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Jackson Sugar #1
Crazy Red
As a child, Margaret Rose knew the families she saw portrayed on television weren't real, but she came to believe they had to be more authentic than the cold, humorless home in which she was being raised by a mother who barely acknowledged her. But Margaret would come to miss those days, for as she transformed into a young woman, her mother changed as well, becoming a remorseless, ill-tempered tyrant, with a single-minded determination to preserve her daughter's virtue, and the family's good name, at any cost.
Meeting Will Marshall at the neighborhood church changes everything, including her name, as the promise of Will's love finally puts into Maggie's reach the happiness and love she's longed for. But getting it won't be easy. Between her mother's increasing madness, killer tornadoes, hungry fire ants, and Will being blackmailed into marching off to war, Maggie's got her hands full simply surviving. Or she thinks she has until a chance meeting with Edmond Jackson, an attractive, charming, and sadistic drug-trafficker who becomes obsessed with making this red-haired virgin his wife.
Set in the late 1960s South, Maggie's melodramatic quest for love is absurd, sexy, profane, and darkly humorous. It may lead some readers to forgive their own mother's shortcomings, and others to come to view their husbands as saints.
Crazy Red is the first book in the Jackson Sugar series by Kaley Craig. Look for book two, Wanted Dead, in September of 2014.
Meeting Will Marshall at the neighborhood church changes everything, including her name, as the promise of Will's love finally puts into Maggie's reach the happiness and love she's longed for. But getting it won't be easy. Between her mother's increasing madness, killer tornadoes, hungry fire ants, and Will being blackmailed into marching off to war, Maggie's got her hands full simply surviving. Or she thinks she has until a chance meeting with Edmond Jackson, an attractive, charming, and sadistic drug-trafficker who becomes obsessed with making this red-haired virgin his wife.
Set in the late 1960s South, Maggie's melodramatic quest for love is absurd, sexy, profane, and darkly humorous. It may lead some readers to forgive their own mother's shortcomings, and others to come to view their husbands as saints.
Crazy Red is the first book in the Jackson Sugar series by Kaley Craig. Look for book two, Wanted Dead, in September of 2014.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2014
3 people are currently reading
285 people want to read
About the author
Kaley Craig
3 books2 followersKaley worked within the Georgia Criminal Courts for more than decade, first as a sheriff's deputy, and later for the Public Defender, where she was Lead Investigator on eight capital (death penalty) cases.
Earning degrees in Criminal Justice and Education, she has also worked as an educator and social worker.
Kaley is now a freelance web designer and photographer. The proud parent of three adult daughters and four rescue animals, she currently lives with her family just south of Atlanta.
Earning degrees in Criminal Justice and Education, she has also worked as an educator and social worker.
Kaley is now a freelance web designer and photographer. The proud parent of three adult daughters and four rescue animals, she currently lives with her family just south of Atlanta.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 7, 2014
This is book one in the Jackson Sugar series. The author wrote to me and asked me if I’d review her book. I’m so glad that I accepted.
The story is set in America in the late 1960′s. The settings have been well thought out and easily send you back to that time through powerful scene setting.
This was a book that captivated me to the point that when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it. The main character, Maggie, suffers so much torment by her strange mother Sybil that I spent the first half of the book going from weeping to sobbing. I didn’t realise it was possible to feel so much hate and disgust for a fictional character until now. I wanted Sybil to be real so that I could beat the living crap out of her.
The dialogue is authentic and well written. Each scene is carefully crafted, I felt like I was in the room watching the characters and feeling their emotions.
Maggie is overwhelmed when the most eligible bachelor in the community falls for her. Their love is sweet and beautiful, I enjoyed the scenes between Will and Maggie the most. As with everything in Maggie’s life Sybil find a way to tear them apart.
It seems that Maggie’s life is falling to pieces before her very eyes. Yet she struggles on and finds a way to survive until she is finally ‘rescued’ by a handsome and mysterious stranger, Edmond Jackson. But will her troubles end with meeting a rich man? I have a feeling that it won’t.
I truly love Maggie. She’s a fighter that has struggled her whole life. She’s completely mixed up and it’s easy to see how its happened. Although her surroundings improved dramatically by the end of ‘Crazy Red’ I’m not sure that her predicament has.
I think the cover has room for improvement, perhaps the author could think about have her illustrator draw a cover for this book. The cover doesn’t begin to display the complexity of the work within.
I hope that Kaley has cracked out the second book. If not she had better get a bloody shimmy on. I have a hunger in my stomach that only she can fill.
This book needs more reviews. This book needs to be read and talked about. This book deserves more attention.
Well done Ms. Craig, and thank you!
The story is set in America in the late 1960′s. The settings have been well thought out and easily send you back to that time through powerful scene setting.
This was a book that captivated me to the point that when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it. The main character, Maggie, suffers so much torment by her strange mother Sybil that I spent the first half of the book going from weeping to sobbing. I didn’t realise it was possible to feel so much hate and disgust for a fictional character until now. I wanted Sybil to be real so that I could beat the living crap out of her.
The dialogue is authentic and well written. Each scene is carefully crafted, I felt like I was in the room watching the characters and feeling their emotions.
Maggie is overwhelmed when the most eligible bachelor in the community falls for her. Their love is sweet and beautiful, I enjoyed the scenes between Will and Maggie the most. As with everything in Maggie’s life Sybil find a way to tear them apart.
It seems that Maggie’s life is falling to pieces before her very eyes. Yet she struggles on and finds a way to survive until she is finally ‘rescued’ by a handsome and mysterious stranger, Edmond Jackson. But will her troubles end with meeting a rich man? I have a feeling that it won’t.
I truly love Maggie. She’s a fighter that has struggled her whole life. She’s completely mixed up and it’s easy to see how its happened. Although her surroundings improved dramatically by the end of ‘Crazy Red’ I’m not sure that her predicament has.
I think the cover has room for improvement, perhaps the author could think about have her illustrator draw a cover for this book. The cover doesn’t begin to display the complexity of the work within.
I hope that Kaley has cracked out the second book. If not she had better get a bloody shimmy on. I have a hunger in my stomach that only she can fill.
This book needs more reviews. This book needs to be read and talked about. This book deserves more attention.
Well done Ms. Craig, and thank you!
October 28, 2014
Crazy Red gets its hooks into you early on and doesn't let up. The characters are so real, I feel like I know them. The lead character, Maggie, is a fighter. She gets knocked down, which is a lot, and every time she gets up. I'm looking forward to seeing how her story plays out. And I'd like to strangle Sybil! She's such a well written villain. Can't wait for the next book in the series!
June 21, 2014
I loved it!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews