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Loraine Despres

Goodreads Author

Born

in Chicago, Illinois, The United States

February 26

Website

http://www.LoraineDespres.com

Twitter

SthrnBelleRules

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Humor, Romance

Influences

Flaubert especially Madam Bovary, which I read in French when I was wo ...more

Member Since

December 2009

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Loraine Despres is a best-selling novelist and screenwriter. Her first novel, the rollicking Southern love story, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick, a Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured selection. It became a national best-seller and is now in its 25th printing. It begins: “When you get to be a certain age, you realize that the only thing you have time for is doing exactly what you want.”
It engendered The Southern Belle’s Handbook, Sissy Leblanc’s Rules to Live By, which includes all Sissy’s rules such as, “It’s okay for a woman to know her place, she just shouldn’t stay there.”
Her next novel, The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell, about intolerance and love, is set in ...more

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Combine Editions
Loraine Despres’s books

Average rating: 3.72 · 6,798 ratings · 542 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc 3.72 avg rating — 5,069 ratings — published 2001	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell 3.70 avg rating — 1,520 ratings — published 2005 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Southern Belle's Handbook: Sissy LeBlanc's Rules to Live By 3.78 avg rating — 205 ratings — published 2003 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Southern Belle's Handbook it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Loraine Despres's Blog

THE SOUTHERN BELLE'S HANDBOOK: Rule #83

The Southern Belle's Handbook Sissy LeBlanc's Rules to Live by by Loraine Despres

When a man gets hot, all the blood rushes from his head taking his brain cells along for the ride. RULE #83: The Southern Belle's Handbook: Sissy LeBlanc's Rules to Live by

Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	3022	3284	Aug 31, 2010 10:39PM
Chicks On Lit: Title and Author Game	4053	1746	Apr 16, 2013 09:48AM
Crazy Challenge C...: READING ROULETTE : 2021 / 2022	911	202	Jun 26, 2025 06:56AM

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Loraine’s Quotes

“Watch out for men who are on speaking terms with the Almighty.”
― Loraine Despres, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc

0 likes

“A girl can stand just so much virtue.”
― Loraine Despres, The Southern Belle's Handbook: Sissy LeBlanc's Rules to Live By

12 likes

31 likes

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
― Max Planck, Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers

tags: paradigm-shift, science, scientists

204 likes

“If you know anything about summer in Louisiana you know that the heat, moist and heavy, presses down on the pavement until it sends up shimmering mirages, and lovers, looking for a little noontime solace, stick to one another in high-ceilinged bedrooms.”
― Loraine Despres, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc

1 likes

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Loraine’s Groups

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 55145 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

The Perks Of Being A Book Addict — 36916 members — last activity 20 hours, 8 min ago
This group is for anyone who loves books from different genres. Every month we have group Books of the Month which you can join, reading challenges, a ...more

The F-word — 5774 members — last activity Apr 15, 2025 09:52PM
This is our reading group for anybody who loves to read and identifies as a feminist. We'll be reading a variety of books that may fall into one of th ...more

Romance, Historical or Otherwise — 3939 members — last activity Aug 11, 2025 08:41AM
A group to discuss our favorite novels, be it Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery, YA, Horror,Chick Lit, Fantasy, Regency, Erotica... etc, e ...more

Nobody Reads In L.A. — 148 members — last activity Jul 06, 2016 05:52PM
L.A.'s original alternative book club. Designed to be the "Book Club for the Nightclub set." We are dedicated to putting books into hands accustomed t ...more

Book Club — 1360 members — last activity Nov 14, 2020 11:18PM
Book club

Ask Karen Essex! — 68 members — last activity Jul 30, 2012 05:49AM
Join popular author Karen Essex for a lively literary discussion of her past work and latest novel Dracula in Love. Karen will answer questions IN PER ...more

Book Promotions — 2967 members — last activity Oct 11, 2025 04:35AM
Well, it seems there is a group for everything else out there, but not one specifically for promoting books. There are places within groups to do it, ...more

Ask the Author — 621 members — last activity Jun 06, 2023 03:43PM
Hello friends, writers and readers. This is group about the new www.goodreads.com instrument "Ask the Author". let's use this best goodreads.com tool ...more

Ask Lisa See! — 264 members — last activity Nov 14, 2012 09:24AM
In celebration of the DVD release of the adaptation of her novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (available in stores November 1), Lisa See will be tak ...more

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