twice, the Bookseller's Best Award and was awarded the Diamond Award from Montlake for selling one million books.Brown applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Wedding Pearls, and reported the following:
Page 69 in The Wedding Pearls is the page where the folks on the road trip has stopped in Jefferson, Texas and an old guy named Herman is admiring Mollybedamned, the red 1959 Cadillac convertible. He and Branch are sitting on a bench outside an antique store talking about the car and about the women who Branch are driving around the state of Texas.Visit Carolyn Brown's website and Facebook page.
A little excerpt:Herman jumped to his feet and stuck out his hand. “So that beautiful lady belongs to you, ma’am?”This is definitely a good representative of the whole book. It shows Branch's care for the caddy, his kindness toward others and it also lets the reader know that he is attracted to Tessa. But since this is the early part of the trip he's not willing to admit it.
“Yes, she does,” Frankie answered. “And since Mr. Herman here thinks she’s beautiful, she won’t mind him riding in her seats. Y’all have a good time.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Do you think she’d mind if I got Branch here to use my phone and take a picture of me with her? Nobody back home in Pennsylvania will believe it if I don’t have the proof.” Herman’s old green eyes twinkled.
“She might smile for you after those sweet words,” Frankie said.
“Did you find anything that took your eye?” Branch asked Tessa.
She shook her head. “A gorgeous hall tree, but it won’t fit in the trunk. Maybe I’ll find something in the next store that won’t require a moving van to get home.”
“Well, let’s go see what we can find,” Lola said. “I bet we can get all the way to the library by noon, and I want to eat lunch at the barbecue place that lady in the quilt place was talking about.”
After a flutter of the hand waving good-bye to Branch, Tessa joined the other ladies and pulled Blister for Ivy, keeping pace with the older lady while Lola and Frankie went on ahead.
“That cute little blonde your woman?” Herman asked on his way to the car.
“No, sir. It’s a long story but Frankie is the one with the gray hair that you shook hands with. The one with the tattoos is her daughter, Lola, and the pretty blonde is Lola’s daughter. The one with the oxygen tank is Ivy, Frankie’s best friend.”
“That’s only four. Where’s the fifth one? Oh, I get it. Mollybedamned is the fifth lady, right?”
Branch opened the car door for Herman and waited for him to get settled before he shut it. “No, she’s the queen. The fifth one is a sixteen-year-old great-niece of Ivy’s, and she’s at the library doing her schoolwork for the day.”
--Marshal Zeringue
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