Review: The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop by Carolyn Brown

The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3) by Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication date: July 14th 2015
My rating: 4 stars 
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Stella’s mama never should’ve put Stella on the church prayer list. With Stella’s twenty-seventh birthday coming up fast, Nancy desperately wants to see her daughter married and giving her grandbabies. Petitioning heaven seems like a surefire way to get it done. But in Cadillac, Texas, where the gossip’s hotter than the city’s famous jalapeño peppers, it isn’t long before all hell breaks loose.

Heather, the bossy leader of the church’s Prayer Angels, thinks a summer ball will get Stella and the town’s other single gals paired off. But nobody can tell redheaded spitfire Stella what to do—not her mama, not Heather, and not even the sexy beau Stella’s been seeing in secret. Together, Stella, her best friends Charlotte and Piper, and the loyal customers of the Yellow Rose Beauty Shop hatch a good old-fashioned scheme to sabotage the ball. But will it wreck Stella’s relationship with her mama forever? And what will the church folk think when Stella reveals the identity of her mystery man? 

My Thoughts:

The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop was hilarious, and so much fun to read. But sweet romances, strong female friendships and family bonds make this more than just a humorous read.

Twenty-six year old Stella has been put on the Prayer Angels’ list by her mother, Nancy. Nancy wants a grandchild and she thinks Stella needs a husband first to make that happen. Nancy doesn’t know her daughter already has a man because Stella’s been keeping him under wraps for a good reason. Unfortunately, the leader of the prayer group, Heather, has a grudge against Stella, and so she takes the opportunity to humiliate her by putting up a sign for the whole town to see: “Pray for My Daughter. She Needs a Husband.”  With Cadillac, Texas being a small town the gossip spreads like wildfire and speculation about why Stella would need a husband set tongues a wagging.

Heather’s machinations know no bounds, but she’s come against the wrong girl, because Stella is a redhead by birth and temperament, and she has an arsenal of loyal friends at her back. The hilarity that ensues had me laughing my ass off for much of this story!

While Stella is the center of the story, her best friends, Piper and Charlotte take up a good portion as well. Their loves and lives in this story reminds me a lot of the movie Steel Magnolias; laughing during the good times and crying together during the bad. The movie also just happens to be one of their favorites (mine, too!).  

Stella’s romance is hidden, but very solid. Still, when she finds out about the sign Stella’s a little afraid of her man’s reaction. He’s a complete sweetheart so of course she gets nothing, but support from him.  As a reader you find out early on who she’s involved with and why Stella’s keeps it hush, hush. I understood why she kept the relationship under the covers so I didn’t find it frustrating.  The gossip was so out of control I really couldn’t blame her.

Piper is a single mom with two twin boys, getting by on her own after her ex-husband, Gene, decided he wanted date other women and didn’t want to bother with kids.  Gene is pretty much a dirt bag, and gives Piper grief, but she has Stella and Charlotte at her back.  Stella’s parents were also very sweet and supportive, and I loved the example they set as a married couple.  Piper is gun shy about dating, but that doesn’t stop a hunky cowboy from taking notice. Charlotte is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Boone, and while they seem very devoted, Charlotte needs her girls to help her sort out a dilemma, too.

I loved the female relationships in this book, there was pretty much only one mean girl, Heather, and she just added entertainment so it was all good. I must mention Agnes Flynn, the eighty-year old spitfire of this novel:

If anyone in town could put things to rights, it was Agnes. She was eighty years old and ornery as a rattlesnake, and there wasn’t a person in town who messes with Agnes.

Thankfully, Agnes is on Stella’s side in this whole mess!  Seriously, that lady had me cracking up so many times in this story:

"And FYSA, I was plenty spicy enough to chase down men prettier than Rhett Monroe twenty years ago."—“It's FYI. The initials mean 'for your information,'" Charlotte said.

"I don't like your alphabet soup world, but maybe I meant for your stupid ass when I said FYSA," Agnes smarted off.

“I’m not telling you jack shit about my snitch. The FBI or the NASA would come haul my skinny ass off to jail if they knew who I had in my pocket.”

“NASA is the place that sends spaceships to the moon and Mars.” Trixie laughed.

I can’t help but narrate these stories in my head with a Southern accent and have to stop myself from saying ‘y’all’ when I finish.

I’ve enjoyed each and every story by Carolyn Brown. You can tell she writes from a well of life experience.  Her small town, Southern romances are filled with humor, heart and sass!

Connect with Carolyn Brown:

Website | Amazon | Western Romance Cafe | Goodreads