The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

The Sugar Queen

by Sarah Addison Allen

Twenty-seven-year-old Josey is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, shes a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mothers house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night Until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis and two parts fairy godmother. Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey's clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return shes going to change Josey's life because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee's tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding. But her life is changing faster than she knows...

Reviewed by ladygrey on

4 of 5 stars

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I devoured this book. I wanted to give it five stars while I was reading it because I was enraptured by the characters and the world and the story, but I really wouldn't do such a thing after only reading it once.

I love the sense of magic and passion that [a:Sarah Addison Allen|566874|Sarah Addison Allen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1372537232p2/566874.jpg] evokes. She is a purveyor of modern day fairy tales and quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. [b:The Sugar Queen|2200877|The Sugar Queen|Sarah Addison Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440154317l/2200877._SX50_.jpg|2854106] is so delightful it makes you wonder if the real world is that magical as well. Or if, your world is changed and is more magical for having read it, somehow more alive; if it will bring something new into your life or you'll see something you'd have missed otherwise; if something will come alive within you, something that's been lost so long you've forgotten you ever had it. And isn't that why we read books at all?

If [b:The Sugar Queen|2200877|The Sugar Queen|Sarah Addison Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440154317l/2200877._SX50_.jpg|2854106] doesn't deliver on bringing that magic into your life at the very least it reminds you of the wonder of possibility.

The other thing I like about Allen's romances is that there is no one perfect guy that everyone wants or one belle of the ball. It's the right guy for each girl and they fit so wonderfully with each other. And all her characters are flawed or hurt or hiding something or are most often scared but they each come more alive in coming together. It's a magical sort of romance that is more real than a lot of other books.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 June, 2011: Finished reading
  • 2 June, 2011: Reviewed