FREE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
For the next few days, you can grab Glad One: Crazy is a Relative Term, for free on Amazon! Discover the hilarious mystery series readers are describing as “A redneck Stephanie Plum!”
Amazon Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XTKBMWT
REVIEWER COMMENTS
"Hooked like a fish. OMG Margaret Lashley is the best! Val could be Stephanie Plum's double!! Phenomenal writing."
"If you enjoy Janet Evanovich you will love Margaret Lashley!"
"Her characters are real and full, her situations believable, and her dialogue marvelous."
"There's a mystery at the heart of this book - a few of them - that will hook fans of Janet Evanovich and other comic mystery writers."
"Margaret writes with a "smirk" of a Cheshire cat. Fantastic read."
"Full of twists and turns as only Margaret Lashley can write!"
"If you like Anne George's 'Southern Sisters' don't miss Margaret Lashley!"
"The characters are great - so many laugh out loud moments..."
"Glad One is a funny, witty and entertaining book."
SYNOPSIS
How Many Do-Overs Do You Get in One Lifetime?
One crazy old lady. Two gin and tonics. Three derelict beach-bum friends. Will Val’s fourth stab at starting over add up to a big fat zero?
After being raked over the coals by her German ex, Val Fremden returns to her hometown of St. Pete Beach, Florida to find everyone and everything she knew squashed under the heels of change – including herself.
With nothing to go on but her own dry sense of humor and the life coach advice of a beer-guzzling old lady she meets at the beach, can her life sink any lower?
Starting over again won’t be easy. But Val soon discovers friends can come from unexpected places.
When a chance encounter with a drunken beach bum throws a hot cop onto her path, Val realizes there are still a few sparks left in the old girl, yet. Now, if she could only convince herself she’s still got what it takes to get him hot and bothered, too….
Glad One is a satirical look at divorce, singlehood and climbing back up the social scale, told through the eyes of a snarky, reluctant, mid-forties woman who took her chances and lost everything…but regained herself.
If you like wacky, deeply flawed characters and laugh-out-loud situations, you’ll love Glad One! It’s the first book in Margaret Lashley’s hilarious, irreverent Val Fremden Humorous Mystery Series.
REVIEW
Southern style, rednecks, down-and-out losers, a lot of sarcasm and surprisingly hope.
Val's midlife return to the US is not exactly welcoming - limited money, no friends, and no career. She meets a woman on the beach - Glad - who offers her friendship and a life message. Only then Glad dies and the mystery unfolds around Glad's life. Val may not have a plot for her next book, but along with her new - rather unusual friends - she is determined to find answers and not let the witch get whatever inheritance may be due Glad's daughter. Tom, the cop (and sanest of the bunch) agrees to help out and what they discover is not expected. So, how many do-overs can one person have in the game of life?
Lashley has created quirky characters, yet the bonds among Glad friends, even with the dramamine, body odor, and beer, are enviable. If you like a story that has every possible twist of human interaction - the good, the bad, the ugly, the humorous - you will enjoy this book and the journey as Val finds Glad's daughter. As much women's fiction as anything else, there is a mystery to solve. And the solution isn't necessarily expected.
This is the first of the Val Fremden Humorous Mysterious Series, I'm looking forward to reading more and it looks like there are 7 in the series...
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.
QUESTIONS FOR THE AUTHOR
Why did you decide to write women’s fiction?
I grew up in an era of strong women role models, such as Marlo Thomas in That Girl, as well as Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett in shows that bore their names. These women were pursuing their own dreams, their own ways. I didn’t see much of that in fiction today. I wanted to create a character that was strong, yet vulnerable. One that celebrated the everyday, self-made woman who was struggling to finally put her own needs first. My main character, Val, is a survivor who bears the scars of her hard journey proudly, and with her own quirky coping mechanisms and sense of humor.
Where did you get the idea for Glad One?
It’s a follow-up to Absolute Zero. A middle-aged woman who had it all, risked it all, and is now starting over with nothing. I wanted to explore the idea of a woman who returns to the US and finds everything she knew erased – including her credit history, finances, friends and social status. With no family support either, where could she turn? What would she do? What would change about her? What would she learn to value above all else?
What type of reader would enjoy your brand of women’s fiction?
Readers who like to be taken by surprise – who like to laugh and cry and dissolve into another world when they read. My characters have their great triumphs and cringe-worthy failures. They are flawed and vulnerable and funny as hell. My stories draw laughs using a wide net – from Pat Conroy’s twisted, dark family humor to Bridget Jones’s slap-stick situational gaffs. Things don’t always turn out like they planned. But that’s life – when it’s lived truly.
Why did you decide to write women’s fiction?
I grew up in an era of strong women role models, such as Marlo Thomas in That Girl, as well as Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett in shows that bore their names. These women were pursuing their own dreams, their own ways. I didn’t see much of that in fiction today. I wanted to create a character that was strong, yet vulnerable. One that celebrated the everyday, self-made woman who was struggling to finally put her own needs first. My main character, Val, is a survivor who bears the scars of her hard journey proudly, and with her own quirky coping mechanisms and sense of humor.
Where did you get the idea for Glad One?
It’s a follow-up to Absolute Zero. A middle-aged woman who had it all, risked it all, and is now starting over with nothing. I wanted to explore the idea of a woman who returns to the US and finds everything she knew erased – including her credit history, finances, friends and social status. With no family support either, where could she turn? What would she do? What would change about her? What would she learn to value above all else?
What type of reader would enjoy your brand of women’s fiction?
Readers who like to be taken by surprise – who like to laugh and cry and dissolve into another world when they read. My characters have their great triumphs and cringe-worthy failures. They are flawed and vulnerable and funny as hell. My stories draw laughs using a wide net – from Pat Conroy’s twisted, dark family humor to Bridget Jones’s slap-stick situational gaffs. Things don’t always turn out like they planned. But that’s life – when it’s lived truly.
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