I really don't have a lot to say about this book. It certainly wasn't a light-hearted story! Posey wasn't happy with her life. She feels she is better than others. Although she is married, I don't understand why she wants to be with the man that dumped her years ago and she had a fling with (and a child with). I liked the chapters that included her daughter, Callie Jane, better. Although she is engaged, she really doesn't love the man. She really wants to escape her mother and her town and go to California. This was a much "darker" story than I thought it would be and really wasn't my kind of book. Posey wasn't my type of character at all.

Posey Jarvis is no longer a Stadler girl and does not want anyone to forget it. She grew past her embarrassing roots to become someone in the community - the Empress to be exact. Finding herself in the family way and quickly ignored by the baby's father, she marries the kindest man in the community who gets part of his dream - a child - if not a loving wife and. mother along with it. As Posey continues to try proving to her long-lost love that she is worthy of him and his high societal needs, she distances herself further and further away from her husband and daughter. The day she finds out she inherited the largest home in the community from her eccentric aunt, she thinks is the happiest day of her life and proof that things are going to start going her way. In fact, the opposite happens and her world begins systemically dismantling.

This was a great "southern" read - small town gossips, star-crossed lovers, and ill-placed expectations combine to create a great story about what you think you want in life, and what the universe has decided for you. It's also a story of strength to push back and stand up for what you want and your own happiness. I greatly enjoyed this book. I'll be watching for more from this author!

I loved this debut book and hope this author writes more!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a juicy story of love, drama, a spoiled grown woman who, is so crazy she will make you bust a gut laughing. This book is perfect for fans of Plum Sykes.

Wow, what a great book! Seeing mother and daughter both following their paths to follow their dreams, and how differently they go about it was fascinating. I loved Callie's relationship with her father, and how much he loved the town, juxtaposed with Posey's hatred of her life and discontentment with her small, insignificant (in her eyes) life. It was so relatable to see Callie struggle between her parents' wishes and what she feels she has to do to be happy. I loved the small Southern town setting,and I appreciated how certain aspects of the story were upended and didn't go in the direction it normally would in a book like this. If you want a book that feels like being in a gossipy hair salon, this is it.

Book Reviews: The Empress of Cooke County
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Elizabeth Bass Parman @elizabethbassparman
Publisher: @harpermusebooks
Thank You to @netgalley for this ARC

Set in the South during the 1960’s this was a delightful debut novel. Posey Jarvis is married to an older man named Vern and lives in the small town of Spark, Saturday Tennessee. Posey’s life is just normal middle class. Everyone is spark loves Vern and this is hard for Posey as she wants so much more than Vern has been able to give her. Posey has a tendency to drink a bit too much which seems to affect her outlook on life. Callie-Jean is Posey and Vern’s 18-year-old daughter. She is engaged to her best friend. She wonders what her life would be like if she marries him. Will it be like her parent‘s, just basic normal? Callie Jean may not really want to be married but make this decision she will to have the courage to say no and chase her dreams .
Posey inherits a rundown mansion from her aunt and since Posey now has this mansion, she ends up final finagling her way to hosting her 20th class reunion. Posey does all of this and hopes to see her old high school flames CJ. CJ happens to be a doctor now and is happily married. But Posey is dreaming of what life would be like with CJ. The problem with Posey is she isn’t happy with what she has and she thinks she would be happy with that which She doesn’t have. Posey needs to learn how to be happy and if she doesn’t, who knows where she’ll go from here. Callie-Jean’s storie is better than Posye’s. Callie-Jean starts to find her voice, and is starting to find what she really wants in life. A secret revealed that affects Callie-Jean’s life and makes it a bit topsy-turvy. She eventually stands up to her mother and lets her voice be heard. Callie-Jean loves her father and is finding it hard to see how her mother treats him. The end of this book was well not quite as I thought it would be. It is very much an emotional whiplash. This book is a true Southern fiction and I a wonderful read. I am going to be looking forward to this author’s next book!

#southernfictio #harpermuse #debut #womensfiction #southernfiction #read #bookstagram

The Empress of Cooke County had a slow start and took a while to get me hooked but once it turned into a bit of a mystery I was in! The POV flip between mother and daughter definitely kept it interesting.

