Salting Roses: A Novel

What's the first thing that pops to mind when you say Southern literature? Gone With the Wind and the indomitable Scarlett? Or maybe you think of mansions and mint juleps. Quirky characters and a deep, abiding love of family may also spring to mind. There's just something about a Southern romance that captures the imagination, even if it and the characters populating its pages are just a hair over the top as they are in Marinello's debut novel.

Salting Roses doesn't have the mint juleps and colonnaded mansions, more like dungarees and bungalows but it does have a spunky tomboy heroine, Gracie, who is surrounded by some of the most loving and wonderful family a woman could ever hope to be raised by no matter what the reality of blood show more might say. Because Gracie is not in fact who she thinks she is. On her twenty-fifth birthday, Gracie discovers that she is in fact Katherine Hammond, the kidnapped heiress to a fortune. She had been left on the porch of her Uncle Ben's house and raised by her Aunt Alice, Uncle Ben, and Uncle Artie as if she was the abandonned daughter of their disappeared niece Rita. While she was raised with love and caring, Gracie also never quite overcame the small town stigma of being Rita's illegitimate child. She suffered at the hands of the wealthier kids in town and so it is with this knowledge of money's ability to corrupt people that she is adamant that she not have to inherit her father's appallingly large fortune. But Sam, the man who was sent by her deceased father and still living, rather starchy grandmother to convince her to accept the bequest, will do everything in his power to get her to see that her reservations are without merit and that her character can handle the corrupting influence of so much money. It doesn't hurt that there is an immediate and strong attraction between Sam and Gracie as this very Southern Cinderella tale plays out.

This is very definitely a romance with Sam and Gracie's antagonistic attraction being a major plot line in the novel. But there's a strong theme of identity running through the story as well. Gracie is thrown for a loop when she discovers her identity as the kidnapped baby daughter of such a wealthy family. And she fights that knowledge, thinking that it will change who she is entirely without respect to the person her aunt and uncles' loving and caring upbringing helped to create. As she examines what her new fortune means to who she is, she also discovers that the people around her are not necessarily who they have always seemed either, keeping secrets, hiding wells of strength, and remaining the same constant people she needs despite who each of these other characters truly are under their skin.

The story reads as light and charming and the tension between Sam and Gracie is well done. There are aspects of the story that are far-fetched but what Cinderella story isn't fanciful? The pacing speeds up a bit towards the end with resolutions coming a bit fast and furiously but most of the resolutions are completely earned and fit with the basic outline of the rags to riches plot line. Over all, this was a quick and delightful read that can be read as superficially frothy or examined on a slightly deeper level for questions of identity, the power of wealth, and the need to be comfortable in your own skin in order to live a happy life. show less

As a lover of Southern literature, this book was a delight to read. The story was predictable but the characters were well defined and most were endearing. Shady Grove, Alabama, the location of the novel is a small town where everyone knows your name and your business and you are either a have or have not.

Gracie, the novel's protagonist, discovers at age twenty-five that her entire life is a lie. She believed that her mother gave her up to be raised by her Uncle Ben, Aunt Alice and Ben's best friend Artie. Gracie's dreams all her young life was to be reunited with her mother, Rita but on her 25th birthday Gracie finds that she is actually the kidnapped daughter of a multi-millionaire. Upon this discovery mixed emotions of living a lie show more and finally knowing who were her real parents and heritage haunt her.

For so many years, Gracie prayed that her mother would return to guide her into adulthood but as the adage says, "You better watch out what you wish for...you might just get your wish." Her real mother, Lillian is after her money...over 65 million dollar worth. Gracie may gladly give her mother the money she inherited upon her real father's death. Gracie's love for the three people who raised is all that is important to her; especially Artie who is her father of another color.

If you love the writings of Fannie Flagg, do read this new all-American read. show less

**This was an advance reader's copy from Library Thing**

Salting Roses purports to be a novel brimming with Southern charm. Oh, it's brimming alright. Ridiculously so. Welcome to the land of Southern stereotypes and Bible Belt cliches. This is right up there in Sweet Home Alabama territory and if Reese Witherspoon is looking for another romantic jaunt in a charming make-believe South, here it is. If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not the target audience for this novel, so maybe it's unfair for me to proceed from here.

As a baby, Gracie Lynne Calloway was left in a bucket on her uncle's doorstep with a note from her mother asking him to watch her for a spell. A spell soon turned into 25 years and Gracie, now an adult and nursing old show more emotional wounds for being labeled the town bastard of Shady Grove, Alabama, is in for a shock--she's not who she always thought she was. A stranger (who is literally tall, dark, and handsome, just in case we miss that he's our prospective love interest) brings her the news that she's actually the kidnapped daughter of the wealthy financier Conrad Hammond of Connecticut. She has been named the sole heir of $650 million dollars. What's a simple Southern girl with a love of baseball and a cushy job in the backroom of the local grocery store to do? Why, turn it down, of course! Because if she accepted it, there would be no plot complications and we wouldn't have this trite little novel. Gracie has been raised to distrust those born with silver spoon in mouth and fears the money will bring too many problems to her quiet and unexceptional life. Yeah, I'm not buying what they're selling here. $650 million dollars? Who wouldn't accept that? At least one could accept it and proceed to do a lot of philanthropic good (of course, I would just use it to wallow in pure hedonism, but different strokes for different folks).

