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Aug 21, 2011

Laurel-Rain rated it:

Antonia Ashton has it all: a thriving business in the city of St. Louis, a promising relationship, and some distance from the small town where she grew up. But one night, things go awry when she discovers that her relationship is not what she thought it was.

Back in Blue Hills, Missouri, Evie Ashton, Antonia's mother, is frantically searching for something in her old, dusty attic. She has had flashes of visions and dreams of her long lost sister Anna, and is determined to somehow reco More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2011

Angie rated it:

This is an excellent book.

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 20, 2011

Brenda rated it:

This is the story of two sisters, one daughter and one amazing magical little black dress. Each is affected by the dress in a different way. It seems to be industructable, and fits anyone who puts it on no matter their size, and the magic happens when the dress is on, the person sees bits and pieces of their future as it should be.

Two sisters, one leaves their home on the day of her wedding leaving her groom at the alter and the family forever broken and hurt by that. They have no id More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Samantha rated it:

I love me some books with a magical twist to them. And Little Black Dress by Susan McBride delivers just that in her latest, and spectacular, novel. Even though I appreciate a good paranormal twist in books, sometimes they can be hard to achieve. But McBride manages to pull it off, all while delivering an emotional story that had me cheering and crying at the end. The main character is Antonia Ashton, a workaholic who is forced to move home to Blue Hills after her mother, Evie, suffers a stroke. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Mary rated it:

LITTLE BLACK DRESS by Susan McBride
08/11 - HarperCollins Publishers - Paperback, 320 pages

Do you have to believe in magic for it to happen?

This story is told in two distinctive parts from two unique points of view. You have Evie telling the life and times of her rocky relationship with her sister Anna. We follow this progression in the time frame of the 1950’s and read the lives of these two sisters and how events and decisions made by one can direct the life of the ot More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

“I watched her as she moved, saw the way the dress sparkled…….I thought it was evil at first, what the dress had done to us.” Page 286

A little black dress with plans?

Interesting......but don't we all have a little black dress somewhere? I bet we do, but not sure anyone has a little black dress with plans....well no one except Anna Evans and her sister Toni.

And what fascinating plans they were....they were plans that affected the Evans women from one generation More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 12, 2011

Hattie rated it:

Many times throughout my life I’ve heard friends and/or family members say “a woman must have a little black dress in her closet.” Those words came immediately to mind when I saw the title little black dress by SUSAN McBRIDE. This novel happens in Blue Hills, Missouri and on an island named Mosquito Island. It’s mainly about three women: Evie, Annabelle and Toni. To prove the significance of the women SUSAN McBRIDE named each chapter after one of these women. Each woman deals with the magical po More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Light as air novel a la Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants about a mother and daughter (plus aunt) and the magical black dress that enables them to see the future. The narrative switches between the mother, who is in a coma, and the daughter who reluctantly joins her bedside. I enjoyed the understated mystical quality of this tale and the writing is solid but for some reason the storyline didn’t really draw me in.

The setting is different: it takes place in the Missouri wine country ( More...

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Jan 11, 2012

Christi rated it:

This was a very interesting read. Sort of Travelling Pants for the more mature crowd.

It is told from two points of view, first person from 71 year old Evie, mostly in flashbacks after her stroke that sets the story in motion and third person from her 46 year old daughter, Antonia. The third major character in this book is Annabelle, Evie's younger, wilder, more vivacious sister.

Annabelle buys the Little Black Dress just before her marriage to the biggest catch in Blue H More...

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Sep 26, 2011

Michelle added it

Little Black Dress by Susan McBride is one of those charming but forgettable woman’s lit stories. Revolving around a mysterious black dress and its impact on three members of a family, the dress now falls into the hands of the next generation at a time of another family crisis. Secrets will be revealed, and everyone will find their happily ever after in predictable fashion.

This is not to say that Little Black Dress is a horrible novel that no one should read. It is charming in its o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 15, 2011

Nancy rated it:

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I'm so glad I did, I loved it!

Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian wher More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Georgina rated it:

As Coco Chanel once famously stated “every girl needs their little black dress” . Well Susan McBride’s new novel Little Black Dress follows this premise but takes it one step further. What if that wonderful little black dress didn’t just make you look and feel amazing it did much more? How much more? Well it showed whoever wore the dress what their future holds. Would Coco Chanel still be telling us all we need our little black dresses if they all did this?

Antonia (also known as Ton More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Sandi rated it:

Product Description
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now s More...

1 comment like

Aug 18, 2011

Tara rated it:

This is a very engrossing read. I found myself wishing I had a dress like this, that conformed to whatever figure I have, that sewed itself up immaculately, and told the future.. but is know the future really such a good thing?

It can affect different people differently as we see here in this novel following the lives of two sisters and a daughter. Evie is the reasonable and smart older sister. She is the "good girl." When her younger sister, Anna, dons a little black future More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2011

Laura rated it:

Little Black dress is a charming and thoughtful read, using the premise of an heirloom dress that predicts the romantic future for each of the main characters, Toni, Evie and Anna. The book is told from the alternating points of view of Evie and Toni, with Anna intertwined in both women’s lives. The dress offers the wearer an unalterable glimpse of what’s to come, in addition to looking stunning on three different women—really, what more could you ask of staple evening wear? Well, of course ther More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Christine rated it:

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. I actually read it all in one day. It was compelling and beautifully written. I'd recommend this book to anyone that wouldn't mind a little magic in their stories.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Sarah Beth rated it:

I won this book as a first reads giveaway on goodreads. First of all, there's no mistaking this book for what it is (chick lit) but it's very good chick lit so I'm giving it a 4 based on comparision to its literary peers.

