By: Angie Haddock
Ramona’s got a bratty boss, a toddler teetering through toilet training, a critical mom who doesn’t mind sharing, and oops—a cheating husband. That’s how a Category Four hurricane bearing down on her life in Savannah becomes just another item on her to-do list. In the next forty-eight hours she’ll add a neighborhood child and the class guinea pig named Clarence Thomas to her entourage as she struggles to evacuate town.
Contemporary fiction is a mixed bag for me. I was drawn to this one solely for the name, and the gloriously lavender cover. That doesn’t mean it was bad – it was just ok, though. If you are good with the “working mom trying to do it all and gets overwhelmed” stereotype, this one very much fits into that category. Also add in a semi-drunk mom, various pets and kids, and a gay best friend.
The hurricane adds a punch to the proceedings, though. The story has a tight timeline, taking place over just a few days, during which our main character goes from “eh, it probably won’t hit here” to “oh crap, I have to get these kids out of here”… and back. Spoiler alert: they go back into town, with the hurricane still coming, because her mom had failed to leave.
There are bits of the story that do take place outside of those few days, as we see flashbacks to our lead, Ramona, in her earlier, more carefree days. We also see her creeping marriage issues, various mommy moments, and memories of her own parents.
The link to Prince is very tenuous. She was a fan of his, especially back in her college days. The events here take place only a handful of months after his passing (Fall 2016). That’s it.
But I think anyone who was older than a toddler when he was still alive was (or should have been) a fan of Prince. Seriously?! But hey, the catchy name was enough for this fan to be intrigued, so I guess it’s a gimmick that worked?
The Purple One died on this date seven years ago. (April 21, 2016.) I read this book in February, but saved the review for today, to add a little purple into the day. For books actually about Prince, please see some of my previous reviews:
Reading Our Shelves 