Melange-books Melange-books Lulu.com Category:  Humor Publisher: Melange-books Type: Fiction Pages: 105 Copyright: Jan.29, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781612350707 Hot Days includes two stories; Who Put Grandpa In The Garden! and Cockeyed Cowboy From Crockett County Blurb for Who Put Grandpa In The Garden!   Chelsea and Sam Rae are just like any other young couple in love. Working and trying to make a living and have a baby. Everything seems to be going as planned until Grandpa ends up in the garden. It seems Grandma has some skeletons in her closet that she wants Chelsea to take care of. Being the good granddaughter, she tries to do what's right but it doesn't end up like she planned. According to Margaret, her older sister, this is just another screw up Chelsea has done. Chelsea is determined to make this right and ends up learning a lot about herself and her family in the process.   Blurb for Cockeyed Cowboy From Crockett County.   Will Tanner is the sheriff of Crockett County. He has been married three times. He has come to the conclusion that he is giving up on women. There is only one problem, he never expected Chief Investigator Isadora Reeves to come into his life. Between trying to figure how a dead man ended up on the local golf course with his manhood missing and being distracted by the beautiful Isadora, Will has his hands full. Isadora Reeves is not looking for any man, especially some small town sheriff from Crockett County. She's just in town to investigate a murder and nothing else that is until she and the sheriff have a heated night together and now he is all she can think about.     Excerpt “I need you to help me get your grandpa out of the closet,” the elderly woman announced. She laid down the paperback she was reading. “What?” Chelsea asked. “Your grandpa, I need him out of the closet," Lilly Dodson said loudly as if her granddaughter was hard of hearing. Chelsea rubbed her forehead. She wondered how her mother could go on that damn cruise now; knowing Grandma’s mind was slipping by the day. As if Lilly could hear her thoughts, she said, “I would’ve asked your mother to help me, but she went on that cruise to who knows where.” “Alaska.” “What?” “Mom went on the cruise to Alaska,” she stated sternly. Chelsea wished she was on a cruise to Alaska. It had been six years since she and Sam had taken a trip. Between finishing up her nursing degree, Sam getting his business degree and then learning the ropes at a new company they had no time for fun. The only fun they seem to have these days was decorating their new house. Trying to make a baby was fun at one time, but now that was even a chore. “Who in their right mind would want to go there, it’s so cold.” Lilly shivered as if it would get her point across better. “Grandma, can’t this thing with Grandpa wait? I’m so busy right now, and besides what do you want me to do with him?” Chelsea questioned. “I want him taken anywhere but here, and I need it done today,” Lilly spoke softly. “Okay. Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.” She lied, which she tried never to do but this time she made an exception. He would go home with her, and then when her Mom got home they could decide what to do. She wasn’t making this decision on her own. This was a family issue and even if her mom didn’t like dealing with family issues, Chelsea was going to drag her kicking and screaming into this one. “He always enjoyed hanging out at that bar on Third Street.” “A bar? Oh, I can see it now. I’ll just walk in and put Grandpa’s ashes on the counter and say ‘Excuse me sir, can my Grandpa’s ashes hang out in this bar?’ Yeah, that ought to make me the laughing stock of Porter, Texas.” Chelsea ran her fingers through her hair. Porter, Texas, was a small town right smack in the middle of West Texas and the town folks craved anything or anyone to laugh at, since there wasn’t much else to do.

Hot Days
This week, I had the pleasure of reading T.D. Jones' Hot Days, which is actually an anthology of two novella-length stories.


"Who Put Grandpa in the Garden!" opens with a problem. Chelsea's grandma needs her to do something with Grandpa. He ends up in her garden--but not in the way one would expect. This sets off a chain of events that makes everyone have to come to terms with some older family issues. This was a warm-hearted story, full of humor that made me laugh out loud numerous times. Chelsea's crazy family hit close to home (ahem), but her experiences as a nurse and as a woman who wants to have a baby really touched my heart. Chelsea herself is all heart and cares deeply for all those around her. She's a very sympathetic character. Her husband Sam is the kind of guy everyone wants, though he's goofed up a bit in this story.


"The Cockeyed Cowboy From Crockett County" features a lonely sheriff who's been unlucky in love. Will Tanner has been unlucky three times, actually. And after three ex-wives, he's sworn off love forever. When one of those ex's calls him to say her dog has brought home something very strange, he's forced into a case with the beautiful investigator Isadora Reeves. Isadora has her own demons, but she proves to be Will's match in every way. Despite their resolve to remain single, they're drawn together as they work to solve this unusual case. I was surprised to be so sympathetic to a character with three ex-wives, but Will came across as a lovable hunk of a sheriff who just hasn't found the right girl until now.

The only thing lacking in both stories were some grammatical issues and typos here and there, and the conflicts could have been a little more challenging for the characters so overcome. Overall, though, the lovable characters endeared me to them right away. The strongest point of both stories was the humor, which Ms. Jones generously infused throughout. It's rare that I read stories that make me laugh and touch my heart all the way through.