Love on a Half Shell

by Elvy Howard

Rae Green believes in the power of a good recipe, not only in the kitchen but in life as well. She invests in preparation, hard work, and independence - until the night a stranger calls to ask if she is willing to take custody of her two nieces. The children are virtual strangers since their drug-addled mother banished Rae four long years ago, but with her sister incarcerated and asking for help, she agrees.

Rae’s well-ordered life goes into the toilet, accompanied by everything she thought she knew. With Melissa, a disturbed five-year-old, and newly adolescent Torey, the drama queen from hell, in tow, Rae stumbles into romance and a desperate need to heal her nieces from their past. And maybe, along the way, figure out how to heal herself as well.

Three parts love, two parts grit, the perfect recipe for making a family.

292 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2013

About the author

I have a checkered past.
I may look like a grandma and love my grandkids to pieces, but in my heart lurks the soul of a rebel.
From my days as a hippy to becoming a "rabid feminist" and becoming Pitney Bowes' first female service rep, have been writing. I began college in my thirties and finished with a Master's degree, then worked in Juvenile Justice, Big Brother's Big Sisters, foster care, and hospice, and through it all wrote angst-filled poetry and short stories.
I dedicated my adult life to pursuing the right career (and raising kids, making dinner, and occasionally cleaning the house), and thought of writing as an absorbing hobby.
Only now, as a grandmother, do I understand those jobs were never more than research meant to inform my fiction, which was the only career I ever secretly wanted.
I've been married to the same man for forty plus years and haven't killed him yet. My son and daughter are two sober, highly conservative, law-abiding, and tax-paying adults who I'm enormously proud of, and the producers ( along with their spouses) of the four grandkids I love beyond reason.

Reviews

[Leah James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rae Green is a single woman who suddenly finds herself parenting her two nieces who've been traumatized by life's circumstances. Despite her background dealing with troubled kids, Rae doesn't find parenting easy. On the contrary, she finds herself in a miserable situation, nearly ready to give up. But she doesn't, working to pull her little family together and even finding new romance. This story grabbed me right from the beginning and wouldn't let me go! (A special bonus – there are real recipes throughout the book!) There are some tough, emotional scenes, but Howard has a gift for storytelling, making me laugh one minute and cry the next – sometimes simultaneously. I loved this story.

[Julia Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book with believably defined characters. The author holds the reader's attention I a very clever way. The weakest part of the book is the ending which seems a little awkward and a little too neatly wrapped up.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest look at life with kids.