A protagonist that I loved to hate made for a quick take down of this wonderful debut novel. The setting is a small, southern town that is full of charm and of course a gossip-fueled, local beauty shop, the Curly Q.

Posey spends her time wishing for her life to be different. She is self-centered, cares little for anyone but herself, spends her time trying to impress others, and does not appreciate what she has. She is fixated on a man with whom she had a 7-day affair 20 years ago, and is always concocting plans and manipulating others to get what she feels is necessary to win him over. On the opposite end of the spectrum are Posey's husband, Vern, and daughter Callie Jane who care deeply for others and appreciate all that they have.

After inheriting a dilapidated mansion, Posey races to create what she deems a 'show place' in order to host her high school reunion and seal her place as the Empress of Cooke County. But at what cost? Meanwhile, Vern and Callie Jane run the Emporium, a local second-hand store. Callie Jane feels that her life is being orchestrated by others and has her sights set on California, but guilt about leaving her father is keeping her in place.

Can this family survive Posey's dreams and domineering ways? Will Posey indeed become the Empress of Cooke County? Will Callie Jane break free? Read this poignant story and find out!

My favorite quote:
"Choose your dreams and then do all in your power to conjur them into being, before someone does the choosing for you."

Thank you to NetGalley and the Harper Muse for this ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved this gem of a book from the very first page! It is a sweet story about life in Cooke County, Tennessee. The writing is reminiscent of Fannie Flagg. Posey Jarvis is a social climber in an unfulfilling marriage with an 18 year old daughter. Self-indulgent and selfish, she is constantly trying to better her lot in life and doesn't appreciate her kind husband or lovely daughter. The story follows a cast of characters in Cooke County and I loved them all. The plot follows Posey as she inherits a large mansion and sets about sprucing it up in order to host her class reunion and her daughter's wedding reception. Posey is also still pining over a married man she had an affair with twenty years ago. Her daughter and husband are also searching for happiness and fulfillment. Read this book! Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced reader copy.

This was a really enjoyable read. I had a hard time putting it down. I think most fiction readers will enjoy it. Pick this one up on publication day.

When I read the description of this book, it sounded like a light, fun and humorous read. What I discovered was a truly unlikeable protagonist, self-centered with an enormous sense of entitlement and completely incapable of showing love or empathy.

Character growth is an important element of a good novel, but Posey Jarvis shows none. At the beginning of the book, she's a spiteful, dishonest, petty drunk who uses and manipulates people to get what she wants. After committing the unthinkable, she remains that way at the end of the book, but at least she gets her comeuppance.

The one redeeming element of the book is Posey's daughter Callie Jane, who eventually grows a backbone and becomes a person in her own right.

It’s 1966, and Posey Jarvis’s life hasn’t turned out quite as she planned. She’s married to the much older Vern and living in a small suburban home, but she pines after her wealthy ex, CJ. When an opportunity to rise in the social ranks lands in her lap, she starts scheming to win CJ back.

Meanwhile, Posey’s 18-year-old daughter, Callie Jane, is engaged to her lifelong best friend and on track for a life of comfort and stability. The only problem is she doesn’t want any of it - the man or the picture perfect small-town life. She needs to gather courage to chase her own dreams.

What I liked about this book:
-The small-town, midcentury vibes were vivid and fun.
-Posey’s inner thoughts were at times quite funny.
-There was a great twist toward the end.

What I didn’t like:
-Something about the tone just didn’t resonate with me. It was neither dark enough nor funny enough to really feel like a dark comedy, but it wasn’t serious enough to feel like lit fic.
-None of the characters had a particularly nuanced sense of morality. It was quite apparent early on who the “good” and “bad” people were in this book and who we were supposed to be cheering for.

The premise of this book was fun, but I don’t love how it was executed. I suspect this is more about me being the wrong reader for the book than it is about the book’s overall quality. I wouldn’t necessarily advise anyone to stay away from it, but I don’t think I’ll be recommending it.

This was a solid story of how love is what matters in life! Callie Jane is the heroine that all of us needed but also Evangeline and Vern. Posey was a fantastic antihero, she was so wrapped up and twisted inside of herself that she was never going to get out without doing something ridiculous. The author made it so easy to love the town of Spark and most of the people in it. This is still small town life! Great story!

This is a light commercial story that doesn't ask much from the reader but it's a fun read. Although Posey is self-centered and superficial, the author conveys her journey in an entertaining format. I felt bad for Posey's daughter. The small town feel is spot-on. Same for the time period, which is well-researched and nicely conveyed. Readers looking for satire or dark humor will find much to admire here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-galley; all opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

One of the pleasures of reading is that it takes you places you have never been before. Or, introduces you to a new element of society or culture. This book delivered that in spades.

