Rating: 
Summary: Southern Chick-Lit at Its Finest
Review: And my, what a scandalous summer it was! This book is the "Days of Our Lives" of the literary world. One moment you'll find yourself laughing out loud, and the next, you'll be caught up in love scenes guaranteed to make even the most scandalous of Sissy's blush! It does a great job of keeping the reader guessing as to what will happen to our Southern steel magnolia Sissy.
In 1956, we find Sissy the mother of 3 children, married to Pee Wee LeBlanc and growing ever more restless by the day in the small Louisiana town where she grew up. Her life was dull and monotonous and her love life lackluster; she says if speed sex were an Olympic event, Pee Wee would take the gold hands down. But all of this changed the day Parker Davidson-Sissy's high school beau and local football hero-waltzed back in to town. Needless to say, he was no Pee Wee.
She finds herself torn between her ever-present love and lust for Parker, and her duties as a wife and mother. Her efforts to juggle both quickly become too much to handle as the rumor mill-also known as the ladies' choir from the Southern Methodist Church of Gentry-begins to churn. Something has got to happen and fast or the lowlifes of Gentry are going to make their presence known. The problem here is that Sissy is all too familiar with these characters and has more secrets intertwined with the scum of the town than you'll ever imagine.
Then the book rewinds to 1941 where Sissy, the cheerleading captain, and Parker, the football star, are the perfect high school couple. More than a few girls wanted to get their pompoms on Parker, and men young and old wanted to catch a peek at Sissy's bloomers. Sissy knew the power of her sex appeal and used it to her advantage. But she never would have guessed how it would change her life forever and leave her with a secret stickier than a New Orleans' summer.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so good
Review: I tried to read this book twice and could not get past the third chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and real!
Review: I truly enjoyed this book - like another reviewer here it was on my wish list for ages. I finally succumbed and am so glad I did! Sure, there are a few flaws (like why didn't Sissy have any friends at all?) and a few minor incidents left unexplained - but the story was good enough for me to forgive these oversights. Sissy is a likeable character with the same type of spunk you'd expect from a Sweet Potato Queen.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone Loves a Good Scandal!
Review: I was a little nervous when I realized the author's previous endeavors were in screenwriting, and to be honest there were a couple of TV/movie gags... a dream sequence and a round up of how all the character's lives turn out at the end. But really those things were fine because the whole book felt like a TV show you would not want your mom to catch you watching. But that only adds to the fun!Sissy Leblanc is a southern housewife in the mid 50's who is looking for a little adventure. Luckily for her, her old highschool sweetheart just came back to town after 14 years. The story twists and turns as we discover the secrets in just about everyone's lives in Sissy's hometown of Gentry, Louisiana. More importantly though Sissy's past is unraveled and we learn just why it is she ended up married to a man she doesn't even really like. Do not be fooled- that is not just a cute title.! The book is most definitely scandalous and may not be for those who blush easily. But as a quick, summer read for a girl looking to read about a romantic adventure but not ready to step into one of her own... this does the job well.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done!
Review: I was pleasantly suprised at what a good read this novel was.
Rating:
Summary: A great beach read
Review: I was surprised and excited by how much I enjoyed this book. It is like the Ya Ya sisters but more fun and with a plot. I felt Sissy was a totally believable character, and I loved watching her make hard choices, deal with the outcomes, and have a wonderful time doing it. This is a fast, 1-2 day, read! and I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Ya Ya's.
Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Page-turner For Every Southerner
Review: If you enjoyed The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, you will find Loraine Despres's The Scandalous Summer of Sissy Leblanc equally entertaining. The books are of the same genre and written for the same audience - proud Southerners who take pleasure in reading about and laughing at the intrinsic truths of their everyday lives. Sissy is a beautiful, audacious Southern belle in 1956 small-town Louisiana. She feels trapped by the gender roles of the 50s and the South. To cope with her fixed station, she has developed a guide of numbered personal credos - the Southern Belle's Handbook - to which she constantly adds and refers. Her world is rocked when her high school sweetheart Parker Davidson returns from life abroad. Sissy is tempted to abandon everything for this man who embodies all that is her life lacks. Despres uses an omniscient point of view to tell the story from nearly every characters perspective. She characterizes Sissy wonderfully, but leaves other characters such as Peewee, Sissy's husband, quite underdeveloped. The novel examines race relations and bigotry of small-town Southern life and looks at the frustrations of gender roles in the middle of the century. What I found most entertaining about the book were the characters who seemed all too familiar; I believe many of us know or are related to people like the characters of this novel. Sissy's story is a funny and entertaining page-turner that conveys truth about life, both in the South and universally.
Rating:
Summary: A Fast Paced, Entertaining Read!
Review: Lately it seems every book I pick up I just can't get into - this one got me from the FIRST PAGE and I enjoyed it to the end. I LOVED this book! Sissy Leblanc is a funny, sexy, wild, charming, Southern Bell of a character that you just can't help but like. She's the friend that you can call in the middle of the night that would come running. Having been married to her husband since she was 17, Sissy's real love of her life comes back to town 14 years later and thus the "Scandalous Summer" begins. The authors style of writing is wonderful - fast paced but the characters and story have depth. "A girl has to find out if there's life before death", "When making a life decision you can't trust your head" are just two of the "rules" from the Southern Belle's Handbook that Sissy lives by throughout her life. This is SO MUCH BETTER then "Ya Ya Sisterhood". A funny, touching, warm story. Highly recommended!!
Rating:
Summary: This ought to be a movie!!!!
Review: Once you pick this book up you will not want to put it down... best read ever! The story is a flashback into one "scandalous" summer in Sissy's life to where is now. Sissy is in an unhappy marriage with 3 kids, but makes due with her situation. Until her high school flame comes back into town. Sissy perseveres through some trials and makes some tough decisions.
What I truly love about Sissy is how strong she is. She deals with the consequences of her actions and decisions. You will finish this book in a 2 or 3 days.
Rating: 
Summary: Scandalous is Right~
Review: The Scandalous Summer of Sissy Leblanc is definitely a scandalous story. The plot is full of surprising twists and turns in the dysfunctions of family & small town community. When the main character Sissy LeBlanc finds herself face to face with her long lost highschool sweetheart, Parker, she has a lot of questions to ask herself and a lot of self-reflection to do. In an unhappy marriage to PeeWee Leblanc with three children, Sissy is put to the test. How far will she go to explore a lost love, how much does her marriage mean to her & what about her children? It was difficult to rate this book because for writing it is a 5-once I started it I read straight through to see where the story was going and how it would all come together in the end. However, I had a hard time finding any sympathy for the main character, Sissy. Almost every character in the story was dysfuntional, but entertaining. I was hoping for a little more good substance in Sissy's character that I didn't find. This novel is an excellent beach read & is entertaining. It does deliver what the title promises-scandal! Loraine Despres does have a gift for writing & I would read more from this author.
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