Saturday 26 July 2014

The Empress Rose


                                                                                   
                                                                                    
Chris Eastvedt is fascinated by human behavior and will happily watch hours upon hours of PBS documentaries in an endless quest to understand the species. How could a man live in his car for six months while he started his own business? Why would that woman agree to go on Jerry Springer? These are questions that need answers. Chris writes to give people a chance to laugh and think about the little things that concern us all.

                                                                                   


Which is worse: being a victim, or being a bitch?

This is a question Rose Voss has been asking herself since her husband died, leaving her with a storm-wrecked house, four kids to raise, and an alcoholic brother-in-law living in a trailer in her backyard.

Being a single working mom is never easy, but it’s downright painful in Luscious, Missouri, where cattiness is a local pastime. For years, the neighbors have been watching and judging Rose’s every move, and giving her a failing grade at every turn. In their minds, her son is a terrorist-in-training, her hydroponics farm is really a front for a large-scale marijuana operation... even walking from the car to the grocer’s is bound to throw someone’s nose out of joint. Whatever it takes to be popular here, Rose just doesn’t have it.

Things begin to change when a GoBuy superstore moves in and starts killing off the competition. Families are leaving, stores are closing, and time is running out. Luscious is desperate, and survival depends on recruiting help from the most successful business owner in town: Rose Voss.

Now Rose has a decision to make: forgive past wrongs and work with her neighbors to rebuild the community, or leave everyone to reap what they’ve sown while she savors the sweet taste of revenge. What would you do?

The Empress Rose at Amazon
The Empress Rose at Smashwords
The Empress Rose at Barnes & Noble


http://chriseastvedt.com/

My Review


This wasn’t at all what I was expecting, neither from the title nor the cover. It isn’t about aristocracy nor is it a children’s story; instead I was pleasantly surprised to find a story about Rose, a single Mum doing the best to bring up her kids whilst trying to set up a hydroponics business. Following the death of her husband, she also has her brother-in-law living in a trailer in her yard.
Most readers will relate to Rose and the difficulties she faces as you are sucked into her life and her attempts to breathe new life into her town.
I enjoyed Chris Eastvedt’s writing and the book has real potential but in order to appeal to the mass market, I think that a revamp would help enormously.

4/5

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