Sometimes I dare to leave my safe place of crime and thriller novels and venture into the world of feel-good and romance. I actually do it gladly if the book's setting is in the American South. I just love small town stories, where everyone knows everyone and they drink sweet tea. I was sold when AIN'T SHE A PEACH was available to read and I read the blurb about a former Atlanta cop who moves to Lake Sackett, Georgia and falls for Frankie McCready, the cute coroner who talks to the dead. She is just polite, they don't answer back or anything.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION! ( )

I can't think of a single book Molly Harper has written that I haven't enjoyed on some level; even if the plots aren't always solid, the snarky humor and solid character dynamics that revolve around family and friends makes up for it.

This was the case with Ain't She a Peach. It's part of a series of books that aren't serial, called Southern Eclectic; they share a common setting and characters, but act as stand alone reads. Comparing story structures between this one and Sweet Tea and Sympathy, Ain't She a Peach lacks the central plot that pulled ST&S together. Here, Frankie's story is far more focused on her struggle for maturity and autonomy, as the only-child/cancer survivor to older parents. The romance is secondary, and the resolving the break-ins to the family mortuary tertiary, and by far the weakest link in the plot.

Still, any fan of Molly Harper's will find a lot to like here. Few authors I read come close to the engaging and engrossing dialog Harper spills across her pages and she creates characters that are likeable, hilarious, strong and noble - characters that really are the people you wish your friends and family could be - without making them into after-school-special paper constructs.

Not her best, but still enjoyable, and exactly what I've been needed to read the last few weeks. ( )

Fun read. Molly Harper sure knows how to put the fun in funeral parlors. ( )

4.5 stars.

Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper is a light-hearted, humorous novel that is absolutely delightful. This second full length addition to the Southern Eclectic series can easily be read as a standalone but I highly recommend the previous installments as well.

Frankie McCready is a tad eccentric but so sassy and full of life it is easy to overlook her faults. She is twenty-eight but still lives with her over-protective parents and she is just tiny bit spoiled. Frankie is more than ready to move out on her own, but she just cannot quite force herself to have a conversation she knows will be difficult to navigate. Her profession as a mortician and coroner is unique and her habit of talking to her clients is unconventional yet endearing. Is Frankie up to the challenge of catching the sneaky vandal who is plaguing her while at the same maneuvering a tricky romantic entanglement with interim Sheriff Eric Linden?

Eric is a transplant from Atlanta who wants make his Sheriff position in Lake Sackett permanent. He left his last position in the Atlanta police department under a bit of a cloud so he takes his job very seriously. Eric and Frankie share an unexpected history that makes their inevitable encounters somewhat uncomfortable. Just as they begin to explore the chemistry between them, Frankie’s impulsivity creates a major headache for Eric.

Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper is a winsome novel with quirky characters, a lead protagonist who has some maturing to do and a male lead who needs to loosen up some. The combination of these elements results in a marvelously entertaining and incredibly heartwarming story. With plenty of down home charm and a slight romantic aspect, this newest addition to the Southern Eclectic series is sure to be a hit with readers who enjoy contemporary women’s fiction. ( )

Loved the first full book in the Southern Eclectic series, Sweet Tea and Sympathy. This series appears to have a novella, then a full book, novella, repeat, so Ain’t She a Peach is the second full book in this series. You don’t need to read the novellas, but I’m sure they would only enhance your enjoyment of the series.

In this book we get to know Frankie, Margot, and the rest of the cousins even more. Duff, the only male cousin, really amused me in this book, especially when he had to be included in a girl’s talk. We also get to know the Aunts and Uncles more, but there isn’t a lot with their grandma, who is a riot. Maybe they’ll be more of her in the next book in the series, Gimme Some Sugar.

The romance in this one was sexy and sassy. I had a small issue with their relationship in regards to some of the police procedurals. It’s a small town, and fiction, but the way the Sheriff, Eric, handled some of the situations with break-ins at the mortuary, was a bit far fetched for me. But it did not ruin the story.

I didn’t laugh as much as I did with Sweet Tea and Sympathy, but I still chuckled a couple of times, and loved the wackiness of the end funeral home scene. Another fun book in the series, and I’m looking forward to Gimme Some Sugar. ( )