This is a somewhat darker story than the cute cover might have you believe, and while I don't want to give away the ending of the book, this one has a surprisingly satisfying conclusion. This is filled with gossipy, sassy Southern small town charm that still shows the limited options for women in mid-twentieth century America. I really enjoyed this quick and fairly short debut, and I'll be eagerly watching to see if more comes from the author!

I was really looking forward to this one since it sounded like a fun, 1960s historical fiction romp and while there was a lot of small town Southern charm with a cast of quirky characters, this domestic dramedy was darker than I was expecting at times (mother-daughter drama, small town politics plus a murder).

The book explores wealth, identity, love and finding the courage to chase after one's dreams even though it might go against parental expectations and was good on audio narrated by one of my favs, Brittany Pressley. Somehow though it just felt a little flat for me. Okay but not great maybe owing to it being a me thing or a wrong mood, wrong time thing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. Worth a read but I wouldn't rush to recommend it.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A narcissistic woman with a devious plan gets a comeuppance.

In 1960s Spark, Tennessee, Posey Jarvis is eager to make the town forget her humble beginnings and acknowledge her as "empress." She certainly looks the part in her thrifted designer clothes and Cadillac and when she unexpectedly inherits the grandest (albeit dilapidated) house in town from her aunt, Posey believes things are finally falling in place. She will lure the doctor she had an affair with as a teenager and he will realize he really loves her. Sure, she'll have to divorce Vern, her presumably loyal husband who saved her from single motherhood.

But there are a few hurdles. Her teenaged daughter, Callie Jane, is suddenly thinking for herself, wanting to leave for California and break off her engagement with Trace, soon-to-be grocery store mogul. And Vern is disappearing for hours at a time, coming home with flimsy excuses and smelling of fried chicken.

Instead of things falling into place, they fall apart. This small-town story is by turns heartbreaking, hilarious, inspirational, and sad. #TheEmpressofCookeCounty #NetGalley

This book was kind of a lot of nothing going on. The only likeable character was the daughter, and she really had to grow on me. The mother was horrible from the beginning. The father was weak. The baby daddy was a jerk. There isn’t much I liked about this book except the ending.

The empress of Cooke county is a southern family story, the tone of which is similar to lessons in chemistry. Posey is an overbearing mother trying to live the socialite lifestyle that she had a taste of 20 years prior. Posey inherits a derelict house from her aunt and sets her mind to rebuilding it believing it will open a door to the life she feels she has been denied. Meanwhile, her daughter Callie Jane, is struggling under the weight of her mother’s expectations and is engaged to man she doesn’t love to try to please her mother. Affairs and secrets abound in the family, but when tragedy hits the two women put their lives on hold
To find common ground together.

This is a quick read that is atmospheric with witty and sharp dialogue. The novel is light hearted but takes a sudden turn near the end that shifts the tone slightly, if you liked palm royale or lessons in chemistry, you will enjoy this read!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This southern fiction story was a cute book that kept me entertained throughout with well developed characters. Posey, the mom is the self declared empress of Cooke County. She and her daughter Callie are as different as can be and are always butting heads. Posey tries to dominate her daughter as well as her husband without the results she desires. They begin the reclaim their lives but a tragedy occurs and lives are put on hold. Slowly love prevails and Callie finally begins to try to find herself and forge a new life. This is a very engaging book and a quick read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an EGalley of this novel
#TheEmpressOfCookeCounty #ElizabethBassParman #NetGalley

Unhappily married, secret gin drinker Posey Jarvis, envisions herself as the Empress of her small town emulating her idol Jackie Kennedy from her tiny house in Cooke County. Her daughter Callie Jean constantly disappoints Posey along with her husband Vern who possesses no similarities to JFK, much to Posey's consternation and bitterness.

Posey returns again and again to the memory of a night spent with one of Cooke Counties elite almost 20 years before and decides she will do anything to gain his attention once again. When a distant aunt leaves her a derelict mansion, Posey knows this is her way to live in her own Camelot, and sets about hosting the reunion party of the century.


