Never having read Mary Kay Andrews, I was not sure what to expect. The Overdrive synopsis from our library catalog says: “Keeley Murdock's wedding to A. J. Jernigan should have been the social event of the season. But when she catches her fiancé entangled with her maid of honor at the rehearsal dinner, all bets-and the wedding-are off. Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, earning instant notoriety in the small town of Madison, Georgia. Even worse is the financial pressure A. J.'s banker family brings to bear on Keeley's interior design business. But riding to the rescue-in a vintage yellow Cadillac-is the red-headed stranger who's bought a failing local bra plant. Only a designing woman like Keeley Murdock can find a way to clear her name and exact revenge at the same time.”Read by Moira Driscoll she using several voices, her Keely voice reminded me of Dixie Carter’s Julia Sugarbaker’s attitude, in the Designing Women TV show. Some of the characters are reminiscent of Fannie Flagg. You will meet Will, the business man who bought the bra factory. Stephanie the high powered, but flakey lawyer that Will thinks he is in love with, even though he has not even met her yet. Austin, the gay best friend florist, and more. I found this book very funny; at times laugh out loud funny, as one reviewer put it, “it was funny, serious and sad all at once” and there is even a bit of intrigue and suspense for you mystery lovers. I really liked this book and will definitely be trying more of Mary Kay Andrews.
The beginning of the story started fun and the conflict was slapped in your face in the first chapter. The immediate chapters entertainingly dealt with the aftermath but somewhere in the middle of the book the author just drilled her readers down into the rabbit hole of interior decorating: styles, brand name dropping, period descriptions, auctions and what-have-you until I wondered if she even had an outline for her novel because she'd pretty much gone rogue. I eventually grew tired of her catalog-style writing around 75% and pretty much skimmed the rest of the book only stopping when I found quotation marks. Keeley, our main gal was fine but the author portrayed her as a 30+ year old who's more interested in her decorating projects than rehabilitating her social and romantic life, much at odds with the story description. The vast majority of the supporting characters were more shallow than the impromptu pond that was being excavated at the end of the story and I just didn't really care for them, including the cliched BFF-gay-dude next door.All told, this story is probably worth 3.5 stars but I just can't push it to 4. Had the author stayed on course with the original plot, given her characters more substance and cut out about 25% of the chapters needlessly spent furniture-shopping, then most definitely I would have given her 4 or possibly 5 stars.
What do You think about Hissy Fit (2012)?
Okay, this was my first Mary Kay Andrews novel, and admitedly, I wasn't looking for anything challenging...and I especially enjoyed the idea of this strong Southern gal throwing a "hissy fit" when she finds her bridegroom having sex with her maid of honor during the rehearsal dinner...no spoilers here...all of this happens in the first few chapters. The remainder of the book is how she goes about coping with her discovery. I enjoyed this smart and sassy Southern woman...particulary at the time in my life when I read it...first year post-divorce! I'm hooked on Mary Kary Andrews steel magnolias! You go, girl!
—Kristy
When Keeley catches her fiancé in the throws of passion with her best friend (and Maid of Honor) on the boardroom table at the Country Club during their rehearsal dinner all Hell breaks loose and Keeley pitches the Hissy Fit to end all Hissy Fits! Trying to forget about her scum sucking fiancé and slutty best friend Keeley dives into her work as an interior decorator and thus the fun begins.Keeley is hired to make over Mulberry Hill; an old plantation house recently purchased by Will Mahoney for the girl of his dreams. Only Will's dream girl is not as sophisticated as he thinks she is...and he has no clue. But since "the customer is always right" Keeley does her best to accommodate what dream girl wants while doing her best to do justice to the plantation house.But Hissy Fit isn't all about decorating and romance; there's a mystery to be solved. When Keeley was young her mother ran away with another man never to be heard from again. Keeley's friend, Austin, feels Keeley needs answers and together he and Keeley start investigating her mother's disappearance.I have to admit that this was the best MKA book I've read to date. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I am listening to it again.
—Stacey
Hissy FitThis is another book that I normally wouldn't have read except for it being the book club read for August for my monthly book club and I'm happy that I did read it. This is a change from what I normally read and I'm actually starting to like what you would call "Chick Lit" books. This was cute and funny and it didn't lag, it kept flowing which kept me interested and wanting to keep reading. I'm going to look up more books by Mary Kay Andrews and if they are as good as this one then I've found a new author to like.
—Wendy