This book alternates between the perspective of Antonia (Toni) and her mother Evie. They have a damaged relationship, complicated by the relationship between Evie and her sister, Anna. The three women in this family are all linked by a magical little black dress tha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Julie rated it:

Susan McBride is at her best in the little story about a staple in every woman’s closet: a little black dress.

The story centers around three women, Evie, her sister Anna, and Evie’s daughter Toni. The tale begins when an older Evie climbs out of bed and heads to the attic. She’s in search of something that she hasn’t seen in many, many years: the little black dress that tore her and Anna apart. She dons the dress, then has a massive stroke. Luckily the housekeeper finds More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 04, 2011

Erla-Mari rated it:

I guessed the secret and the plot of the book a quarter of the way in, which spoiled it for me. Apart from that, it was a great idea - that of a little black dress that has the power to transform your life.

The writer could have played around more with the theme of outcomes, predictions and our own role in making it come true. do we make something come true because we believe it is our destiny or is our destiny something we have no control over?

It is an enjoyable book, howeve More...

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Nov 25, 2011

Susan rated it:

I've followed Susan McBride for many years. This is her best yet.

Antonia (Toni) Ashton left Blue Hills, MO with no intent of returning. When her mother has a stroke she returns to the house in which she grew up. As she begins to sort through her mother, Evie's, things to bring some order to the house, she finds an old hat box tucked far underneath the eves in the attic. In it are numerous pictures Toni puts in chronological order. This act begins to piece her family's history togeth More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Bethany rated it:

Little Black Dress is a clearly drawn portrait of two sisters with a twist of magic. Little Black Dress traces the lives of Evie and Anna, how a magical black dress foretells their future, and how they each react to it. Toni, Evie's daughter, is drawn back home, and under the dress's spell, when her mother has a stroke. Suddenly forced to deal with her family's history Toni is surprised to find that she is stronger than she knew and must make some tough choices about her future. Although, full o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 04, 2011

Danielle rated it:

Busy with life, Toni has everything her heart could desire. A successful growing business, a home of her own and a wonderful man who may pop the question any day. Her only regrets in life revolve around her mother and the separation that exists between them. In many ways the sudden stroke her mother Evie suffers is both a blessing and a curse. Leaving behind everything she loves, Toni returns to her parents home and winery to help her mother heal. The discovery of a magical black dress was the l More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Sharon rated it:

Relationships between mothers and daughters can sometimes be intense, but when you put a magical little black dress into the mix, it’s extremely life changing.

The story carries you through the tempestuous relationship between Evie (mother) and Antonia (daughter) and the little black dress that brings them together.

I literally could not put this book down. I read it in one sitting. Every other chapter is written in either Evie’s voice or Antonia’s voice and the author does a f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Alice rated it:

Some of the hardest reviews to write are those for novels that I love. Yes, this was a hard one. I was hooked from the very beginning. Little Black Dress has dual protagonists: Antonia, a success business woman in her early 40s who did all she could to escape her small town life, and Evie, Antonia’s mother, a woman loyal to the memory of her family but distant from them.

The novel begins with Evie having a stroke and being put into a medically induced coma. Toni comes to her bedside, More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 12, 2011

Charlotte rated it:

http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot.com...

I really wanted to like Little Black Dress. I loved the fact that it is set in Missouri and I fell in love with the Victorian house that plays a prominent role in the story, but overall I can't really say that I liked this book. It just didn't have that flow that kept me dying to know what happens next, it was almost disjointed and the end seemed to be forced. One minute Toni is with Greg and then she is moving in full time and getting mar More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Lydia rated it:

Original review posted here.

Little Black Dress provided me with a light, easy read that comfortably filled my Sunday afternoon. I enjoy stories with just a bit of magic in them, as evidenced by my love of Sarah Addison Allen, so with her endorsement on this book I decided to give it a go.

While I appreciated the charm that Susan McBride tried to infuse into the setting, it was just hard to wrap my mind around any of it being set in the midwest. Especially a winery. Whi More...

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Feb 02, 2012

The Joy of Booking rated it:

Little Black Dress is what I wanted The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake to be – a contemporary story with a magical but believable twist. It’s not as literary as Of Bees and Mist (my favorite of this genre) but it’s charming enough that I was able to overlook that.

There’s not too much to say that’s not in the flap copy – there’s a magic dress that shows the wearer a glimpse of her future. There’s a rift between mother and daughter that they can no longer ignore when the mother suffers More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Samantha rated it:

I love me some books with a magical twist to them. And Little Black Dress by Susan McBride delivers just that in her latest, and spectacular, novel. Even though I appreciate a good paranormal twist in books, sometimes they can be hard to achieve. But McBride manages to pull it off, all while delivering an emotional story that had me cheering and crying at the end. The main character is Antonia Ashton, a workaholic who is forced to move home to Blue Hills after her mother, Evie, suffers a stroke. More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 21, 2011

Katy rated it:

Little Black Dress is a powerful novel about family, love, forgiveness, and second chances. When Toni arrives in her hometown after her mother Evie suffers a stroke, she is intrigued by the black dress her mother had been wearing and the pile of old photographs she had been sorting through when the stroke hit. And when Hunter Cummings arrives at the house, talking about some kind of business arrangement he had with her mother, she is even more confused, since his family and hers had been at odds More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) rated it:

Who would have thought that a little black dress could have so much hold and influence over women of multiple generations? As Antonia returns home when her mother has a devastating stroke, she begins to discover secrets about her mother's past and her mysteriously absent Aunt Anna. Central to that past is a beautiful, black silk dress with a magic all its own. When Toni wears the dress, she discovers its power for herself in ways she's not quite ready to accept, but she soon realizes the dres More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)