"Mighty Fine Entertainment"-"Howling" "Hilarious"- The Reviews are in, click here to see

Romance Book: Discarded Wife Makes New Life, New Friends, and Lots of Pies

Romance Book author Charlotte Hughes, in her debut novel for MIRA books, has woven a romantic comedy with the perfect blend of humor, charm, and poignancy. A NEW ATTITUDE (MIRA books, October 2001, $5.99 U.S./$6.99 CAN.) details the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of a forsaken woman as she learns to make her own way in the world.

Marilee Abernathy is the talk of Chickpea, South Carolina. Her husband, Grady- the not-so-reverend town pastor-has fallen under the mammary-enhanced spell of Lafonda Bonaire, the town floozy. Forsaking both home and career, the ex-reverend leaves home to move into his new den of iniquity- LaFonda's trailer. As if this weren't bad enough, their son, Josh, decides he'd rather live with his father in that "palace of sin" than stay with his smothering mother.

Unable to bear the shame of it all, Marilee decides to give the town something to really talk about- a suicide. Dressed impeccably with pearls and carefully applied Mary Kay cosmetics, Marilee prepares to meet her Maker. But, like everything else she turns her hand to lately, Marilee fails in her bid to make a graceful exit. After all, how can you expire from carbon dioxide poisoning when you forget to put gas in the car? Undeterred, Marilee decides to hang herself from a beam in the ceiling. However, when the fake beam gives way, Marilee almost brings the house down upon her head at the same time as bringing Sam Brewer into her life.

As a young man, Sam Brewer had something of a reputation with the ladies of Chickpea. Looking to escape the past, he left home and made a name for himself as a successful building contractor in Atlanta. Now he has returned home to take care of his mother but he didn't expect Marilee to come crashing into his life- especially like this.

And while Marilee's family may have abandoned her, her friends have not. Rallying around their friend, Ruby Ledbetter and Clara Goolesby remind Marilee that she has much to live for- including her promise to help raise funds to renovate Blessing Home for Pregnant Women. And with that they convince her to put up Winnie Fry, a very pregnant young black girl whose bark is worse than her bite.

And so, with the support of her friends, Marilee takes her first faltering steps at independence as she enters the workplace for the first time. However, all those years dealing with the congregation as the wife of a minister have prepared Marilee far better for dealing with people than she had imagined. Soon she is transporting corpses in the middle of the night, singing for her supper, and bargaining with armed thieves with aplomb.

As Marilee makes her way in the world, she surprises herself- if not her friends- with her capacity for standing on her own two feet. Soon she finds she is not missing her fallen husband quite so much. What's more, she is shocked by the interest she seems to be generating from Sam Brewer. But will good friends and a new attitude be enough for her to win back her son?

Charlotte Hughes describes writing A NEW ATTITUDE as a catharsis. "I went through a bitter divorce myself. It's like a tornado rips through your life and takes everything you love. Like Marilee and a lot of other women, I saw my indentity as that of a wife and a mother. Suddenly that's gone and you have to step back and discover yourself anew. To twist Shakespeare around, 'Sometimes you have to lose everything to gain the world.'" Charlotte also believes that a sense of humor is your best ally in times of crisis. "I had a real learning curve to go through figuring out how to do things for myself- like stopping doors from falling off their frames on an hourly basis. People say, 'One day we'll look back and laugh.' I told myself I'd rather laugh now."

Charlotte lives in historic Beaufort, South Carolina, with her two dachshunds, whom she lovingly refers to as Dumb and Dumber. For to learn more about Charlotte, romance author click here