There are several things that ruined the book for me:

A) These are all stock Southern characters that are presented as though they are supposed to be quirky. They're not. They don't even dance around the edges of eccentric. We've seen them a thousand times before in literature and in movies. If you're going to play up the quirk factor in Southern literature, go big or go home.

B) I'm not a fan of romance novels and had I known this was a romance in Southern fiction clothing, I would have avoided it like the plague. However, even I know that in a good romance novel there has to be some will-they-won't-they tension. There's none here. We know as soon as Sam Fontana walks in the door and Gracie starts having dirty thoughts that he's the man she's been waiting for. And if you're pissed over a plot spoiler, be upset with the novel--it makes no pretense that it will turn out otherwise. There's not even the introduction of another prospective suitor to throw the seasoned romance reader off track.

C) Serious crimes against vocabulary in the overuse of the words "sass", "sassy", "Yankee", "princess", and "sugah". Blech.

D) A plot that gets more and more ridiculous as it goes on. If this had been reined in a bit and been a realistic portrayal of realistic people then something could have been salvaged. As it is, when I managed to suspend disbelief long enough to wrap my mind around one nugget of ludicrousness, here came a side order of absurdity.

I like Southern fiction when it's done well. If you're looking for good Southern/regional chick lit, might I suggest The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. If you're looking for authentic Southern lit, read Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell, True Grit by Charles Portis, Ava's Man or All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg, or anything Larry Brown. They're all preferable to Gracie and her whining about being a $650 million dollar princess. show less

This book was so funny, and clever. The dialog was too funny. Gracie, the main character, speaks in a backwoods sort of southern. She's an independent woman, who still seems to need to be taken care of while she takes care of her aunt and uncles. However, being dropped on her aunt and uncle's doorstep had a sad inpact on her life and view of "yankees". She soon finds out that she was kidnapped, and not abandoned as she thought all those years. But she struggles to find a connection to herself that she has always been, and the new much much richer Katherine (her real name). This book keeps you holding on, and is a wonderful read for anytime of the year. Absolutely loved it! I'd love another book to make this a series.

Gracie Lynne Calloway has lived in Southern Alabama since the day, as a newborn infant, she was deposited on her uncle's front step in a coal bucket. Though her mother never came back for her, Gracie found all the love and support she needed from her uncles Ben and Artie and her aunt Alice. Gracie has grown into a tomboy with a strong work ethic and little time for the softer emotions, and is constantly thwarting her aunt's efforts to entice her to settle down and raise a family. On Gracie's 25th birthday, a stranger named Sam arrives in town and delivers some shocking news. It turns out that Gracie isn't Gracie at all, but the kidnapped daughter of a millionaire, and since her father has recently passed away, Gracie is set to inherit show more $650 million. Although the money seems like a blessing, Gracie wants nothing to do with it and Sam has his work cut out for him. When Gracie's forgotten family gets news that she's alive and set to inherit her father's empire, things go from bad to worse. Now Sam has to figure out a way to make Gracie accept her new position and fortune despite her reluctance, and also find a way to ease his troubled heart that beats stronger every time Gracie is in the room. In this rags-to-riches Cinderella story, Marinello shares the story of one very stubborn protagonist who wishes to stay buried in obscurity when the unexpected knocks on her door.

I'm not sure this story worked for me. While I do love a good rags-to-riches tale with a southern feel, there were a few things that just rubbed me the wrong way. I did enjoy parts of the book and it would be misleading to say I didn't enjoy the story as a whole, but some things I discovered as I read were not all that pleasing nor rewarding for me.

While the story had a rich and evocative feel, I just couldn't get over Gracie's stubbornness. I frequently felt she was being contrary just for the sake of being contrary. Maybe the problem is I can't imagine a person wanting to turn down that kind of money. To me, it didn't feel realistic. On one hand, I understood that Gracie wanted to keep her past life intact and didn't want the complications that all this money would bring; but on the other, her family had need of the money and her hard-headed attempts to reject it didn't strike me as a particularly strong character decision. I also felt that Gracie was generally a very antagonistic person. She was always bucking the system and came off as very hard-boiled. She did adopt a softer attitude toward the latter sections of the book, but overall, I just didn't like her very much. She was a spitfire for sure, but I think I would have been more satisfied if she had been a little more emotionally available and gentle.

