The Romance Readers' Book Club

by Julie L. Cannon

A southern tale of a teenage girl who opens a Pandora’s box of passion and guilt Bored with her sheltered life on the family farm in Rigby, Georgia, fifteen- year-old Tammi Lynn Elco senses things can change when she acquires a stack of forbidden romance novels. Eluding the watchful eye of her Granny Elco, Tammi forms a secret book club with two girlfriends and her eccentric Aunt Minna, reading about weak- in-the- knees passion and sharing their own stories of love and heartache. When Rigby is seized in an economically damaging drought, local preachers are quick to proclaim sin as the reason for the devastation, forcing Tammi and her fellow book club members to come to terms with the emotions they’re feeling and the strict expectations of the community surrounding them. “Dixie Diva” Julie L. Cannon has written a heartfelt coming- of-age tale with true southern flair.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Young Adult, Books About Books

278 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2007

About the author

Julie L. Cannon is the author of the award-winning Homegrown series, published by Simon & Schuster and described as ‘Southern-fried soul food.’ She switched from the ABA to the CBA, and her novel I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Summerside Press, Sept. ‘10, made the CBA Bestseller List as well as Nielsen’s Top 50 Inspirational Titles. Abingdon Press will release Twang in August 2012, and Scarlett Says in October 2013. When she isn’t busy tending her tomato patch, Julie can be found teaching memoir-writing workshops. She lives in Watkinsville, Georgia. Visit her website at www.julielcannon.com and connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/julieLcannon and on Twitter at JulieLCannon.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm being a little hard on Ms. Cannon, but adults are certainly not the audience for this book. The writing was simple and pedantic, definitely not a book for serious readers. However, I do get the feeling that this book would be a good "fluff" read for young adults.

While the highlights that the publishing house chose to include on the cover tout: "A coming-of-age story to cherish . . . Cannon's South is a destination readers will want to visit again and again," the book will disappoint true Southerners. I felt like the book was set more in the midwest (Ohio/Iowa) than in the South. Descriptions of the South were sorely lacking and completely off (IMHO), referring instead to raising cattle (what about tobacco?), serious years-long droughts (without any reference to stifling humidity) or any description of dirt roads, trailer parks, or good Southern food (okra, collard greens, tomatoes, etc.).

Further, the coming-of-age part of this story is lacking. Yes, we hear about Tammi's obsession with her not-blood-related cousin and her need to feel "passion," but we hear nothing about her challenges with her family or her surroundings. In fact, I found myself wishing that Tammi would have the arguments that characterize coming-of-age, but they just weren't there.

[Ashley Fisher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book I have ever read. It didnt captivate me until about 3/4 of the way in and its about a girl's journey of getting what she wants. The last page in a half shows she can get what she wants and she decides she doesnt want it anymore and then it ends. It was a waste of time.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. 👎🏼 Chose this because I liked the title. The first few chapters were good...but then it dragged on and on, with a waste of an ending.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so so fun to read! I am going to have to admit it is one of my favorite books ever. I will definitely be going back to this. Although, I was wishing for a really huge (and sexy) ending...I guess she leaves it up to our imagination as that's the point of the whole book?

"This is some hot stuff," says Tammi's friend (after looking through the bag of trashy books.)

"I think the librarian reads these things," says Tammi...

I found so much of myself in Tammi-Lynn. She is so passionate and always just waiting for something to happen and living her life alongside her "secret books". What I like about her character especially is that although she's a dreamer, she stops at nothing to bring those dreams to real life. Even though she finds herself hopelessly in love with a young man who has given himself to God, she never backs down from any opportunity to entice him. And in the sweet drought-stricken town of Rigby, Georgia, sometimes the sinners are those you least expect!

After reading this I really feel like sinking my teeth into more southern women writers stories. There is always that underlying steaminess and dreaminess that I can not resist.

[Dana Creswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a lot of potential but the plot had a big change towards the end that didn’t feel wrapped up at all. Came out of nowhere and then it was over. There are some solid characters and I was really invested in the book clubs meetings!

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoilers of a kind.

Mweh. I had a lot more hopes for this. Such a great concept! But it read like it skirted around the cusp of something great because the author's sensibilities would have been offended by delving in deeper. (And I know that's making assumptions.)

By the time it dragged, dragged to an end, I didn't even care about the main character anymore. I never believed nor felt her great love for Leon anyway. So when it was done and still nothing had happened ... I didn't care. Not such a good way to end a book, with absolutely no impression.

