Sophie Littlefield

At age 50, Stella Hardesty is the best shape of her life, thanks to her new part-time job. Most of the week is spent operating the sewing machine sales and repair shop that she owns in a small mid-Missouri town, and in her spare time she enjoys sewing and quilting. But she has less time for sewing lately, since she has begun helping other women like herself. Three years ago, her long-abusive husband was found dead in their home from a blow to the head with a wrench. Since the sheriff chose show more not to pay too much attention to all the evidence, the death was determined to be accidental, and Stella was never charged with a crime. Now she is free and Stella is using her time and energy to help other women caught in the same situation that she was. Her reputation has spread, and she has clients in all the surrounding counties, plus Kansas City, St Louis, and even some in neighboring states. She also has a reputation among the men in the area, too, and there is a rumor that there are bodies buried all over the county. Stella denies the rumor, but not too loudly. She has developed the skills needed to confront the abusive husbands and boyfriends of her clients and "persuade" them to change their ways. She keeps a locked gunbox bolted to the floor of her jeep, carries her "hand tools" in a Tupperware container, and puts a pair of sewing shears in her ankle holster. She works outside the law, and is careful not to draw too much attention to herself, but she is more concerned with helping the women who are depending on her than she is with keeping herself out of jail. The trouble is, there is a new sheriff in town whose attention Stella wouldn't mind. And maybe he feels the same way.

I thought this book was delightful, if a little uneven. Stella Hardesty is more Grandma Mazur than sweet little old lady. But she is smart, and only uses as much force as she needs to. The humorous touches - like carrying handcuffs and homemade lock picks in Tupperware - aren't overdone. And people who tangle with bad guys alone in dark places wind up in the hospital - just like they would in real life. I think Littlefield is off to a good start here. show less

When I think of Stella Hardesty one word comes to mind: BADASS. Now, lest you think I am taking advantage of marketing my blog in the text of this review – let me prove to you why Stella is so gosh darned BADASS.

1. At the age of 50 she redefined her body from chubby to svelte, powerful and able to endure a lot of physical activity.

2. At the age of 49 she killed (in defense and out of anger) her long standing physically abusive husband. (Note: I am not endorsing murder, this is simply a show more factor in her badassedness).

3. Stella knows how to use a gun, a knife, and various implements of torture - -and not for 50 Shades of fun but for the defense and protection of herself and other women.

4. Stella protects women and children who are fleeing abusive situations.

5. Stella still has that something special – enough to turn the eye of the hot local sheriff in her direction.

6. Stella goes toe to toe and nose to nose with mobsters, drug dealers and local snobby women.

7. Stella can cook, sew and take care of kids in addition to wielding a gun and taking down villains.

A Bad Day for Scandal is the best in the series so far, which is saying a lot because this series is really really good. I listened to the audio (as I did for the first two), the narrator is different for this one and she is fabulous. What makes this one so good? The character and relationship development and the pushing of the overall story arc. Sophie Littlefield is skilled at including full conversations, rather than small snippets here and there. The full conversations might not be necessary for the overall plot line, but they are important to get a fuller picture of the characters and a richer context. We see Stella in the caretaker role in terms of her relationship with the neighbor boy and her relationship with her daughter. We see Stella in a blossoming and often times difficult romantic relationship. And we see Stella as a business partner with Chrissy. This series just offers so much to readers that I have not seen in other books/series. There is action, a decent mystery, really funny humor, a smidgen of romance and sexuality, interpersonal relationship drama and story/character progression. I think in the genre of crime fiction it is hard to find a story that has well rounded female characters and is decently funny. The setting of rural Missouri adds a lot to the storyline. There are so many books in crime fiction that take place in urban settings, but the rural atmosphere has so much flavor and potential.

Let me leave you with a Stellaisms from A Bad Day for Sorry:

He settled his big hands on her hips. He let them slide slowly down to cup her ass which she had jammed into a Spanx hide and seek high rise panty. Before slipping on the slinky purple faux wrap dress that her daughter had given her after surviving being held at gunpoint together gift the prior fall. Stella was fairly sure she would enjoy the sensation of Goat’s strong fingers kneading her flesh if it hadn’t gotten numb in its fierce polyester lycra prison hours ago.

How is a gun better than a man? If you admire a friend's pistol she'll probably let you try it out.

Oh, your mom is going to kill me. What was I think getting you practically murdered and on a school night too.

We are not spending company time trying to figure out how to do a dirty porno act! show less

I enjoyed this book very much and it kept me guessing until the end. The quote on the back of the book from Publishers Weekly says it perfectly:
"Littlefield has a gift for pacing...page-turning action and evocative, sensual, harrowing descriptions."

There are two different time periods explored in this book. The book starts in 1978 with an owner of a gym being surprised at work early one morning. The next day a detective arrives at Lucy Takeda's home to ask her whether she was near the gym show more the previous day because the owner, a man she knew years ago, was killed and someone saw a woman who fits Lucy's description. Lucy's daughter, Patty, who is staying with her mother prior to her wedding, is quick to defend her mother but starts to have some questions. After all she really doesn't know anything about her mother's stay in a Japanese internment camp which was where Lucy met Reg Forrest, the man who is dead.

The story then switches back to the war years and we learn a little about Lucy and her mother, Miyako. Miyako was gorgeous and drew the attention of a white male supervisor. Miyako also had mental health issues but she was determined to protect Lucy who was also starting to interest the camp supervisors. The way she chose to do that was stunning. I'm still not sure I accept it was necessary but it certainly was effective.

The story switches back and forth several times and we learn more, each time, about Lucy, Miyako and Patty. It's a riveting tale.

I was surprised to see that this book was published by Harlequin. They have obviously expanded beyond the cookie cutter romances that I remember. show less

This was not the sort of fiction that normally appeals to me - two women each have a late-teenage son who has gone missing from their first jobs in a remote oil town in North Dakota and must work together to find out what has happened - as it smacked of touchy-feely girly-stuff. However, the reviews were consistently good, so I gave it a go.

What a revelation! Sophie Littlewood has produced a minor masterpiece of tension, raw emotion and thriller-level suspense. We get to see these two very show more different women gripped by a shared love of their sons and a powerful need to find out what has happened to them when everyone around them - the police, the oil companies they work for, the local townspeople - tries, for various reasons of their own, to ignore these disappearances. The desperate need in each of these women to find and protect their children is portrayed as a relentless all-consuming love that absolutely will not stop, even as they recognise the harm it is doing to them physically, emotionally and to their relationships back home.

Our opinions of these women and the impressions we form of their lives are driven by our own prejudices and manipulated well by Littlefield. As the novel progresses we find our responses to each subtly shifting until we recognise that neither woman is wholly likeable or wholly despicable. They are just people. show less