Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’Easter is the story of a sweet Southern belle who leaves her beloved Memphis, Tennessee to follow her husband’s dream of becoming the proprietor of a quaint Vermont inn. Leelee Satterfield seemed to have it all: a gorgeous husband, two adorable daughters, and roots in the sunny city of Memphis, Tennessee. So when her husband gets the idea to uproot the family to run a … the family to run a quaint Vermont inn, Leelee is devastated…and her three best friends are outraged. But she’s loved Baker Satterfield since the tenth grade, how can she not indulge his dream? Plus, the glossy photos of bright autumn trees and smiling children in ski suits push her over the edge…after all, how much trouble can it really be?
But Leelee discovers pretty fast that there’s a truckload of things nobody tells you about Vermont until you live there: such as mud season, vampire flies, and the danger of ice sheets careening off roofs. Not to mention when her beloved Yorkie decides to pick New Year’s Eve to go to doggie heaven-she encounters one more New England oddity: frozen ground means you can’t bury your dead in the winter. And that Yankee idiosyncrasy just won’t do.
The inn they’ve bought also has its host of problems: an odor that no amount of potpourri can erase, tacky décor, and a staff of peculiar Vermonters whose personalities are as unique as the hippopotamus collection gracing the fireplace mantle. The whole operation is managed by Helga, a stern German woman who takes special delight in bullying Leelee for her southern gentility. Needless to say, it doesn’t take long for Leelee to start wondering when to drag out the moving boxes again.
But when an unexpected hardship takes Leelee by surprise, she finds herself left alone with an inn to run, a mortgage to pay, and two daughters to raise. But this Southern belle won’t be run out of town so easily. Drawing on the Southern grit and inner strength she didn’t know she had, Leelee decides to turn around the Inn, her attitude and her life. In doing so, she makes friends with her neighbors, finds a little romance, and realizes there’s a lot more in common with Vermont than she first thought.
In this moving and comedic debut, Lisa Patton paints a hilarious portrait of life in Vermont as seen through the eyes of a southern belle readers won’t soon forget. A charming fish-out-of-water tale of one woman who learns to stand up for herself-in sandals and snow boots-against the odds.
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There are some fun characters in this book and I enjoyed parts of it, but it was a little too stereotypical for me.
Leelee is from Tennessee so, of course, she thinks only the best people come from the South, but in this book everyone she meets in the north is some type of redneck (or woodchuck, as she calls them). Either that or they’re snobs. Apparently there aren’t any middle-class, regular folks who don’t have exaggerated physical features. The one “normal” person is, of course, a huge flirt and hated by Leelee. Only her southern friends have any sort of charm AND style (northerners can’t have both).
Despite the stereotypes, I didn’t mind the book until the end (though Southern fiction is a little slower than I normally prefer to read). It was fun to watch Leelee grow as a person, but at the end (in my opinion) she turned out to be as bad as her husband.
**SPOILER**
When Leelee has the chance to leave Vermont, she really doesn’t hesitate. Even when she knows that her friends are going to end up working for the terrible original owners of the inn, she doesn’t change her mind — she doesn’t care that her friends are going to end up hating their jobs again or that she’s walking away from people who like her as she is. Instead, she does what her ex-husband did and thinks only about herself and her wants and leaves them to fend for themselves. I lost respect for her then (the excuse she uses about her daughters only being able to sit inside and watch TV all winter is bunk; I kind of wonder if the author talked with anyone raised in northern winters).
**END SPOILER**
I actually enjoyed the supporting characters more than I enjoyed Leelee — she came across as a bit of a whiny snob. If it hadn’t been for everyone else in the story, I might have put it down.
Rated PG-13 for some swearing and drinking.
Absolutely a delightful read! I just kept chuckling.. !
This book is entertaining, but for me, I struggled with some of the details and some decisions made by a couple of the characters at times. I do recommend it though, as I am pretty picky.
This book is a great beach read. Easy read. The characters are well defined, funny and believable.
This book started kinda slow and I was about to put it away when it finally got going. Enjoyed this book.
Loved, loved this book and the one after it.
Loved how true to life the narrative is. Her picture of Memphis and the south is very realistic. Made me want to visit Vermont to see the snow
What a tribute to strong Southern women! This is most inspirational for any reader and should be read by young women about to step out into the world.
I had to keep reading, what on earth would happen next???
Great brain candy. The characters are endearing, except for those who aren’t supposed to be!
I identified with this perfect tale of a southern girl. She sounded just like me. I gave it 4 stars for the fact that even after buying the second book in the series (half way thru) I don’t know if she will end up with her yankee. I am sort of tired of books that lead-you-on to keep buying. Also, after the first book Lee Lee gets a wee bit too upset about trials. All-in-all, a fun read but may not finish book #2.
This was a good audio book. I loved the characters and how much you find out about each one of them. You have strong feelings about them…you love them or you despise them! The author does a great job of bringing into the Satterfield family and their new adventure to Vermont. I could appreciate Leelee’s less than enthusiastic response to her husband’s decision to purchase a B&B in Vermont. But, she is a southern lady and she was raised to support her husband. She adores Baker and against her best friends’ advice, she sells their home in Memphis, TN and loads up the family to begin this new adventure in their lives.
But you will soon realize that things are not quite as they were presented by the real estate agent. But Leelee is a delight and she manages to do her best to make the situation as wonderful as possible for her sweet daughters.
You will become invested in their lives and cheer Leelee on as she realizes she’s much stronger than she ever thought possible. When her Memphis BFFs show up, you will be laughing and appreciating their sassy behavior.
This was just a fun audio book and keeps you invested in the story. Definitely worth the time to discover Vermont…through the horrendous winters, mud season, and the gossipy neighbors.
Lovely take on traditional southern belle-ness. Leelee Satterfield finds her inner Scarlet O’Hara when she really really needs to, y’all. And she doesn’t even need the draperies to overcome and accomplish the task she finds herself thrown into. A fun read that makes you root for the heroine all the way to the keep-you-guessing ending.