Oh, and the fact that half of the praise on the front and back comes from women who are in the same writers group as the author doesn't say a lot about the work's potential, either.

Glad I only paid a buck for this.

[Stina · Rating 1 out of 5]

My God, this book was hideously boring.

[Blodeuedd Finland]

3rd time's the charm..or not. I could not get into it. DNF

[Erin Janda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book many years ago at a book sale for my local library. I thought I’d try out a new author. While I appreciated Cannon’s depiction of rural Georgia, I really didn’t care for the characters or the plot development. This was a book that I kept hoping would pick up and become interesting, but I was left disappointed to the very end.

[Sara Pauff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, and I could never figure out exactly what the author was trying to say about romance novels, fantasies vs. reality and religion. But I enjoyed all of the characters, particularly the women in Tammi’s book club, and the author does an excellent job of painting a realistic picture of life in a small, conservative Georgia farming town.

[Marcia Harbour · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a coming of age story. It was Sweet.

[Phyllis Barlow]

I have never given a no star review before, but I just could not with this book. I usually give a book 100 pages before deciding I only got to page 21 on this one.

[Tiffany Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

7-2010

[Kaitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actually a DNF

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fun to read and I think it was written "tounge-in-cheek".

[Sheri B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I disliked the ending of this book. It didn’t really wrap up some loose ends to a conclusion. I had big hopes for it.

[Mandi Moore · Rating 1 out of 5]

To sum this book up in two words: horrible AND stupid.

Here's the whole story: a 15 year old girl (Tammi) in a small town in 1974 (I think it was Mississippi, but I am not sure) is living with her Granny and Pepaw on a big farm where her Granny's only son (Orr, a mentally challenged middle-aged guy, around 30 years old) and one of Granny's daughters (Minna, seems kinda slutty in the way her dress is described and how she always brags about having "lots of experience" with me, but whose heart is in the right place).

Granny is very conservative. Granny makes Tammi wear long skirts & ugly blouses. Granny won't even let her go trick-or-treating at Halloween. Tammi goes anyway, and takes Orr along for the trip. They go to ONE house. This house has no candy & instead gives them a box of smutty romance novels. Tammi & Orr start reading one of them (the author even included excerpts from these books in the storyline, which only serves to really distract me from the story itself.

Then Tammi decides that Orr doesn't "get" the books and forms a tiny "book club". They take turns reading the books. And discussing how horny it makes them. Till Tammi decides not to read them anymore for fear of going to Hell and she burns one of the books. About a month later, she changes her mind and reinstates the book club. Minna (the slutty aunt) convinces Granny to let Tammi dress semi-slutty (AKA fashionable for the 70's)

Then Tammi's cousin (who isn't a BLOOD cousin but they were raised as cousins) moves in and Tammi does everything she can to seduce him, starting on the first day the guy gets there. He turns her down, decides to become a preacher, and so Tammi decides yet again to stop reading the books so she doesn't go to Hell.

That doesn't help her win the guy's affection, so she starts reading the smut again before he leaves for preacher school & she corners him the day before he leaves (out in the barn) and takes her top off & pretty well begs him to do her.

Turns out Granny is a hypocrite & has been stealing from people to sell their things at her antiques shop. Don't know what this has to do with the storyline, but whatever.

The guy cousin quits the preacher school but goes out into the woods for a 40-day sabbatical to "hear God" and learn directly from God how to be a preacher.

13 days or so into his sabbatical, Tammi goes to "check on him" and it sounds like he was kind of going nuts. Tammi flat-out asks him why he won't have sex with her. He says he'd like to but they'd have to get married first. She turns him down and that's the end of the book.


Like I said - HORRIBLE. And STUPID. I didn't even read but the first 100 pages, then I skimmed the rest of the book. It's stupid. Please save yourself the hassle & just pick something else to read.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could I would give this 2.5 stars. It started with such promise. But parts of the book felt un-even. Also the language wandered in the land of discomfort and I was pushed out of the narrative wondering if her references were time accurate. The book is set in the 1970s but the constant references to music, snack food choices, and clothes made me want to determine if the references were accurate. Which is a distraction.

The premise is a sheltered 15 year old from a strong religious upbringing stumbles upon a collection of romance novels. She enjoys the books so much she starts a book club. She also falls in love. The protagonist is greatly conflicted and you feel a kinship to her. The backdrop of this coming of age tale is a Georgia farm that is caught in a drought and a devout grandmother bent on driving out sin.

