A SLICE OF HEAVEN

Author: Sherryl Woods ISBN: 077832415X 3/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: MIRA

She's found the perfect recipe for a new beginning Dana Sue Sullivan has spent her whole life stirring up trouble, but nothing's prepared her for the chaos that results after she kicks her cheating husband to the curb. Starting her own restaurant is stress enough, but add in her own occupational hazard . . . a mid-life weight gain . . . plus the threat of diabetes and her daughter's severe eating disorder and things couldn't get much worse. When teenaged Annie winds up in the hospital, Dana Sue finds herself turning to the one man who might be able to bring her daughter back from a very dangerous precipice. Swallowing her pride, she invites her ex back into both their lives, but the one thing she never counted on was Ronnie's determination to stay forever. While the whole town of Serenity takes sides, Dana Sue struggles to decide if she's willing to risk her heart a second time with a man who once betrayed her. Will the payoff be more heartache . . . or a little slice of heaven?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

A SLICE OF HEAVEN is the follow up to Sherryl Woods' STEALING HOME, and what a worthy second book about the Sweet Magnolias it is. Featuring Dana Sue, a single parent raising a teenage daughter and the owner of a very successful restaurant, A SLICE OF HEAVEN concentrates on her conflicted feelings in regards to her exhusband, the mounting crisis over her daughter's anorexia and Dana Sue's own fight to stave off the complications of inherited diabetes. As both Dana Sue and her daughter struggle with their weight, health, lack of self-esteem and other common life issues, as always, Dana Sue's friends forever, Helen and Maddie, are there to lend their support and guiding words of wisdom.

I adore Sherryl Woods' books, and not just because they deal with everyday issues and real events that many people face each day. I love them because they delve deeply into the psyche of each and every character—you get such a multifaceted perspective of what's going on in each character's own little world by going inside their head and seeing events unfold from their point of view. And while I may not agree with a particular character's reasoning for what they did or didn't do, Woods makes me understand the "why" of it all. I don't have to analyze anyone's head space, because the author has already done that for me.

The last book of this series, FEELS LIKE FAMILY, will be Helen's story, the workaholic lawyer who's suddenly pining for motherhood. Sadly, it will mean the ending of this captivating series featuring the Sweet Magnolias of Serenity, but at least I've had the joy of bringing these lovely ladies of the South into my own home for a spell. Fast paced and familiar feeling with three-dimensional characters, Sherryl Woods' writing just seems to pave the way for a smooth and always satisfying read.

Nancy Davis