Kathy Cano-Murillo

This story is about Scarlet Santana. She is never as happy as when she is creating fabulous fashions and posting on her daisyforever.com blog. In fact, she walked away from a profitable job in engineering to pursue her passion for sewing and crafty designs. Now Scarlet finally has a chance to prove to her skeptical family that she can make it in the world of fashion when she is accepted into the Johnny Scissors design program in NYC. The only hitch is coming up with the expensive tuition show more money.

This is where the story really begins. Scarlet opens an after-hours sewing school in a local record shop to raise her funds. Here we are introduced to Maria Theresa, a extremely uptight, rigid, "follow the rules" mother of twins who signs up for the class as a suggestion from her marriage counselor. Then there is Rosa, an older women who seems to have a mysterious past. Mixed in with this group is Marco, the record store owner and several other class participants. Scarlet must ultimately decide whether she must pursue her dream and possibly lose herself in the process

I LOVED this book. There was a bit of romance, even some humor. Mostly thought it was about honoring friendships and family and finding ones inner strength and power. The writing was flawless in my opinion. I loved Scarlet's quirky character. She bubbled with enthusiasm, but was shown to have her limits just like everyone. I found myself enjoying all the female characters in this book. An uplifting story with strong female characters. You don't have to be into crafts to enjoy this story either.

This book even comes with 3 original project ideas and crafting tips at the end. I only wish their was a sketch include in that section showing up an idea of what Scarlet's famous Mexibilly frock looks like!

I am going to add this author's first book, Waking Up in the Land of Glitter to my to read list right now. One of the better books I have read this year! show less

You know what I hate about really good characters in novels? I hate I can’t go hang out with them and be their best buddies. It’s true for Neighbor Dorothy from Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg, it’s true for Maisie Dobss, it’s true of the Waverly sisters from Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, and it’s true of Miss Scarlet Santana. I want to go out for drinks and dancing then go home and make something shiny and sparkly and I’m not a shiny, sparkly kind of girl. show more There’s just something about Miss Scarlet that makes you think glitter is a good idea.

Miss Scarlet (named after the character from the game Clue not, surprisingly Scarlet O’Hara) is a charming, vivacious woman who knows what she wants out of life. She willing gives up a high paying engineering career for a life of happiness in fashion.

The story is just delightful. I wasn’t sure about using that word but really there is no other word that suits as well.It’s just delightful. It has so much of what I love in a novel. There’s old Hollywood mystique, fashion, friendship, romance, and even a little mystery. This is a perfect novel to read if you just want to be happy and maybe be inspired to be a little crafty.

It may take you a little bit to get used to the writing style. Kathy (I”m going to call her Kathy because it seems to be she’s just that kind of gal) has a quirky, funky voice that just captures the feeling of this book. Santana’s Blog entry as such fun and are actually inspiring with her idea’s little ways to make your life sparkly, glittery, and generally happy.

There’s also a great group of women who are Santana’s friends. From the uptight Mary Theresa and her need to loosen up to save her marriage to the wonderful Olivia, or should I say Oh-Live-Yah! who is reclaiming her life after her marriage fell apart, and then there’s the mysterious, wise Rosa who will show Scarlet what is really important.

The other star of this story is the fictional Hollywood designer Daisy de la Flora. Inspired by Carmen Miranda, Daisy goes to New York to become the designer she knows she can be. After years of worship Santana will find out the real story of Daisy and learn more about herself.

The ending ties everything up in a nice pretty frock, which is just what I was looking for. As far as happy endings go, this was a good one and one of the reasons I found the book so delightful. show less

When reading this book, just imagine that the three main female characters are fifteen, not in the their mid-twenties as the author states. If you do this, then their completely shallow, selfish, self-centered, egotistical, clueless, and contradictory behavior might be acceptable. I found these characters unlikable and unsympathetic. The "love" story, such as it was, was herky-jerky and uninspiring. Much of the story is told not shown and there are several segues that make no sense.

I picked this up because I loved the title. This was a really fun read. I liked all the characters, and really liked how they all showed personal growth through the story by embracing their inner crafter.