Such a fun book! It perfectly captures the gossip and drama of a Southern small town. I loved the sense of place and time.

Another one of those books of which I let myself be guided by the cover and went blindly with the synopsis.

I am surprised with the story that I found in these pages, as it is a story of mother and daughter, where we see how both are sorting their lives.

On one end we have Posey Jarvis a married woman with an 18 year old daughter, who feels that her life is not as glorious as she wished and is still pining for a man with whom she had an affair 20 years in the past and who expects everything to be for her.

While on the other side, we have Callie Jane the daughter of Posey, who is looking for a way to get out from under her mother's rule and be able to experience her adult life.

This has been one of the few books in which I hated a main character from beginning to end, the author knows what she is doing, because I wanted to go in and pull Posey's ears, that desperate woman.

A good read that surprised me and took me out of my comfort zone a bit.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

ounty, Tennesse, one of those small towns where your neighbors are like family but on the other hand, everybody knows everybody else's business. Thus. the book is a mix of lovely found family vibes and small town narrow-mindness, Posey Jarvis struggles with the former. She never really fits into town nor does she want to. She is a spoiled selfish completely unlikable character. She thinks she is too good for everyone including her own husband. She wants to get what she thinks she deserves and control her daughter's life as well. Although her story may not go the way you'd expect it to or even the way you want it to, her surprisingly linear character arc does keep the story from becoming too cliche or predictable.

Her daughter, Callie Jane, is the other main character in the story. She is completely the opposite of her mother. She is the epitome of kindness and caring. Unlike her mother, her character is allowed to grow and change throughout the story, and her journey to become her own person and stop living her life according to what is expected and what other people want for her is admirable.

There are also a lot of side characters in the novel. For the most part, the author does a good job of differentiating them and keeping them distinguishable from each other. They really add to the story and help keep it moving along in an interesting way.

All in all the book is mostly a fun and engaging read except at times the character of Posey gets to be too much to take.

It’s 1960 and Posey Jarvis is the self appointed Empress of the small town Spark in Cooke County Tennessee - she started on the wrong side of the tracks and now has made it! Even though she got pregnant by a married man (for whom she still obsesses about daily and has plans to win him back) when she was young, she married and crafted herself into an appropriate southern woman. Now, years later, her daughter Callie finds herself accidentally engaged (everyone just expected it) but Callie she doesn’t want the appropriate Southern life of wife and mother that her mother spent so much time creating; she wants to be adventurous and move to CA. This is the story of the generational divide occurring in the 60s, told with humor, charm and fun characters.

This novel, while cute, does have some serious underlying themes; that being said I think the novel went deeper with the themes than any of the character dimensions. Posey especially remained one dimensional, although I believe her lack of character development was an intentional character flaw written by the author. Because of this I enjoyed the parts of the book with Callie more than the Posey chapters. I listened to about half of this one while cooking some of the last recipes of summer (I read the other half) and the audio was a pleasure to listen to. This is a cute book that has southern charm which I think was certainly captured by the narrator.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the ARC

I really enjoyed this Southern tale of love, betrayal, and murder. While set in the 1960s, it wasn’t focused on the historical details but incorporated them in a way that was seamless in telling the story. I absolutely loved the “southernisms” - the funny phrases and quirky characters with which everyone who grew up in the South is familiar. I laughed out loud at some of the things said!

The story is serious, though, with a frustrated woman in midlife who will stop at nothing to get what she wants and her daughter who is trying to find her voice. I loved most of the characters and thought they were well developed. There was just one storyline that wasn’t for me but otherwise, it was a well plotted and rollicking Southern tale that I read in one sitting!

This book just kept getting better! I really loved the characters, the setting and the story. I was not at all expecting the last part of this book's story or how it ends.

This book is full of small town gossip. With a mother trying to force her dreams onto a daughter that has much bigger dreams. It is a quick read and worth your time.

This is the story of the antics of a mother who drinks gin and a daughter who wants her own life. The daughter is engaged to the guy that everyone wants her to marry. She works at the emporium owned by her father. She wants more. The mother wants to impress everyone so when she inherits a mansion in town, she goes about fixing it up.

t's the 1960s in small-town Tennessee and Posey is not satisfied with the life she has found herself in. Her 18-year-old daughter is also not happy. This book's marketing and cover made it seem like it would have wit and humor in it, but it really didn't. I think if I had been expecting something different, I would have appreciated the book a lot more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This is a delightful women's fiction novel set in the south in the 1960s. I really enjoyed the characters and I thought the story had a lot of charm to it. Some parts of the story were a little over the top, but I think that were most likely written to be that way on purpose.

If you like audiobooks, the audiobook version of this book is narrated by the fabulous Brittany Pressley who happens to be one of my favorite narrators.

This is a very delightful and charming book and I will be definitely on the lookout for more books by Elizabeth Bass Parman in the future!

Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


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This was great! Posey Jarvis seems at first just like a busybody woman in rural Tennessee that’s not too likable. As the story grows, Posey reaches for her gin more and more, and she becomes more unlikeable. All the while, Posies daughter Callie Jane and her husband Vern continue to grow and seek their own happiness, apart from Posey.

Eventually, after inheriting a large home from her aunt, Posey sets a new plan into motion. She manipulates those in her life to get what she wants. Except her plans don’t work out and sadly, every one of the Jarvis’ pay the price.

Advance reader copy provided by Harper Muse and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝟑.𝟓 ⭐️ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟎𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬 (𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 (𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞).

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐈 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬-𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒩𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑜𝓃, 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝑀𝓊𝓈𝑒, 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒞𝑜𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝐹𝑜𝒸𝓊𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

3.5⭐️ rounded up

This is an unconventional story of a mother and daughter living in the Deep South during the 1960s. Judging by the cover and blurb, I expected a lighthearted, gossipy southern drama, but the reality was much darker.

