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Blueberry Hill was Donna’s favorite song.

I hope you enjoy Fats Domino singing Blueberry Hill as you discover Bette Lee Crosby’s new novel, Blueberry Hill, A Sister’s Story.

I have read all of Bette Lee Crosby’s fantastic novels. They are filled with southern charm and characters that sound so familiar, you feel as if you know them.

SYNOPSIS

CAN LOVE SAVE A SISTER FROM SELF-DESTRUCTION?

From the USA Today Bestselling Author of Spare Change comes the heartwarming story Blueberry Hill, a Sister’s Story.

Based on the realities of her own family, Crosby calls this a memoir of sorts. Traveling back to a time when the sisters were young enough to feel invincible and foolish enough to believe it would last forever, Crosby has bared her soul in a story of regrettable decisions and inevitable outcomes.

MY REVIEW

Cover – Valentine Design

The covers Bette Lee Crosby chooses for her novels always make me wonder what will be between the pages. I feel there will be some laughs and some tears as we travel down the road of life with her realistic characters.

I never even looked at the synopsis, just picked up Blueberry Hill and started reading. After all, it’s Bette Lee, so I know it will be good. Oh man……this hits very close to home.

Donna killed herself. She didn’t do it by popping pills or slitting her wrists, but by her lifestyle choices.

Donna was carefree. She lived for the moment. She was popular, cool, and believed anything is possible. She would then proceed to make it happen. She was very generous; spent the money she earned, while Bette would save. Donna has attitude with a capital A. I am loving her.

The female version of Fonzi from Happy Days.

Mama said Bette was the oldest, so it was her responsibility to keep her two sisters out of trouble. I can see where that could lead to guilt for not doing more to save Donna from herself. I, too, have dealt with the issue of enabling. When is the time to step in? Do we have the right to tell someone how to live, even if they have chosen a destructive lifestyle?

Bette felt they were a normal family, until Donna ran away. Even after she came back, they were never the same. Donna fell in love with a loser, who divorced her and left her after she had a baby. She married him again and had another child, but the marriage didn’t stick. We don’t choose who we fall in love with. She never quit loving him, even until her death. She was a great mother, full of love. The real loss was when the nest was EMPTY.

“Having a sister is like having a thumb, you simply believe it will always be there, because how could you possible get along without it.”

I have tears in my eyes as I read this. I recently lost one of my sisters and this almost sounds like her biography. She used to call me tag-a-long when we were kids, because I followed her everywhere. It is still hard to believe she is really gone. We do become involved in our daily lives and think tomorrow I’ll….call her…get with her….take the time to stop in……At least I can take consolation in the fact that she lived her life the way she wanted ( like Donna).

Bette Lee Crosby left out the horrid details that would rip our hearts out, but I felt the pain, as she relived the memories. With the loss of my sister, I can relate to the story on a very personal level. When do you step in, especially when you know it will do no good? We must remember, it is their life. They are a grown up. We can lie to ourselves and live in denial, but what will be, will be. My sister and Donna chose their exit from this world. Won’t we do the same?

Bette’s books can be thought provoking, heart wrenching and uplifting all at the same time. She can make me sob like a baby, when my heart is broken and laugh like a happy child, when a delightful surprise comes my way. Bette Lee’s books don’t always end with a happy ever after, but they do cover a lot of life’s trials and tribulations that we are familiar with.

I received Blueberry Hill from Bette Lee in return for an honest, unbiased review.

“Wouldn’t you love to go there?”

“Go where?”

“Blueberry Hill.”

“Blueberry Hill isn’t a real place. It’s just a title somebody made up for the song.”

“Believe what you want, but I know it’s real.”

To give a lot when you have a lot is easy, but to give a lot when you have so little is indeed a gift of love.

“You can love her or hate her, but you will never control her.” My sister to a T.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars – Would Highly Recommend To Others

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction–the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

Born in Detroit and raised in a plethora of states scattered across the South and Northeast, Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since that, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, Royal Palm Literary Awards, the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and Reviewer’s Choice Award and Reader’s View Southeast Fiction Literary Award.

Her published works to date are: Jubilee’s Journey (2013), What Matters Most (2013), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012), Cracks in the Sidewalk (2011), Spare Change (2011), and Life in the Land of IS (2012). Life in the Land of IS is a memoir written for Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.

Blueberry Hill is a tale of family relationships, love and tragedy. It is a story that will touch your heart and stay with you long after you have closed the book.

Click on the cover below to get your Amazon copy of Blueberry Hill by Bette Lee Crosby.