The book had promise but it didn't quite make it. I wouldn't say it isn't worth a read. But I felt like it had a number of shortcomings.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was in the mood for a light, fun weekend read. This book had an interesting premise, with the protagonist, a 15 year old southern girl from a conservative Baptist household, getting a hold of a box of romance novels, which she uses to start a book club. The author shows how the novels help the youth to dream outside the confines of her sheltered life, thinking of new places to visit and live, and generally a different life to aspire to. But I felt that, for a coming of age story, the author just skims the surface of some interesting issues, including the condemning nature of her household's approach to religion, the impact this has on her, and lack of alternative women's roles in her society. But it was interesting.

[Robyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've always thought Romance novels were, well, trashy. And a waste of time. Never well written. Never saying much. Never having a great plot--just words in between the 'sexy' parts where people speak in ways no one really talks. Hmmm...kind of like this book. How fitting then that it's about Romance Novels.

I thought this book would be cute initially, but I found it hard to get into. It skipped around a little too far in time at parts. And the main character was so dopey that the poor ending was just the icing on the cake.

Good thing it didn't take me long to read; I couldn't take much more of it.

[Sara Weather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential.I felt first of all that it reinforced the same labels of romance novels that soceity has put on it. It did not even do what it said it would do. I thought that it would have the church find out about the book club and have a campaign against it. I wanted to see the struggle between church and romance novels, to show the good of romance novels.But that did not happen.I did not feel for Tammi, the way she talked to Leon seemed and acted did not have the real consequences that it should have especially in that time period. Some of the book seemed like it was going somewhere but it did not.Bottom line it could have been awesome but it was not to me.

[Phair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serendipity that this book crossed my path just after I read Everything I Know about Love I Learned from Romance Novels as that is pretty much the theme of this novel. Really enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book but felt the ending was a little flat. The focus on the romance novels and the Club faded a bit and other threads just sort of fizzled out as well. Now, a few days after finishing, I honestly can't recall how the book ended. Well worth it for the early sections.

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this book half a star. I thought it would be a fun light read but boy was I fooled! the main character isn't interesting I didn't feel for her at all. The time line is confusing to the point I don't know how many years have passed and the ending is disappointing. It was like being on a roller coaster waiting for your heart to jump in your throat until you realize you're just going in a straight line. The characters were lacking and so was the story line. I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody save time and read another book.

[Poetreehugger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never read a nearly-soft-porn/religious book before. It was confusing. Are we supposed to sympathize with the physical desires and "blossoming" lust of the female main character, or admire her search for the truth in her family's ultra conservative church life? Were the religious descriptions serious, or did they have a touch of sarcasm on the outdatedness of some of the ideas?
There were definitely some interesting place descriptions, fascinating and sympathy-arousing characters, and some intriguing plot turns and twists.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know what the target audience for this book is, but I can't imagine it's aimed towards adults. This book was slow, and ultimately non-eventful. I kept waiting for SOMETHING to happen and really, nothing did. The minor characters were useless tools that were barely manipulated to make the story "believable" but at the end of the day they were flat and unchanging. Near the end I thought this book would wrap things up with something, anything, that would reconcile the issues but it didn't. There was no ENDING. It just ended. I can't explain it better than that.

[Lindsay Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started with so much promise and the concept was one I really liked. I'd been bringing this up to my book club for a few months and was pretty disappointed.
I didn't really like the main character after a few chapters and was somewhat confused as to when this story was taking placed. I thought the story just went so slow and then suddenly ended. I was really let down and wouldn't recommend this story.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 15 year old girl living in the south sneaks out to go trick-or-treating. She ends up with a bag of romance books instead of candy. As she reads them, she decides to recruit some others to start a secret book club. This is a story of a girl learning to understand the difference between lust and love and also coming into her own. Her granny is very religious and this causes her more conflicts as she tries to decide if she is a sinner or not.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really interesting at first then it just dragged on, and on. I didn't end up liking the main character near the end, I kind of related at first to her-hormonal, misunderstood etc-all the stuff most teenagers go through. But then some of her actions just didn't make sense, and a lot of this was really more the author's fault-the characters lost a lot of credibility in the last few chapters.

[PC · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good read...great characters with interesting twists. i found the ending a bit unsatisfactory but overall i would recommend it. you have to keep the time/place in mind as you read or you might pass judgment too soon.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this book at all.
It was slow, uneventful, and just plain boring.
It was a quick read made even quicker by my shuffling of pages. And even doing that didn't seem to help the story or get me involved. It just felt it would never end and when it did, I felt nothing.