(Book 1 in the Honky Tonk series)Author: Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
My synopsis/thoughts: Daisy O'Dell is the owner and bartender at the Honky Tonky. She had shown up 7 years earlier when her car had broken down next door. She had left Arkansas after her boyfriend had hit her for the last time. She had run him off with a shotgun and packed up and left. Ruby, the original owner of the Honky Tonk, had taken her in and given her a job and let her live in the apartment behind the bar. When Ruby died in a motorcycle crash, she left the bar to Daisy.
Ruby knew how to run a bar and Daisy did not mess with that. Jukebox, dance floor, pool tables and beer was enough to keep it turning a profit. Ruby also told her no men in the apartment - kept you from making spur of the moment mistakes!
Jared McElroy had moved to town from Oklahoma to help out at his Uncle Emmet's ranch. His uncle had let things slide since his wife, Mavis, had died. Well, Jared and Daisy fell for each other immediately - and I mean fell for each other. See, as they were walking across the bar, they each hit a puddle of beer and got tangled up in each other and hit the floor. All it took was for their eyes to meet for the sparks to fly.
Jared couldn't get it out of his head that she was a barmaid - this was not a good profession in his eyes (or his family's), and even though she was also a vet tech, it didn't negate the first profession. Daisy had sworn off men after her last debacle years before with her abusive boyfriend. These two continue to be drawn to one another like moths to a flame.
There are some other colorful characters in here - including Jared's Uncle Emmet. He was a riot! Then there was Chigger and Jim Bob. When Daisy first met Chigger she thought she was a prostitute - and even though Chigger likes a good role in the hay - she has a good heart and is very loyal. Jim Bob is her boyfriend and one of a set of triplets - Jim Bob, Joe Bob and Billy Bob, who used to run around with Jared as boys, when he would come to visit Emmet and Mavis.
This book was pretty predictable, but sometimes you need one of those. I liked all the references to country songs, as I went through a country phase back a few years. It made me want to go dig up and dust off all those CD's! This is the first book in the Honky Tonk series. Next up is Hell, Yeah
and I will be reviewing it in the next few days.~I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for my review.~
I Love This Bar
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Casablanca, June 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3926-7
366 pages
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