Review of Gumbeaux Love (Gumbeaux Sisters Book 2) by Jax Frey

 

How has it been a year since I read the first book? I was so excited to have the opportunity to read this sequel. Keep on reading for an excerpt and my thoughts. Plus the author gives her ideas for who would best play her characters in a dramatic interpretation! Let her know what you're thinking as well and then follow the tour for more. Best of luck in the giveaway!

The adventures of the Gumbeaux Sistahs continues. Five, fiery southern women wage wars against their unique problems using their improbable friendships, hilarious evil-genius schemes, strategy sessions with oh-so-many cocktails, and a shared passion for good gumbo.

Single, Southern artist, Judith Lafferty, casually confesses to her Gumbeaux Sistahs that she is occasionally lonely and would like to fall in love again. Seriously - you'd think she would know to keep her mouth shut around these women by now. The sistahs tackle her problem along with their own with their usual unreasonable, extreme plots and schemes, including a kidnapping, a cupid costume, trying out pick-up lines at the cheese counter, and blind dates from hell. In helping out their friend, the sistahs help each other out as well and bring to light the many flavors of love in all of our lives. Be ready for twists, turns, laugh-out-loud times, and heart-wrenching moments. You'll be sure to recognize yourself and your best friends in the unstoppable sistahs.

Read an excerpt:

Some time ago, Dawn had discovered that it was enormously satisfying to vent on Facebook. She did not do it the way so many other people did—ranting about their politics and railing against humanity—which only served to spread more hate in the world. No, she went about it secretly. There was an element of risk to it, and that was what made it so fulfilling.

If she was angry or upset with someone for whatever reason, she would fire up her laptop very late at night and type scathing posts about them. She would even tag the person if they were Facebook friends. She would pour all of the built-up venom into her words and gleefully lay it on thick. When she got it all out of her system, she would stop and take a sip of whatever alcohol accompanied the night’s rant. After she read her posts over several times until she was satisfied, she would then delete both the tag and the post. It was like throwing her fierce anger out into the wind, then sucking it all back in with a kind of emotional vacuum cleaner. It served to weaken the anger and allowed her to move past some issues she dealt with on a day-to-day basis.

Tonight, she stretched out her fingers in anticipation and began to type.

“Hey Monkey Boy, it was so good to see you today. It reminded me of the mealy-mouthed little leach you were as a kid, always mooching off of my family. And now you fancy yourself a big-time chef. Oh, please! The idea of you teaching people to cook is laughable—especially when it comes to gumbo. Let me tell you, if you ever ate my gumbo, you’d run back to Breaux Bridge with your monkey tail between your legs. In fact, I challenge you to a gumbo cook-off. But, forget it. You wouldn’t dare show your face at a competition because you know what a truly excellent ass-whupping you would receive. And it would be my pleasure to administer it!”

She read it over, grinned, and then sat back in her couch, deeply rewarded. She chuckled to herself over her momentary revenge and took several sips of wine as a feeling of well-being settled over her.

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**My thoughts**

I can't believe it's been a year since I read the first book in the series! I fell in love with the women in that one and was so excited to see that a sequel had arrived! It was wonderful to pick back up with these women in the next chapter of their friendship journey.

Quick note: while this is a sequel, you could conceivably read it is a standalone. But you're definitely going to want to read the books in order for maximum enjoyment!

Judith is focusing on her love life, though not via her own decision. And her love interest is a delicious twist. Dawn is getting herself into trouble with a gumbo challenge against a former friend who has been acting more like an enemy. Lola is moving on in love and life and not in a way we would have predicted after the first story. Bea is working on spreading their mission of love and friendship in a new way. And an old nemesis is back and still up to no good. Plus other favorite characters make an appearance. Oh, and I love Lucy.

This wacky group of ladies do not stop entertaining. I felt like Dawn's rehashing of her childhood with Rocky was overdone a little bit. But for the most part, I found myself grinning all throughout as I read about their antics and wishing I had such a tightly knit group of eclectic friends. I have the eclectic and eccentric friends, just not all in one group like this.

This book, like the first one, reads like it could easily be converted to a dramatic film or series. I really think it could happen! And of course, I'm looking forward to even more of their adventures. I think with this group of women, their stories could be never ending!

Thank you to the author and to Goddess Fish for providing me with a requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read my review of book 1. 

If my book was made into a movie . . .

I’ve never thought about this before. Actually, I’m completely lying. I think about it all the time. I’ve already got the cast picked out for the main characters.

Here goes:

Judith – Diane Keaton or Annette Benning

Dawn – Jean Smart

Lola – Holly Hunter

Bea – Kathy Bates

Helen – Sissy Spacek

Bitsy – Octavia Spencer


This cast could portray the crazy, talented, loving Sistahs in the book. OK that’s done – roll’em!

Born in New Orleans, Jax came into this world with a sense of celebration of southern culture, food, family and fun. Translating that celebration into her writing and onto canvas is her true calling. Her colorful art depicts everything from her dancing Gumbeaux Sistahs paintings to her popular line of original Mini paintings of southern icons. Because over 25,000 of the mini paintings have been created and sold into art collections worldwide, Jax holds a world’s record for The Most Original Acrylic Paintings on Canvas by One Artist from the World's Record Academy. Jax art and gifts can be seen at www.artbyjax.com.

Jax is also the co-founder of the Women of Infinite Possibilities, an empowering women’s organization started in Covington, LA, where Jax lives today with her loveable, tornado-of-a-pug named Lucy.

The Gumbeaux Sistahs' series of novels is a work of love for Jax After painting the Sistahs for many years, she finally gives voice to these women characters who have something to say and constantly make Jax laugh when she writes about them. http://www.gumbeauxsistahs.com/

Jax Frey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

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