Blueprints revolves around a family-owned business called “Gut It” (another HGTV show about renovating houses). Jamie's father wants to make her the new fresh face of “Gut It”, which means moving her mom, Caroline, off the front lines. Things are derailed when Jamie's father and his current wife are killed in a car accident, leaving Jamie as the only logical solution to raise their son. So now the family has to grapple with issues of age disparity and family legacy. When exactly are we too old to step aside and allow someone younger to replace us? Who will take over the family throne?
Other issues brought out, especially those involving relationships, make the reader ask challenging questions: How much time should I devote to finding Mr. Right? Can this be love already? When is it too soon to get married? Do adult children still need their parents? Do parents still want to be needed by their adult children? What’s off-limits in parent/child talks? These are just a few of the thought provoking questions spinning through this novel.
The audiobook reader had to switch between several different personalities throughout the book. Readers who prefer audiobooks should feel free to listen and judge for themselves, but I thought the child voices sounded whiny, and the male voices were not as masculine as I would have liked. Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.
This delightful read surrounds several Charleston women "of a certain age" who are the closest of friends: Bernice, the long-time housekeeper; Toots, (a.k.a. Theresa), who becomes Bernice's caregiver and has married and buried several husbands; Mavis, a former English teacher who suffered from OCD and with the help of her friends lost 100 pounds and regained her confidence; Sophia, a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed psychic who chose not to leave her abusive husband and was instrumental in finding her friend's kidnapped daughter; and Ida, who launches a cosmetics line and allows her friends to try her products and model results. They have an undeniable bond that allows them to be true to who they are. The author’s descriptions allow you to envision the setting and clearly picture the characters, and Michaels delivers a humorous read even during the tensest part of the story, when a kidnapping occurs. And for at least one of the characters, romance is also on the horizon.
This is the fifth book in the Godmothers series. I felt it could stand alone on its own, since enough background information was given along the way to keep me up to date. I would like to go back and read the first four to actually get a better feeling of the characters and their history. It's a light, humorous read that is sometimes compared to shows like Golden Girls. The narrator, Natalie Ross, gave an excellent delivery of the book, so pick up the audiobook if you can.
