Vonda Kay Thayer is turning 50 as she examines her 30-year-
old wedding ring. Married to Jerome Thayer with three
daughters, Vonda's life is beginning to turn topsy-turvy.
In addition to the real estate business he inherited when
Vonda's father died, Jerome is also an avid womanizer.
Jerome married the "boss' daughter" and is very self-
serving.
Vonda finds herself spread thin with her two teenage
daughters, a married pregnant daughter and both of her
feisty, difficult in-laws (divorced) in her home all at the
same time. It's Jerome's habit to leave everything to
Vonda, including his disruptive and very demanding parents.
The longing for something better drives Vonda to rethink
her life with Jerome. This dysfunctional family is further
disrupted by Hurricane Stella. Taking refuge in her late
father's cabin, believed to be safer than their home, Vonda
is dealt a catastrophe with the storm and the entire
family, spouses and all, thrown together. Then Vonda's old
school chum, Terrill Barksdale, tell her he's in love with
her. Finally reaching her limit, Vonda must now stand her
ground and choose the life she truly needs and wants -- and
deserves.
Geri Buckley has created a very warm and amusing
tale of a woman at the pivot of her life facing difficult
decisions. Caught in the old rut of being the shoulders
that take the weight of the marriage and family, she
struggles to become an independent and creative woman.
She's making her own personal decisions for the first time
in her life. The storyline was interesting and written with
a lot of humor and affection. Ms. Buckley has done an
excellent job of revealing the true colors of her
characters. This is definitely recommended reading.
A wry, wise new novel of Southern dreams and second
chances.
On the morning of her birthday, Vonda
Thayer awakes from her American Dream to realize she’s
living a domestic nightmare. She plays happy homemaker to
two whiny, self-absorbed teenagers, a ranting, divorced
monster-in-law, and her knocked-up oldest daughter, who’s
just moved home to escape a deadbeat boyfriend. In her
free time, Vonda stalks her no-good husband and his bimbo
du jour. And now her ailing, cantankerous father-in- law—
the monster’s very estranged ex—needs a nursemaid and a
place to recover. Vonda seriously needs to replace that
white picket fence with barbed wire.
When a
hurricane rips through north Florida, it threatens to tear
her already fragile family completely apart. It’s up to
Vonda to help them weather the storm and learn a few
survival instincts in the process. The sun’s going down on
this desperate housewife, and dawn’s breaking on a new,
improved Vonda Thayer…