Tour ~ The Curl Up & Dye

*Book source ~ Review copy obtained through NetGalley. My opinion is my own.

Title ~ The Curl Up & Dye

Series ~ Curl Up & Dye, #1

Author ~ Sharon Sala

Publisher ~ Sourcebooks Landmark

Published ~ 4 February 2014

Genre ~ Contemporary/Romance

Pages ~ 288

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

LilyAnn Bronte lived a charmed life until her fiancé enlisted in the Army, went off to Afghanistan and died by an IED. For 11 years she lost her way and didn’t know how to get back until a hot guy rolls into town providing the catalyst she needs to lose weight and rejoin the living. Her best friend and next door neighbor, Mike Dalton, hopes LilyAnn will finally see him as more than a friend, but how can she when he treats her like a sister? A series of misunderstandings shakes up their friendship and makes them miserable. Can they find their way to love?

I used to read contemporaries all the time, but in the last few years I’ve drifted away from them. However, once in awhile one will catch my eye and I must read it. The prequel to this book, Color Me Bad (my review here) was such a book and of course, since I enjoyed it that meant I needed to read the next book.

Sala’s romance involving a small Southern town in Georgia is a fun read. The story is told from several POVs, which really gives me a good feel of the town and inhabitants. The relationship between LilyAnn and Mike is painful at times. I just wanted to sit them down and bash their heads together. Ok, maybe not that harsh, but they’d settled into such a comfortable routine that they needed something to kick them in the asses. That something finally came in the form of a sleazy hot guy. Woah, doggy. This book is a great read filled with Southernisms, humor, small town gossip, romance, meddling and some danger. I think I wasn't quite as entertained with this one as the prequel because it was longer. It didn't move as fast as I would have liked and I believe that's only because my tastes for contemporary have changed and not a fault of the book. It's still a very entertaining read.