I heard this phrase quite a bit when I was growing up. "How did she react when he told her that?" "Oh, she was fit to be tied." In other words, she was exasperated, aggravated, and irritated all at once. This is the theme of Debby Mayne's newest book in the Bucklin Family Reunion series--Fit to Be Tied.

Most of the main characters have chapters of their own to explain their emotions through the events of the book. I wish I had read the first book of the series. The two together would be a hoot. I may have to go back to read them back to back.

Sometimes the book seems disjointed as it moves from character to character, but at the end of the book, it has all come together.

The one criticism I have is that there are no recipes included for the delicious dishes that are described in the book. Everyone knows that family reunions are all about the food and the relatives' fights.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a family reunion pot luck to tempt your tastebuds.

My thanks goes to Gilead Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

Fit to Be Tied is a fabulous book. Loved the plot and the southern characters. The author nails the family dynamics. I always enjoy this author’s books and look forward to reading the next one. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my arc. This is my unbiased review.

The Bucklins are preparing for their yearly family reunion and as the last year’s celebration included a blown up barn no one knows what to expect from this one. Brett is trying to keep his head low since he and his cousin blew up said barn. But Julian just won’t let him be and is willing to get Brett into new trouble. Julian’s mother Marybeth does not know how to keep him under control. Her husband is no help, having lost his moral compass since they struck oil and thus money on their property.

The twins Sara and Sally are having to adjust to a completely new life. The house is growing too small for Sara, her husband and Sally. As Sally feels more and more left out, she starts looking for a new place to stay and while applying for a loan, seems to meet Mr. Perfect. The girls’ mother Sheila watches her daughters grow apart from afar, worrying for the future of their relationship.

On campus Coralee attracts the attention of a boy and finds out that first relationships aren’t always perfect.

I haven’t read a chick-flic in quite a while. I absolutely loved them, especially Harry Potter fanfic, in my teens. So I was looking forward to a nice, cozy read. The publisher Gilead is a Christian book house, so I knew this wasn’t going to involve more than a bit of kissing. (This is a positive as it has happened that I got into a Fifty Shades of Grey-ish kind of book, when I thought I reading a pre-teen romance.)

Fit to Be Tied was thankfully very light and fluffy. I was slightly disappointed, because I thought the title was a play on getting married. But apparently it is a Southern expression for being angry or miffed. So sadly no wedding. But apart from Brett’s point of view the whole story is mainly about romance, crushes, marriages and drama that lasts a maximum of two pages.

Regarding the drama: There is practically no suspension what so all in this book. Many of chapters end cliffhanger-like and open for potential drama. But the next time that POV is picked up again every cliffhanger is revealed to be a misunderstanding or a positive thing afterall within the first sentence.

I don’t know whether all Christian romance is so positive. Everyone has a near to perfect life. All fights are settled in less than a page, the men are very respectful towards their love interests, the families within themselves are happy and all the women seem to be beautiful and accomplished. While this is a nice premise, it has nothing to do with reality. I was reading this with raised eyebrows as there was miraculous healing, a lot of welling tears within deep conversations and everyone ending up with Mr. Perfect.

The makeovers however had me pissed. A third of Fit to Be Tied is about the various women receiving fashion make-overs. These are so great that they turn from ugly gooselings to women that guys drool over. What kind of Christian message is that? Guys will only appreciate you, when you are attractive enough/dress a certain way? This made the whole story with not fleshed out characters very shallow indeed.

So I was going for light romance and that is exactly what I got. Shallow romance has seldom got a wow-factor, so I’m not disappointed (apart from the makeovers) that it wasn’t great.

A story told from a lot of different peoples point of view, it was kind of confusing at first to keep everybody straight, but it got easier. Everybody had an opinion about everybody's problem but their own. It was a fun read. Thank you NetGalley and Gilead Publishing for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest review.

In true southern-fashion, this story is told from the perspective of multiple family members (six, I think). Everybody is wrapped up in everybody else! Admittedly, this made the story confusing at first, as I struggled to match each character with his/her voice, but once that was accomplished, it was much easier to follow. Each family member has their own issues, and everybody is more concerned about everyone else's issues than their own. With a new husband and baby on the way, Sara brought back some the fears and insecurities of some of the early days. Her twin sister, Sally, faces the single life without her other half always there; and their momma is struggling with the empty nest. Throw in the perspectives and issues of a couple of cousins, mix it all together, and add one or two bad apples to the whole mix, and you've got an interesting mess on your hands!