This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Better Get To Livin’

Summary: Smart, witty, and delightfully offbeat, this new novel from the author of The Happy Hour Choir and Bittersweet Creek is an uplifting story about following your heart, even when it leads to the last place you’d expect…

Presley Cline has put aside dreams of Hollywood stardom and come back to Ellery, Tennessee, to work in a beauty shop. In truth, the dreams in question were more her mother’s than her own. Presley may have the face and body of a movie icon, but she lacks the stomach for it. Yet a loving relationship and normal home life seem almost as unattainable as an Oscar. Being able to see and speak to dead people certainly isn’t helping.

Presley’s first job, beautifying “clients” at the Anderson Funeral Home, is quite a change from working on a movie set. The place is home to dozens of ghosts all hoping that Presley can help them move on–and also one very-much-alive owner, Declan Anderson. Like Presley, Declan is caught between following family expectations and his own aspirations. But with a little meddling from loved ones and locals–both living and dead–Presley is starting to see that life is too short not to be who you want to be, and the most rewarding journeys involve some unexpected detours…

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

After reading The Happy Hour Choir, when Sally’s publicist contacted me to consider reviewing Better Get to Livin’, I said “Send it on!”

And then the summer started getting away from me. My niece was spending more time at the house and we were in a rinse/repeat cycle of swimming, watching Scooby Doo and me making chocolate chip cookies for our milk time. (And reading with a toddler around is HARD. Even if you want to take a break- which I really did not because they are only young once- it just makes for hard reading time.)

But one afternoon, I took off from work early to get a few extra hours of uninterrupted pool time in and brought the book out there with me.

And I fell in love.

Sally Kilpatrick writes characters that are fun and off-beat. Characters that come from small towns- so you know… easy to relate to. She could have been writing about people I knew (you weren’t, right, Sally?)

Better Get to Livin’ centers around a funeral home- so, you know the better get to living title might be a head scratcher until you realize that it’s so pointedly referring to both our main characters, Presley and Declan. Both are letting things hold them back- Presley, dreams that aren’t hers and a body that would give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money and Declan- his own dreams and fighting against what he should vs what he could do. Time is ticking away for them and they both need to stop, figure out what they REALLY want and grab onto life with both hands.

I thought The Happy Hour Choir characters had heart (they do!) but Better Get To Livin’ has HEART.

Bottom line: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters, the setting and the message- everyone needs to get to livin’.

 

*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration, All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

 

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T