Reviewed by Desere
Every woman dreams of being married to the perfect husband, having the kids and white picket fences house, and just generally being happy.
But what happens, and this does happen a lot, is that sometimes the "perfect" husband takes off and finds himself a younger model to play with.
Leaving the woman to deal with the leftovers of what was once a good life. Or even worse the husband is around but not really around!
In this read I was introduced to four woman, old school chums Erin, Sandy, Ellen and Maggie. Each woman has a story and each one tries her hardest to show the outside world that they are just as strong, tough and "young" as they use to be.
On a reunion weekend all four woman hit rock-bottom after spending hours catching up and having drink after drink. The author reveals each one's secrets and as reader I could pick up on what each one is hiding and I could realise what each woman would need to do to get over it, and move their lives in the right direction.
The characters were all described in vivid colour as we learn how the one is a alcoholic and thus the booze has taken it's toll and she now is left with the wrinkles and bad hair do to prove it, and the other well she has all the evidence that a middle aged woman has let herself go after she got married.
The backdrop setting was at first one of the same inner turmoil the woman are fighting but as the story unfolded the author let the "young woman in a old woman's body" come alive by incorporating the calm,serenity and fun groove of island life.
The dialogue was at times one that would make most woman cringe as not all appreciate a swear word, but when reading you will pick up that some moments called for it as the woman all momentarily loose their way.
At other times the dialogue was fun and inviting, the author slowly let me as reader glide from the terror of being alone to being old and loving it.
I highly recommend this read for readers that like a life lesson story of lessons learned and remembered, when life knocks you down, get up and fight back, in the end it will be worth it. The book will be available on the 7 th of May wherever good digital books are sold!
5/5 star review
" Getting their mango-groove back has never been this much fun"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reviewed by Nancy Crocker
In Me Go Mango by Mickey J. Corrigan: We follow the long time friendship of four friends. Ellen, Sandy, Maggie and Erin. They have stood the test of time even if their marriages have not. At times they are bitchy and downright rude to each other.
When the book opens we see Ellen talking Erin into coming to Vermont for a girl’s weekend, after Erin catches her husband in bed with a much younger woman, she then finds out her husband has bilked investors out of their money in what sounds like a ponzi scheme. She had been in hiding in a cheap hotel but jumps at the chance to get away. While together they relive pass mistakes and memories and talk about moving their friendship into a partnership. Erin also manages to meet Roberto who helps her forget the nightmare her life has become.
While I am for a girlie get away, this one was a hit and miss for me. Sandy seemed to be there for Erin when she gave her a much needed makeover. And they all pulled together in the end to help Maggie with her personal problem. But the flow of this story just did not work for me. I guess what I am suppose to take from this book is while marriages come and go, these friends are there for each other to the very end. But a lot of the time there was more trash talking to and about each other.
On a footnote here, this novella also offers what sounds like amazing recipes. Unfortunately for this reader I am highly allergic to Mango’s. Readers will be able to find recipes for what sounds like some wonderful Mango dishes and drinks.
Mango-rita
Roberto’s Mango Coconut Chutney
Erin’s Mango Flan
Our Havana’s Mango Guacamole
Lime Key Mango-Lime Seltzer
3.5 /5 stars
Reviewed by Maria
This is neither a category romance nor a steamy novella in the strict sense - it's not wall to wall sex, nor is it in fact, wall to wall romance. What it is, in truth, is a piece of thoughtful women's fiction - with a mango recipe or two thrown in! It reminds me, in a way, of Norah Ephron's romantic comedy HEARTBURN from about two decades back. And I liked this just as much as I liked that.
Everyone knows for a fact that when a bunch of males(of the human species) get together, without the civilizing influence of 'ladies' (not women! Ladies!), the pack instinct kicks in and the testosterone takes over. The air probably turns blue with the expletive language and bawdy talk. Well I'm here to tell you that when a bunch of females of the same species gets together, the air doesn't exactly turn pink as they swop recipes, discuss the baby's colic and exchange notes on the best concealer to use! Hell, no! The air probably turns even bluer than it does in the presence of males. And when a bunch of women (not ladies! Women, my friends is who we really are when males are NOT present) who have known each other in their formative days and who have supported each other through the ups and downs of life, well, the language can get red hot.
Erin Monahan, the main character, is a redheaded east coast Irish American woman who finds herself a redundant wife at fifty. Having played the wife and mother role, she finds herself replaced by a sexpot half her age. There's only one remedy for the lousy way she's feeling right now. Tap into her network of women friends. A wild weekend ensues in which Erin and her pals drink themselves under the table, swop life experience stories and generally put their world to rights. Erin, it subsequently transpires, is not the only one who has issues. Sandy has them too. And Maggie and Ellen. And mangoes and romance play a role in the story, but I'm zipping my lips on this one. Go get the book and find out. Okay?
This was the perfect time and season for me to read this book. I'm fifty this year. And the mango season has been going on in India.
The perfect activity for a couple during the mango season is for him to peel, cut and cube the mangoes and feed it to the woman, one cube at a time.
But I digress.
Get this book!
4/5
