Review: The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright

Meet the Sassy Belles

They're strong as a mint julep, sweet as peach cobbler, and no matter what, they stick together.

There are only two seasons in Tuscaloosa—football and waiting-for-football. When Lewis Heart, football announcer and voice of the Crimson Tide, vanishes after an impromptu romp with Vivi Ann McFadden at the Fountain Mist Motel, Vivi does what any Southern woman would do: call her best friend, Blake O'Hara Heart, attorney-at-law.

With the town gossip swirling around them, Vivi and Blake are determined to find out what happened to Lewis and clear Vivi's reputation. Because after all, men may come and go, but the Sassy Belles are forever.

Not since Steel Magnolias have we fallen in love with such sexy, strong and hilarious Southern women. So grab your best girlfriends and join these Belles on the first of many joyrides through the Deep South….

Though The Sassy Belles is published by Harlequin, I don't consider it a true romance; I would label The Sassy Belles as women's fiction -- there's a declining romance, a new romance beginning, and a bit of a mystery.  

Told by narrator Blake O'Hara Heart, we are treated with life in Blake's small social circle of Tuscaloosa, Alabama: her lifelong best friend, Vivi; her husband, Henry; Henry's brother and Vivi's love interest, Lewis; Blake's mother and grandmother, Kitty and Meridee; and Blake's former stepsister, Dallas.  The crux of the story revolves around Lewis's disappearance and Blake's attempts to siphon out the mystery. 

The Sassy Belles is a fun start to what's certain to be a fun series, and I'm looking forward to Wedding Belles (July 2013) and Sleigh Belles (October 2013). 

(A very special thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The Sassy Belles.)