The Novels by Kris Radish Should be Required Reading for Every Woman

books:


	• Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA Kris Radish Bantam, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Chick lit for grown women!

Most chick lit is aimed at 20- and 30-somethings. I think younger women would not appreciate this book because they'd have a hard time understanding how dreams get lost along the years. This book should be rated M for mature women.

I particularly loved the friendships among the women and the way they rallied to support Addy. And after reading the book, I definitely want to think about and make a list of my life dreams, like Addy and Lucky did.

I'm not sure if a group of men would ever do the things Lucky and his buddies do to win back their women, much less that they would ever share feelings the way they did. But it is nice to think they could and would.

I agree with another reviewer that it was slanted toward the women and how things were the men's fault. But it felt real because every gab session with my female friends sounds the same way. I just wish we were as adventurous in our activities.

I quite enjoyed this book.

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The Novels by Kris Radish Should be Required Reading for Every Woman

Seriously - order all five books at once and then clear your calendar for the five days after they'll arrive at your door. Plop yourself on your deck or under a tree or in your bed, and be prepared to laugh out loud AND shed some tears. (Honestly, when was the last time a book made you do THAT?) Kris Radish writes what we think and wish we'd said aloud. She provides insight into how very precious our friends are and why we must nurture those relationships.
The Sunday List of Dreams
The Elegant Gathering of White Snows
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral
Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn

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Paradise is where you find it!

I've been hooked on Kris Radish since The Elegant Gathering of White Snows and love her ability to create believable characters that run the gamut of human experiences. Some of the story lines get rather wild, but perhaps that is what draws me in and keeps me wondering just what stunt will her women and/or men create next. Not all authors make me feel that they are going inside one's head and expressing such deep inner thoughts, and Kris definitely has that uncanny ability. Her style of sentences used to emphasize feelings make reading and understanding a quick enjoyable pleasure. There is so much truth to be found within the thoughts and lives of her personalities and even when shown in the extreme, you cannot lose the message. This is another great read!

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I loved it!

SEARCHING FOR PARADISE in Parker, Pa by Kris Radish
Rating **** (4/5 Stars)

June 28, 2008

Addy and Lucky Lipton have been married for nearly 30 years. And neither can say they are really happy. Addy is going crazy, angry at all the junk Lucky has collected over the years and has accumulated in the garage. She calls it the "kingdom of krap". She doesn't feel a connection to him at all, and is on the verge of kicking him out.

When Lucky wins a trip to Costa Rica and asks Addy to go with him, they are both secretly hoping that this may revive their sinking marriage. But that morning as they are about to head on out, Lucky hurts his back so badly that he becomes bedridden and needs Addy to help him with the smallest of things. Addy is angry and frustrated, does not want to even deal with him anymore, can't even face him in the mornings, and decides she needs to make a change in her life.

With the help of her best friend and sister Hell (short for Helen) and their friends known as the "Sweat-Hers", a group of gals that all work out together, Addy makes some changes in her life and makes demands upon her husband. But it's not only Addy that produces some changes. It looks like the entire town is in on the act!

While Addy goes on her crusade to create a life that is a little more livable, a paradise in Parker, Lucky becomes closer to next door neighbor Bob. (He's Bob #1; the other neighbor on the other side is Bob #2). Bob has been divorced for some time and has gone through some drastic changes himself. With Bob's help, Lucky makes some of his own drastic revisions to his lifestyle, which will shock the hell out of the ladies of Parker, Pa, if not just Addy Lipton. The two men begin to "talk", unlike any conversations ever held between two men who are not gay. They start cooking lessons, dress a lot nicer, get their hair and nails done and basically, Lucky becomes a new man. And while this is all going on, Addy is busy with her female friends, wanting desperately to start a new life, because she feels that no matter what Lucky says or does to win her back, she is done with him. She's ready to move on.

SEARCHING FOR PARADISE was my introduction to author Kris Radish, and I am hooked! Her writing style reminded me in part of one of my favorite authors, Lorna Landvik. They have the same type of quirky characters living in a small town, with that same feel that I get from Landvik novels. All the characters are fun and unique and likable. The pace of the book is fast; there is a lot of humor despite the downer theme of a marriage on the rocks.

One major subplot includes Addy and Lucky's son's search for his biological mother, which compounds upon Addy's stress while she deals with her failing marriage. It also adds another dimension to the overall story, and demonstrates how far from perfect Addy's life has become. Not only is she dealing with the future meeting of her son's birth mother, but also a bedridden husband and a possible divorce. Frankly, she cannot wait to get rid of him! She can no longer stand to be in the same room with him.

The friendships that Addy shares with her sister Hell and all the other "sweat-hers" leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling. The feeling isn't overly sugary sweet, but I felt it was just the right amount that made me want to be a part of their group, to be one of them.

I can't say enough about SEARCHING FOR PARADISE, a very fun and enjoyable read that I think may be one of my favorite reads in 2008. Addy's search for a paradise leads her to a possible new future, with the whole town routing for her. While I wasn't sure whether sometimes she may have been a little unfair to Lucky, it is hard not to cheer her on, making every page up to the very last worth reading. - Courtesy of LoveRomances And More - M Lofton

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reviews: page 1, 2

From the bestselling author of The Sunday List of Dreams and Annie Freeman?s Fabulous Traveling Funeral comes a poignant, funny, and uplifting novel of a woman at midlife whose search for happiness within her marriage?and within herself?turns a whole town upside down.

After twenty-eight years of marriage to her husband Lucky, Addy Lipton feels anything but happily married. In fact, just thinking of their garage, filled to the brim with Lucky?s useless junk collection, drives Addy dangerously close to plowing her car through it. But when Lucky wins a trip to paradise?aka Costa Rica?Addy has a faint hope they may be able to turn things around. Or maybe they won?t. Either way, Addy never gets the chance to find out.

On the morning of their departure, Lucky fractures his back tossing their luggage into his truck. Now, with the man she feels she barely knows anymore parked indefinitely on her couch, Addy can?t see their already shaky relationship surviving much longer. It?s time to make some big changes?and some drastic choices.

With the love and support of her devoutly single sister Hell and her workout friends, the Sweat-hers, Addy begins a crusade to revive her dreams?and she takes the women of Parker along for the ride. Soon the men will realize they?ll have to step up to the plate to keep their wives and lovers happy. And Addy will have to decide if the paradise she?s creating in Parker is big enough for two....

Filled with small-town characters and big-time soul searching, this sparkling and inspirational tale will hit you where you live?and show you that just as happiness can get buried beneath the jumble of years, it can be rediscovered?if you look hard enough for it within your heart.

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