she co-writes with Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig) was one of my favorite books last year.

Merilee is fleeing a bad marriage and starting over in a small farmhouse, rented to her by an old lady who just wants to be left alone. But once Marilee and her children move in, Sugar discovers that maybe her life has been lonelier than she thought.

As she shares the story of her life with Merilee, Sugar revisits a time in life when things were much different, and your life may have rolled out in a way that you never intended.

Meanwhile, Marilee is adapting to her new job, her new life, and the new mean mommy group at her children's exclusive school. Someone seems to have it in for Marilee, but she can't figure out why.......

I always love stories that go back and forth in time, comparing our lives as they are now to how people's lives unfolded back in the 50's. it's amazing how much has changed in not that much time.

I read this while I was on vacation - I carried my Kindle with me for whenever I would have a free minute to get back to Sugar, Merilee and Heather's stories. It was hard to put down!

Great novel. Really enjoyed the character development and the ending.

I was provided a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I have slowly found myself enjoying detective and who done it books more and more, and I must say, when I first read the title of this book, the first thing that came to mind was the song by Reba McEntire, The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. This is another author that I had never read a book by and I have to say, once again, this will not be the last time I read one by Karen White! One thing I like about NetGalley and this blog is I get to expand my author knowledge and read more books by authors I might not ever just randomly get a book by at the library! I didn't want to put this book down. It was simply amazing! I really enjoyed the southern setting in this book, and Ms. White definitely writes this story with a southern flair! There is something for everyone waiting for them in this book. Not only can this book be read by anyone, it can also be enjoyed by anyone and it's the type of story that was good for my soul. Go on and read this book! You won't be disappointed!

The story picks up as Merilee moves into a rented house with her two children, still reeling from a divorce that took her by surprise. She has to navigate the social waters of the parents of her kids' new school. On the outside, everything looks perfect, as she makes new friends and begins to set down some roots. However, still waters run deep, and all is not as it seems. I really enjoyed her story and Sugar's. They both move toward their climax, as White slowly (and deftly) reveals piece by piece. I wish that some of the supporting characters had a little more "screen time" - it's hard to root for a relationship when you know so little about one of the players, and I guess the "twist" long before it was revealed, but neither problem was enough to stop me from racing to the finish line with my kindle hidden under the sheets so as to not wake my husband. A fun, quick, read, with a reasonably satisfying climax and resolution. Many thanks to Karen White and Netgalley for this free e-ARC.

Karen White is becoming a fast favorite of mine! She accurately portrays Southern and small town life.

Karen White has once again proved that she is one of the best author in Women fiction. I love the strong characters of women in her books. They really inspire me to be strong, confident and bold. This book is like a precious present wrapped in too many layers. One by one as the layers are removed slowly and gradually the book reveals its secret..... And you end up reading one of the most wonderful story of your life....