Not saying that men don't give great reviews, but I PERSONALLY have never had my work reviewed by a man (well, not counting my DH of course).  So this was a big moment for me.  :)

Sugar Shack by Paisley Scott


 

My review

  rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed 12/20/2008 by Martin Schwartz:



Nothing will make you crazier than being trapped in a snowstorm alone. Conversely, being trapped in a snowstorm with someone else is possibly the best excuse I can think of for the winter months.



Writer Paisley Scott has figured this out. In Sugar Shack, she uses a Vermont snowstorm to emphasize the emotional storm taking place in Luke and Catherine, former lovers for whom the flame has never really gone out.



The setting is realistic and beautifully visualized by Scott which is a big compliment when you consider the writer lives in Louisiana and had probably rarely dealt with a snowstorm of the proportions described in Sugar Shack. She has done her research well.



One can only assume she has researched the sex scenes as thoroughly. Vivid, hot and well depicted, Luke and Catherine's erotic encounters are so visual in nature that I occasionally felt like a voyeur in the closet, watching something so personal that I really shouldn't have been there. (Keep some ice water close by when reading.)



But the visual nature of the narrative extends beyond the sex scenes. One gets the feeling that the book would make a very good screenplay, with the emotion of the characters being expressed in their actions, such as this scene early in the book:



"Coward!" She hollered, banging the steering wheel. The horn honked with her action. She honked again. She hollered and honked and honked and hollered. It felt good. She played a long, single-note dirge on the horn, uncaring if anyone in the farms way off could hear her.



It's the kind of scene that would play well in a Sandra Bullock or Kate Hudson film. The reader feels the frustration and yet can empathize with and perhaps even find humor in it. It's these touches that add to the story and make the reader cheer for Catherine.



Sugar Shack is the perfect feel-good story to rescue snow-bound readers from the depths of cabin fever. Get it as a holiday gift to yourself. You don't have to read it at Christmas time, but I do recommend reading it during the winter.



Summer reading might result in spontaneous combustion.


 

View all my reviews.