The story is told from two points of view. Posey Jarvis is truly wicked. Her day is filled with sips of gin, rumination on her own importance, and manipulative plans to get what she wants even at the risk of destroying others. Callie Jane is Posey’s daughter. She has lived under her mother’s domineering control and longs to escape her and the small town she calls home. Both women have dreams. The cost of achieving them is quite high.

I alternated between audio and print versions of this book and found both held my interest. Brittany Presley’s narration captured the southern charm of the Cooke County setting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the opportunity to access advance copies in exchange for my unbiased review.

A really fun debut novel. I loved the sassy characters and the Southern vibe.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Eighteen years later, Posey is still pining after the same guy, and not the man she married. This is the main part of every decision she makes, and boy are there plenty of dumb ones. Through all this she alienates herself from everyone. I was never able to understand or connect with Posey and that made the whole book pretty confusing as she is the title character. Now, viewing Callie Jane as the main character makes for a much better story! She changed and grew during the course of the story, came into her own, and was a much more relatable character. That was the saving grace of this book for me!

It's been so long since I've found a southern "voice," in the vein of Fannie Flagg. Holy heck. This is IT. I laughed, I felt sadness and was sorry when it ended. Posey Jarvis came from the wrong side of the tracks, and she's harbored an obsession over someone she'd been with years ago (let's call it what it is...stalking.). She doesn't see the love that's right in front of her. Told in the alternating dialogues of Posey and her 18-year-old daughter worked really well, because you could see Posey from the outside in. Her daughter is also able to give us some insight into other characters, including her dad. I can't say enough about this book. Preorder it.

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Posey may be one of my least favorite characters in literature. Yikes! Her daughter and husband though were so kind.

This book is marketed as light hearted fun but it's really not. It's a decent enough read but I simply couldn't laugh at it. I really only laughed when a young CJ confused impress with empress and thats how her mother got her nickname.

2.5 stars

Posey and her daughter Callie Jane tell this tale set in a small town in 1966. Posey is, if not a villain, an incredibly unlikable woman who continues to pine after Callie Jane's father - the man who left her pregnant- even as her long suffering husband Vern puts up with her nonsense. Now she's inherited a big house and is planning to host her high school reunion with the goal of showing off and getting CJ back. Not so fast. Callie Jane doesn't want to get married- she wants California. Can she finally stand up to her mother? This is one unhappy family. I enjoyed the atmospherics and rooted for Callie Jane (and Vern). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

The cover and synopsis of this book didn’t match the actual reading experience for me. I thought this would be a lighthearted literary fiction, but instead it was filled with characters I found rather flat and unlikeable with no solid plot driving the story forward. It was a bummer

This book was not for me. I feel generous rounding up from 2.5 stars to 3. I could not abide Posey. She thought she was all that and some. At 19, she fell in love with a married man and since then, almost 20 years later she still had dreams of becoming his wife. She mad this dream her life goal even though she had a husband and an 18 year old daughter. Callie Jane, the daughter, was very much under her mother's thumb. She was engaged and did not want to be. The reader does watch her grow a backbone though. I think this may have been the only part of the story I liked. The husband--very nice, well liked and oblivious to his household. He was the only one that seemed happy. I had been expecting a comedy but did not find much humor in this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary ARC. This review is my own opinion.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Empress of Cooke County, by Elizabeth Bass Parman, from Harper Musedigo Dot Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary. PS Harper Muse sent me an email that said I had to include this language, so here it is: “I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.” I mean, not like you hadn’t figured that out already……just covering all my bases here, kids.

Not funny. Not charming. Definitely forgettable.

But, hey, at least Elizabeth Bass Parman has written a book, which is more than I can say. I’ve just edited them.

PS
Here’s an actual proper book review you should read if you want a little more detail than is provided in my first six words; it was posted by one Main Colonial: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Description
“Get ready to laugh! Elizabeth Bass Parman is a true Southern storyteller. I couldn’t have loved it more.” —Fannie Flagg, New York Times bestselling author

Posey Jarvis knows she’s the rightful empress of Cooke County . . . She just needs to make everyone else realize it too.

Thirty-eight-year-old Posey Jarvis is the self-appointed “empress” of rural Spark in Cooke County, Tennessee. She spends her days following every word about her idol and look-alike Jackie Kennedy, avoiding her stalwart husband Vern, and struggling to control her newly defiant daughter Callie Jane—all while sneaking nips of gin. When Posey unexpectedly inherits a derelict mansion from her quirky old aunt Milbrey, she finagles her way into hosting her high school’s twentieth reunion there. She cares nothing about seeing her classmates, but she cares deeply about seeing the love of her life, a man who dumped her nineteen years ago. Possums are nesting in the parlor and the stench of cat urine permeates the sunroom, but she must be ready for the big day, even if she has to do the work herself.

Eighteen-year-old Callie Jane finds herself accidentally engaged and is panicking about her fast-approaching wedding. She’s also had enough of her domineering mother. Even though she loves her father, the idea of working at his emporium for the rest of her life just makes her . . . so sad. She longs to escape from her mother, her job, her upcoming wedding, and the creepy Peeping Tom terrorizing the town. She dreams of leaving everything she’s ever known in her rearview mirror and starting over in California. But when her life has been mapped out for her from birth, how can she break free?

Set in a gossipy small town during the turbulent 1960s and full of Southern charm and unforgettable characters, The Empress of Cooke County is a novel about found family, what it means to be loved, and how being true to yourself can have life-altering consequences.
• Southern women’s fiction
• Stand-alone novel
• Book length: approximately 82,000 words
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs