The Sugar Queen in Crazy Challenge Connection

Dec 06, 2011 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: winter-2011-12, permanent-library, good-fiction, womens-fiction

4.75 Stars

THE SUGAR QUEEN is the story of three women, who do not realize just how extraordinary they are. They are also connected on a most basic level. It will be Josey under Della Lee’s guidance that discovers the long held Bald Eagle town secret that binds Josey Cirrini, Della Lee Baker, and Chloe Finley. It is also a Cirrini family secret that will bond the young women forever.

Josey Cirrini is the Sugar Queen. She is just this side of plump, shy, and unhappy. She smells like Christmas and 4.75 Stars

THE SUGAR QUEEN is the story of three women, who do not realize just how extraordinary they are. They are also connected on a most basic level. It will be Josey under Della Lee’s guidance that discovers the long held Bald Eagle town secret that binds Josey Cirrini, Della Lee Baker, and Chloe Finley. It is also a Cirrini family secret that will bond the young women forever.

Josey Cirrini is the Sugar Queen. She is just this side of plump, shy, and unhappy. She smells like Christmas and red is her magical color. Her retreat is a hidden closet where she keeps her treasures: travel magazines, romance novels, and tons of sweets. Told by her overbearing mother, Margaret, that she is plain, Josey longs for a different life than taking care of her mother. She is desperate for her mother’s forgiveness and love. She is also in love with Adam, a Bald Eagle mailman who has his own secret and fear.

Della Lee Baker is ten years older than Josey. She is tough with a checkered past: a victim of domestic violence and solicitation charges. Yet, she has a good heart and decides to ‘help’ Josey and believes Josey Cirrini’s clandestine closet is the safest place in Bald Eagle to hide from her violent but handsome boyfriend, Julian. She ignores the
Peppermint Oil on Josey’s bedroom window sill and makes herself comfortable. Josey is shocked that Della Lee is sitting on her bedroom closet floor asking for favors and refuge before going ‘up North.’ There must be a reason that this unexpected “guest” is in the Cirrini’s blue Victorian, because the Peppermint Oil allowed Della Lee to make herself right at home.

So Josey decides to let Della Lee stay and get the downtrodden waitress a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich from Chloe Finley’s shop in the Bald Eagle Courthouse. Surprisingly, Josey and Chloe bond during a quick conversation. The pretty girl with red ringlets has troubles of her own. Her boyfriend is Jake, a Prosecutor, and has betrayed her. Books relentlessly follow her, demanding she read them. (How I envy, Chloe! Books following me wanting and patiently waiting to be read depending on my mood? That would be heavenly!) She is determined to find out who Jake slept with and why. She can’t move on until she does. And Chloe has a connection to Adam.

Sarah Addison Allen weaves the three women’s stories in a beautiful way. Their connections are strongly hinted and I must confess that I missed some of the hints. And I was surprised by Della Lee, though Helena tried to tell me. THE SUGAR QUEEN is more than a little love story with magical ingredients sprinkled within the plotlines, it truly is a coming of age story. Josey, Della Lee, and Chloe become the strong women we know they are capable of being and these characters will stay with me until the next time I re-visit them. This book now sits on a shelf in my permanent library.
...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 17, 2010 Kristina Simon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I've loved all of Sarah Addison Allen's books and this is no exception. In fact, I think this one is my favorite. Each of her books has one magical element that seems to stick with me. In Garden Spells it was the apple tree. In The Girl Who Chased the Moon it was the wallpaper. In this one, it's the stalking books. I loved those books ;o). ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2012 Nancy Brady rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book, e-book

Magical women are always part of Allen's novels, and this one is no exception. Josey, Chloe, and Della are linked together even though they don't know each other at the start. Soon though they learn that they can depend upon each other and develop friendships that allow them to move on with their lives. Chloe's way with books, I envy that..alas, it is not to be. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 18, 2013 Joanne rated it liked it

Although I haven't enjoyed magical realism in the past, I've always heard good things about this author. I thought this was a sweet story and the magical elements didn't bother me in the least. I will read more from this author. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2023 Connie N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: magical-realism

This was a charming read. We first meet Josey, a 27-year-old woman who has kind of been caught in the past in her hometown, taking care of her mother. She has no life of her own, and her mother prefers it that way, expecting her to be on call at all times, even though she has a housekeeper who also helps out. But when a strange woman shows up in Josey's closet, things start to change. Della Lee sends Josey out for sandwiches at a local diner where another young woman works, and they strike up a ...more

Like · see review

Apr 04, 2014 Rusty rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

A delightfully light romp through the lives of three sisters - half sisters that is. They have the same father but different mothers. It would seem that Josey Cirrini is the key characters until one gets into the novel. Then one finds the three women in love with very different men. We have a ghost, magically appearing books to fit the occasion, domineering mother jealous of her daughter, and a superstitious maid. It all makes for a fun read that speeds to an interesting but not unexpected endin ...more

Like · see review