One thing I particularly liked was the strong family bonds and attachments that the characters had towards one another. There was a sort of cohesiveness to Gracie's second family that I felt was very genuine and touching. Though at times they hid the harsher facts of their lives from her, they seemed to do this for her peace of mind and to protect her from some of the unpleasantness of life. Though theirs was a strange arrangement, it worked for Gracie and it was easy to see why she had such strong ties to them. I liked that they were careful in the way they handled her and I felt their actions bespoke a great love for this orphaned child that they came to care for.

The relationship that began between Sam and Gracie was not hard to spot coming out of the gate, but I actually liked that aspect of the book. Sam was the impetus for change in Gracie and he taught her to be more genteel and soft, putting her rough exterior behind her. Though theirs was a relationship that began with a lot of lust, Marinello toned it down nicely in the middle of the book and it was easy to see why they were drawn to each other and fit together so nicely. Sam tempered something in Gracie, and though she tried to buck away from him, he was tenacious and persistent, ultimately forcing her to reveal a side of herself that was previously unseen.

I guess the main thing that bothered me was the implausibility of it all. Who in their right mind would turn down a fortune that was left to them? Why was everyone so bent on treating a twenty-five year old woman like a child, and why was Gracie such an unbelievable sourpuss all the time? While I was reading, I asked myself if these were realistic situations or was all this fabricated to make for a rollicking story, and I had to conclude that there was something over the top about all of it. It was interesting to see what would happen with it all but somehow the unrealistic aspects of the story made me hold the characters and their plights at arm's length.

Though there was a lot I enjoyed about this book, there were also things I felt were a bit overdone. Where I think Marinello succeeds is on her strong family creation and her ability to fashion a love story using some very headstrong characters. I would recommend this book to those looking for a fairy tale like story, and must conclude that there are readers out there who are a lot less picky than I am who would enjoy it. An interesting, if uneven tale. show less

Gracie Calloway is a 25 year old woman who works in a grocery store and has a mean fastball. She was found on a doorstep by a couple as an infant and was raised by them and a family friend in Shady Grove, Alabama. All is pretty OK in Gracie's world until Sam Fontana shows up on her doorstep . . . .to tell her that she is really Katherine Hammond. Katherine Hammon was kidnapped as a baby and is now the heir to a 250 million dollar fortune.

The rest of the book follows Gracie's struggle to decide what to do with the money and a new found identity. She must contend with the family who raised her and her new family, who mostly want money. She also has to fight off reporters and deal with how the people in her small town now think about her show more and act toward her. And she has to work through how she now thinks and feels about herself. And then there is that sexy Sam to think about as well . . . If there is a theme here it is that money definitely changes everything.

I really ended up liking this book, although I wasn't so sure about it in the beginning. It starts out a bit choppy and I questioned how realistic some of Gracie's initial reactions were, but as the tale continues the characters came much more alive and grew on me until I started to care about them and care about what would happen in the rest of the book. The story is unique enough that it's not entirely predictable (except for the romance of course, but it does do a nice, smoldering, slow burn that is fun to watch unfold). Gracie is an endearing and engaging character and Sam is a good guy. All of the characters are flawed, which I liked because that's the way it is in real life.

This is a book that's not great literature, but was a very fine weekend read. I do recommend it! show less

I've only recently (as in this year) become a fan of "Southern" fiction, books set in the south and ranging from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind to Kathryn Stockett's The Help to more modern stories such as Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. I've been incredibly lucky to have read some fantastic titles, but also have read some.. not so fantastic ones.

So when I saw the description for Salting Roses I jumped at the opportunity to read it. A sort of "Cinderella/Coming-of-Age" story? Yes please! I was so excited and dove right in.. and I was hooked, until things went even a little too overboard for me.

There is a lot of potential story in this book, and perhaps others will not have as much difficulty as I had, but there are so show more many "secondary" characters that I felt the story sort of.. got lost. And then Gracie Lynn kind of got lost in it, and then I was confused as to what exactly the story was supposed to be.

I loved the start of the book, loved it. I was a little perturbed by how outlandish the sum of money was that Gracie inherited, but I accepted that that's a pet peeve of mine and got over it quickly. I loved Ben and Artie and Alice, I loved the foundation being set for who Gracie Lynn was. But then.. things drifted.

I think the problem with this book is that Ms. Marinello tried to get too much put into the story in too little pages. I don't think the book should have been longer though, just.. less conflict, less romance, less.. .something. Just one of those ingredients left out and I think it would have been better. But instead, she seemed to go to extremes, starting with that pet peeve of mine - the huge amount of money. Then instead of one mean person, there's two. Instead of one uncle, there's an uncle and aunt... I could go on with a few more, but I think you understand what I'm talking about here.

The lesson in all of this is moderation. With just a little bit less of everything, I think the story would have fit together more easily and been less confusing and more enjoyable. I don't think the book was bad, I was just disappointed at how quickly everything had to move and everyone had to change to get to the ending. show less