Is it getting hot in here? "Summer Blowout" by Claire Cook -A Review

Summer Blowout by Claire Cook


Bella Shaughnessy is one of five children from the multiple marriages of her father.  They are all just close, they are almost too close. Since they all work together in their father's salon, Salon de Palo, they share tips on everything.  Whether it is lipstick, the latest color trends, or even in one case, a husband, they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

You read that right, they shared a husband. Long before the ink was even dry on Bellas and Craig's divorce, he was shacking up with her half-sister, Sophia.  Can we say tension?

Her father is a nything if not unique. Lucky Shaughnessy, obviously Irish, spent his first honeymoon in Italy and loved it.  Ever since then he has loved everything Italian and seems to think that he is some kind of Godfather. 

Then there is Cannolli, AKA Precious, the dog that Bella kidnapped from a client.  She grows so attached to the dog that she dyes it's hair in her own version of the Witness Protection Program.  Even though she is still hurt after her divorce, the dog somehow wiggles herself into her heart. 

The story tumbles along, often making you laugh, while Bella struggles to find herself, her place in the family business and really the world. Finally, she must face the question, is she ready to risk love again?

This book is charming in a way that you think the situations would make it impossible.  I wish that my family was as well adjusted as Lucky, his three x's and five children are.  The warmth, respect, love, and finally, teamwork that they all show for each other is a triumph.  It all boils down to a Summer Blowout at a wedding in Atlanta, but the end isn't the end. It is the beginning!

This is light summer reading at it's best.

Summer Blowout
by Claire Cook
List $23.95   Amazon $16.29
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Voice (June 3, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1401322417
ISBN-13: 978-1401322410