Review & interview: Curl up and Dye by Sharon Sala

We are pleased to welcome author Sharon Sala today for an interview.  She is promoting her book Curl Up and Dye. Enjoy it after my thoughts on the book.

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Date of publication: February 4, 2014

Wally Lamb meets Steel Magnolias in this story of LilyAnn Bronte, the Peachy-Keen Queen, which in Blessings, Georgia, was the epitome of success. After losing her fiance in the war in Iraq, her zest for life went into decline while added weight crept on. When a new guy arrives in town, LilyAnn embarks on a quest to remake herself from start to finish only to discover that love was always just right next-door.

I always know I'm going to get a good read when I pick up a book by this author.  Curl Up and Dye was such a fun book to read. Set in the small town of Blessings, Georgia, it is filled with fun characters and southern charm.  Like a lot of small towns the beauty shop is the center of gossip and town goings on.  Readers were first introduced to the town and shop in the prequel novella, Color Me Bad. While I didn't think it was necessary to read that first, it is definitely worth trying it out as well.

This story centers around LilyAnn and Mike.  LilyAnn lost her high school sweetheart to war 11 years ago and instead of moving on has let her life stop all together.  Mike has lived next to LilyAnn all his life and is her best friend.  He has also been in love with her since the 10th grade.  I just love reading stories about friends who finally admit they love each other.  It takes them a while, but their journey is so worth their sweet HEA.  LilyAnn makes a lot of changes and has to learn to love herself before she can see what is right in front of her.  Of course, the couple also gets a little help from the lovely ladies at the beauty shop.  Sometimes two people in love need a little push, right?

The book isn't all cozy and laughs.  Some of the people in Blessings carry some dark secrets.  But, then what small town doesn't have its secrets?  It looks like this is the first in a series.  I can't wait to visit the town of Blessings, Georgia again!  It's a quick, fun read and definitely one I recommend!

Autumn & Kari: Where do you come up with the ideas for your books?

Sharon: Almost every book I’ve written has been a dream first. I dream in color and with dialogue and plot. And I can plan what I want to dream about and then go to sleep and dream it. I thought everyone was like that and didn’t know anything different for years.

Autumn & Kari: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings?

Sharon: The Curl Up and Dye is set in a fictional town called Blessings, Georgia, and I am doing book 2 from that same location, with the same beauty shop and same town full of characters, plus a few new ones for that particular book.  It’s called…FAMILY SPECIAL… like the bargain a beauty shop might run giving a family a cut rate.  It’s a sweet story about two young people who struck a bargain to keep both of their little families together, and wound up falling in love in the process.

Autumn & Kari: Who is your favorite literary character and why?

Sharon: Hawkeye from Last of The Mohicans… because my daddy’s  side of the family is part Cherokee and I have always loved that story and setting.

Autumn & Kari: Just for fun, if you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

Sharon: A horse… for beauty, heart, and speed.

About the author:

Beloved by her brethren of fans, Sharon Sala, who also writes under the name Dinah McCall, has 99 books in print, is published in four genres: romance, young adult, western, and women’s fiction, and has sold more than 1.5 million books. Her books have appeared on USA Today, New York Times, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists 47 times, and have been published in many different languages. Sala was the 2011 recipient of the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. sharaonsala.net

Follow Sharon on Facebook or visit her online at sharonsala.net.