Posey may present herself as an unsympathetic protagonist to most readers, but she is a vibrant illustration of the art of swimming upstream in a snake infested Southern creek. The stifling small-town world presented in the book was vibrantly presented and I didn’t have to stretch my imagination much to travel to Posey’s beauty salon or the family “ Emporium.”

I am afraid I would have been one of the snarky neighbors passing judgment on her attitude, but It was still difficult not to feel some empathy and regard for this ultimate “ survivor” who never stopped trying to fulfill her dreams. No matter how selfish they were.

The star of this book for me was the spirit of the small town. While it stifled some, it cared for many and it was valuable for me to spend some time in a place where neighbors may have wagging tongues, but they still take care of each other.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as an advance reader .

Posey is just too spoiled for my liking. I felt lots of sympathy for her daughter. But I DNF after 17%.

What happens if you have lived most of your life living and wishing for something and then all of a sudden you have a chance to make it a reality. Posey has been looking to take her crown as the Empress of Cook County for her entire life and with the death of her aunt has now been given the chance to re set her life to the course, but at what cost. A fun and heart warming book about relationships between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters and how to navigate projecting what you are working to manifest while living in a small town.

I really enjoyed this book and read it only in a couple of days. If your looking to enjoy a book full of southern charm with some twists and turns this is the perfect book for you.

Sassy story that surprised me. I really enjoyed this easy, one sitting read. I would gladly read more from this author.

Posey is an unhappy housewife living in the South in the 60's- who's main goal is to impress others with all of the best things and keep up appearances of living large.
This was unlike most books I read and I don't even know how to classify it? Dark comedy maybe? But yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading about the 60's as that's when my parents grew up and I found this book surprisingly funny and binge worthy.
Posey was definitely an unlikeable main character, with innumerable character flaws, but I found myself enjoying the crazy. Her daughter Callie Jane, and husband Vern were great characters who offset the crazy well and balanced the book well.
I had many laughs, but it also had its dark moments. Overall I enjoyed- mainly because I really didn't know where this book was taking me.
I would recommend this read to anyone wanting to go back in time to small-town life in the 60's- with some crazy thrown in.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the chance to read.

Thank you,NetGalley and Harper Muse for this ARC. I thought this was going to be a light hearted and fun book which is what I was in the mood for.

Posey isn't happy with her life. She wasn't happy with her husband or their lifestyle. She wanted more and thought she was better than everyone else. Her daughter seemed to be trapped under her controlling mother, but at least her father supported her with her dreams.

Now the book didn't end the way I thought it was going to. I felt like the last couple of chapters were the best part of the book. Just wish it had that pace throughout the book.

*4.5 stars

This was a great debut. This ended up being much more than what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a comedy, but it went a little darker. Posey is a woman who has spent her life wanting something more & not appreciating what she had. A stable home, a kind husband, & a devoted daughter. Instead she pined for years for a man who wasn’t her husband, wanting to be rich and a huge house. Well……Posey is about to learn a few things. Is she a little narcissistic? Oh, yes. Entertaining to watch her mess her life up though.

Mom wants to manage every aspect of daughter’s life. Daughter realizes she can’t follow the path her mother has chosen for her.

The book grabbed me from the first page and I found myself looking forward to having some alone time with the story. I despised Posey from the very beginning, while admiring her at the same time for being a strong woman and a go getter. I was rooting for Callie Jane the entire time, hoping she’d found her way.

The Empress of Cooke County by Elizabeth Bass Parman was a great book to read on a lazy Sunday - I didn't want to put it down and spent the entire day immersing myself in Cooke County and Posey's world.

Posey imagines that she is the Empress of Cooke County and that everyone is basically there to give her what she wants, when she wants and if not, she tries to manipulate the people and situations so that she gets what she wants, especially her husband and daughter.

When she unexpectedly inherits a crumbling old mansion, she maneuvers it so that she will host the upcoming class reunion at the mansion, and her moves to get it ready in time end up with her life crumbling around her.

As the daughter of someone from the South, I could relate to so many of the secondary characters in this book and it was fun (even when it shouldn't have been). I so enjoyed Callie Jane finding her voice and gumption in the face of changing her life due to what everyone else once and Posey getting her comeuppance.

All of this together is a great read and I want to read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved the Empress of Cooke County and happily read it in 12 hours. Posey Jarvis fancies herself the empress of Cooke County. She certainly has an opinion on everything expecting her daughter Callie Jane and husband Vern to fall in line with whatever she dictates. She demands her daughter marry her childhood friend, and her husband leave his family home to move to a bigger, more prestigious place. In her mind that is. When her family and friends start to say no and see through her, Posey’s self appointed kingdom starts to crumble which makes the novel. Funny, poignant, set in the south, this is a book to be throughly enjoyed.