Meanwhile Callie Jane struggles under the weight of her mother's disappointment, when she suddenly finds herself engaged to her best friend she knows that this must be the catalyst for change otherwise she'll end up working in her father's Emporium forever,

A small town full of secrets and hush-hush goings on, Cooke County is about to see some changes

A pleasant surprise!

Synopsis: Set in the small town of Spark, Tenn., in the 1960s, The Empress of Cooke County is a novel about family, love, pride and gratitude. Posey Jarvis inherits a crumbling mansion and aspires to make her former high school classmates — and an old flame — jealous of her new “lifestyle.” Daughter Callie Jane is itching to escape the small-town life and head to California. And Posey’s husband, Vern, just wants his family to be happy. Is the grass always greener on the other side?

This book gets a bit darker and more serious than the cover image and font imply. Yes, there are lots of typical small-town, beauty-shop-gossip tropes, but there’s also some more serious topics/events (no spoilers). I did not expect to have a sleepless night of reading this, but I couldn’t put it down.

I love a book where I don’t know where the next chapter goes, and The Empress of Cooke County does just that.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Harper Muse for the advanced reader copy of #TheEmpressOfCookeCounty.

Not sure exactly what to say about The Empress of Cooke County. I thought it was going to be a light, spoof, of small-town Southern living. While it has some humorous moments, the ending is very dark, unexpected, and seems to come out of nowhere. It can’t be classified as a dark comedy, more like a tragedy. The book description is very misleading, stating that it is full of Southern charm and unforgettable characters, neither of which, in my opinion, is true.

The book takes place during the 1960’s in a small Southern town, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Posey Jarvis is a vain alcoholic, who at least in her mind, has had a difficult life and never seemed to get what she wanted. She is married to Vern, a kind, older man, but fantasizes about being married to CJ, a married doctor with whom she had an affair when she was nineteen, and who disowned her after he found out she was pregnant. An opportunity arises where she thinks she will be able to win CJ back. Posey’s daughter, Callie Jane, is engaged to be married to her life-long boyfriend, whom she does not love like that. She has her own dreams and wants to move to California to pursue them but feels obligated to stay and help Vern in the general store he owns and runs.

The book alternates chapters between Posey and Callie Jane. While the book was very well written, Posey is an unlikable character, who was extremely self-centered and is never satisfied. Why she thought that she could win over someone who told her she was just a fling and beneath him twenty years ago is a mystery, which makes it difficult to enjoy the premise of the book. The book talks about beehive hairdos and the Beatles, whom Callie Jane loves, but other than that, there are no further references to anything that was happening during that time period.

I enjoyed reading Callie Jane’s chapters. I definitely found myself rooting for her as she gets up the nerve to tell off her mother and follow her dreams. It was endearing that she made it clear that Vern was her true father, even after she learns the identify of her biological father. Most of the other characters have bit parts and are only there to help Posey with her scheme. Evangeline was a likable character, but it stretches the imagination to believe that during that time period in the South, people would be so understanding that she was a lesbian.

The book did rely somewhat on coincidences to bring it full circle. I also did not feel the epilogue added anything. The book could have easily with Callie Jane’s last chapter.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

The writing in this book is absolutely awful. Save your money and your time and give this book a hard pass.

This book was a wild and unexpected ride! I certainly did not see any twists or turns coming, and I couldn’t put it down! Excellent book. Thank you for the advanced copy!

It’s the 1960s. Posey wants it all— a fine house, a wealthy husband — a life far different than the one she had as a child. When she found herself pregnant by a married man, Vern, a quiet unassuming man, offered to marry her. He was a wonderful father to Callie, but they were never truly happy. When Posey’s aunt leaves her a mansion and a little money, she tries to realize her dream. The Empress of Cooke County, by Elizabeth Parchman, takes place near Nashville. It was a very interesting tale that shows us pride goes before a fall and humility is something to be honored.

This was a fun read! The ending, while a little heartbreaking, was satisfying. I enjoyed seeing her get what she deserved. I'd be interested to see a follow up to this book.