I’m really on a roll now – reading book after fabulous book of women’s fiction. For this month’s book review, I’m sharing my thoughts on Little Black Dress by Susan McBride.

The interesting thing about some of these books, including this one, is that I won them in contests or they were given to me. Kinda tells me I don’t even know what books I may love until I read them – lol!

I first heard of Susan McBride through The Stiletto Gang blog – just the name of that appeals to me. And then there was her previous novel The Cougar Club. Now that got my attention, but I didn’t read it because I knew I wanted to write a Cougar story at some point. (I ended up writing Cougars in Cabo, which was published in the A Shaker of Margaritas: Cougars on the Prowl anthology.)

But back to Little Black Dress – oh my goodness – I’m not really a big fan of books in the paranormal category, but this book is definitely my kind of paranormal. Here’s what the blurb says:

Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts… and mend them.

I totally immersed myself in this book – one of those books that was so well-written and I really admired the author’s talent. But, then, I love stories with secrets from the past – you’ll always find those in my books. She wove the tale exceptionally well, although I did see some of what was coming – I’m not sure if that was intentional or not – but the ending didn’t exactly go the way I’d hoped, but that’s just my personal preference. I have a feeling the author and I see life a bit differently because the theme running through her books veers off in a different direction than the theme in my books. But isn’t that what makes it so interesting about writers – you can imagine a similar story but tell it totally differently.

Now I’m hooked on books by Susan McBride. I’m going to have to go back and read The Cougar Club, and I’m looking forward to her next book, Little White Lies. For more information about Susan McBride and her books, see her web site.

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