Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson (Book Review)

Title: Fools Rush In
Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Revell/Baker

My synopsis/thoughts: Bella Rossi has just taken over the management of her family's wedding planning business. After changing the name to Club Web, she begins advertising themed weddings. Her first such affair is to be a country western theme with yellow roses, cowboy boots and country music.

Problem is, being Italian, Bella doesn't know a lot about country music or cowboy boots! Her brother, who usually runs the soundboard, is in Houston because of his latest love and is not available to deejay the event. Will Bella be able to find a deejay in two weeks?

God must have been listening because Bella overhears a gentleman at her Uncle's pizza parlor talking about a deejay - so she gets his number. Problem is, he is not a deejay, but a D.J., Dwayne Neeley, Jr. - and a drop-dead handsome cowboy at that!

Filled with lively and outrageous characters from both Bella's and D.J.'s families - rounded out with a new neighbor's obnoxious son and a parrot that only seems to know foul-language (not fowl language. . .) that belongs to a mobster - and faith that could move mountains and you have Fools Rush In.

The Rossi family seem like a wonderfully close Italian family that worship Methodist style - while the Neeley's are good old-fashioned independent charismatic. Will the Italians and the Texans be able to share their faith, blend their families and survive the fireworks? Gotta read it to find out!

This is the first book in the Weddings by Bella series and I can't wait for the second book - Swinging on a Star which came out this month!

I had to request this one through my library's interlibrary loan department!

Fools Rush In
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell/Baker, September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3342-1
330 pages

Teaser Tuesday: 1-12-2010

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you have given!
Please avoid spoilers!






Determined to prevent my best friend from making a rash mistake - a la Armando style - I made a quick decision to head down to Parma John's. So off I went to the land of low-fat, thin-crust pizza lover's delight -- a land where blue-ribbon barbecue chefs and nearly engaged redheads pondered the what-ifs of ill-fated romance. (p125, Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson)








Fools Rush In
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Sept 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3342-1
336 pages

Library Loot: 1-6-2010

I am trying to slow down the books that I check out from the library - but since my daughter has just discovered that she really likes to read - I have actually been spending more time there!

Library Loot is hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at Reading Adventures.

Grave Sight
by Charlaine Harris

I have what you might call a strange job: I find dead people. I can sense the final location of a person who's passed and share their very last moment. The way I see it, I'm providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living -- but I'm used to most people treating me like a blood-sucking leach. . .

Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are experts at getting in, getting paid, and then getting out of town fast, because the people who hire Harper have a funny habit of not really wanting to know what she has to tell them. At first, the little Ozarks town of Sarne seems like no exception. A teenage girl has gone missing, and Harper knows almost immediately that this girl is dead. But the secrets of her death, and the secrets of the town, are deep enough that even Harper's special ability can't uncover them. With hostility welling up all around them, she and Tolliver would like nothing better than to be on their way. But then another woman is murdered. And the killer's not finished yet. (back cover)

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club
by Gil McNeil

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf. . . When her husband dies in a car crash -- not long after announcing he wants a divorce -- Jo Mackenzie packs up her two rowdy boys and moves from London to a dilapidated villa in her seaside hometown. There, she takes over her beloved Gran's knitting shop -- a quaint but out-of-date store in desperate need of a facelift. After a rough beginning, Jo soon finds comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch group: a collection of quirky, lively women who share their stories, and their addiction to cake, with warmth and humor. As Jo starts to get the hang of single parent life in a small town, she relies on her knitting group for support. The women meet every week at the shop on Beach Street and trade gossip and advice as freely as they do a new stitch. But when a new man enters Jo's life, and an A-list actress moves into the local mansion, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings. It's a charming novel that will delight all passionate knitters -- and win over befuddled, would-be knitters, too. (inside cover)



Fools Rush In
by Janice Thompson

Bella Rossi may be nearing thirty, but her life is just starting to get interesting. When her Italian-turned-Texan parents hand over the family wedding planning business, Bella is determined not to let them down. She quickly books a "Boot Scoot'n" wedding that would make any Texan proud. There's only one catch--she's a country music numbskull because her family only listens to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Where will she find a DJ on such short notice who knows his Alan Jackson from his Keith Urban? When a misunderstanding leads her to the DJ (and man) of her dreams, things start falling into place. But with a family like hers, nothing is guaranteed. Can the perfect Texan wedding survive a pizza-making uncle with mob ties, an aunt who is a lawsuit waiting to happen, and a massive delivery of 80 cowboy boots? And will Bella ever get to plan her own wedding? Book one in the Weddings by Bella series, Fools Rush In is fun, fresh, and full of surprises. Readers will love the flavorful combination of Italian and Tex-Mex, and the hilarity that ensues when cultures clash.