ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝟑.𝟓 ⭐️ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟎𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬 (𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 (𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞).

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐈 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬-𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒩𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑜𝓃, 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝑀𝓊𝓈𝑒, 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒞𝑜𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝐹𝑜𝒸𝓊𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

3.5⭐️ rounded up

This is an unconventional story of a mother and daughter living in the Deep South during the 1960s. Judging by the cover and blurb, I expected a lighthearted, gossipy southern drama, but the reality was much darker.

The story is told from two points of view. Posey Jarvis is truly wicked. Her day is filled with sips of gin, rumination on her own importance, and manipulative plans to get what she wants even at the risk of destroying others. Callie Jane is Posey’s daughter. She has lived under her mother’s domineering control and longs to escape her and the small town she calls home. Both women have dreams. The cost of achieving them is quite high.

I alternated between audio and print versions of this book and found both held my interest. Brittany Presley’s narration captured the southern charm of the Cooke County setting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the opportunity to access advance copies in exchange for my unbiased review.

This follows a mother and daughter. Callie has been doing everything that her mother, Posey, wants her to do. Callie ends up engaged to be married, taking over a business that she doesn’t want to and in a town she no longer wants to be at. Posey wants a different life too, but she definitely controls the direction of her life.

I really enjoyed this book and loved it.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance listen.

This is a captivating novel with a wild cast of characters in rural Sparks, TN. Posey is the self appointed empress of Cooke county, TN as she inherits a mansion from her aunt. Her daughter Callie Jane spends the author discovering herself and deciding how far she will go to save someone she loves. This was such a unique concept for a novel, a mix of historical fiction and suspense that had me unable to stop listening. The audiobook is really well done too. I really liked the narrator

Thank you Harper Muse Audiobooks and netgalley for the advance listening copy.i

This book is told by a mother/daughter duo. You have Posey- she hates her life. She pines for her long lost love and wants to be a society wife. She technically is a society wife, but she is a tiny Podunk town. When she inherits her aunt's estate, she is convinced that her life is going to change. Then, Posey's daughter, Callie Jane. She feels trapped- her life is planned. She will marry her best friend and run her father's business. But she wants more. Is she bold enough to stand up for her choices?

I very much enjoyed reading Callie Jane's chapters. I liked her coming-of-age journey and her relationship with her father.

However, Posey was awful. And not in a funny way. What an awful, self centered character. You had a fling 20 years ago. GET OVER IT. She had what many people would consider a perfect life, yet she hated it all. There was nothing likeable about her at all. It is hard to even root for a redemption arc for someone that awful.

Brittany Pressley narrates the audiobook. As always, she did a wonderful job.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Harper Muse for the gifted copy of The empress of Cooke County. 4.19 stars.

The most important thing to know about this book is that it’s quite different than the marketing suggests. I saw promo material that included the phrases “brimming with wit and whimsy” and “gin-soaked escapes.” This is really not accurate. The vibes are more J. Ryan Strandal/Lessons in Chemistry than Sophie Kinsella/Jennifer Weiner. Despite the cutesy cover, it gets dark.

That said, I really enjoyed the story and think most people who go in with their expectations set accurately will too. The characters are interesting and engaging. The atmosphere is set in a way that completely pulls you into the story. I felt like a fellow Cooke County resident, walking the streets, visiting the emporium, and generally invested in the lives of the townspeople. I was shocked at the turn of events that happen toward the end of the story, but in the way townsfolk would be shocked when something unusual happens to one of their own. In other words, the story felt authentic, even in its twists.

The only thing I really didn’t like, besides the marketing, is Posey… who is admittedly a big part of the story and the primary reason for the 4 star range rating. I don’t mind awful or unlikeable characters, generally speaking — they’re often the most true to life! But in Posey’s case, unlikeable and awful are understatements. The depth of her depravity is outrageous, extreme, and unrelatable. She’s seriously delulu in a way that would make her a true sociopath in real life, but her delusions aren’t portrayed that way in the story.

Overall, excellent read that I’d recommend to fans of family dramas and historical fiction.

Audio: Brittany Presley narrates, what else do you need to know? Just kidding - she’s amazing of course! She’s performs both Posey and Callie Jane’s POVs but does a good job with varied inflection to differentiate the two. Highly recommend this one on audio!

Overall ratings
Exact star rating: 4.19
10-pt star rating: 4
5-pt star rating: 4

Attribute ratings
Characters: 3
Atmosphere/Setting: 5
Writing Style: 4
Plot/Pacing: 4.5
Intrigue: 4.5
Logic: 4.5
Enjoyment: 4

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I truly enjoyed this one, breaking my slump of meh books outside of the romance genre. Elizabeth Bass Parman is a great storyteller and I loved getting swept up in Callie Jane and Posey's narratives. For Callie Jane it was very much a coming of age story, while for Posey it seemed more of a cautionary tale of getting too big for your britches. I rarely root for characters that cheat in their relationships because *traumatized* BUT, honestly, Justice for Vern because he was such a great dad and deserved way more than he got. The ladies around town made fun of Posey but they barely knew the depth of the crazy. The book was a little slow to start and I was hesitant to really lean into it because I usually don't like historical fiction, but this was a great change of pace.

Additionally, Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite narrators and this is another great performance from her!

This read was a little strange for me. At times I enjoyed it. The story is told from the perspective of the mom (Posey) and the daughter (Callie Jane). Posey is a miserable sad sack of a human being and is awful to her daughter. I think I found it a little unbelievable that Vern (the husband) was such a good father, yet continued to let Posey bully Callie Jane and be a toxic presence in her life. The book wraps up too quickly for any sense of satisfaction and overall left me with the feeling of "What was the point?"

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy for review.