"Redneck Cinderella is all in fun and tongue-in-cheek"
Reviewed by Betty Cox
Posted April 13, 2009
Romance Contemporary
Jolie Russell and her father, Wyatt, have lived a
hardscrabble life on their tobacco farm in Cottonwood,
Kentucky. Jolie's mom died of lung cancer ten years ago
and Jolie despises the fact that the Russell's make a
living on what killed her mother. Therefore, when
developer Cody Dean offers the Russel's several million
dollars for their acreage, plus allowing them to keep some
for their new home that must conform to the specs for all
properties built in Copper Creek Estates, they accept and
thus begins their new life. One year later Jolie and Wyatt are living in a mansion, and
are the laughing stock of Copper Creek Estates. Jolie is
like a one-man Keystone Kop force, and they have,
unknowingly, broken every covenant of the Homeowners
Association. Cody is sent to inform them they must
confirm to the rules, as they are dragging down home
values. Cody dreads being the messenger, but it gives him
a chance to be around Jolie, a woman he finds refreshingly
honest and forthright. Cody was two years ahead of Jolie
in school, but he was the man of her dreams for years and
the main reason she didn't do any better in her classes.
Cody's brother, Brett, left the family business and
millions to become a school teacher/baseball coach. He
and Jolie have a repartee and Brett finds a woman who can
teach the Russell's etiquette. Brett is also convinced
his big brother has it bad for Jolie. Like Cinderella, Redneck Jolie finds her Prince Charming in
suave Cody Dean. Wyatt finds love with Miss Abigail, his
mentor, and even Jolie's maid/personal assistant gets in
the act. REDNECK CINDERELLA is all in fun and
tongue-in-cheek, and other than umpteen too many high-fives and
knuckle-bumps, the story is great escapism.
SUMMARY
Raised by her widowed father, Jolie Russell could keep up
with any man—that is, until wealthy and sexy land developer
Cody Dean struts into her life.
Cody buys the
Russell farm with an impossible-to-refuse
multimillion-dollar offer, then relocates Jolie and her dad
to the Copper Creek Estates. But the country club atmosphere
isn’t ready for Jolie’s kind of country. As her two worlds
collide, Jolie wonders how she can ever hope to capture
Cody’s heart without giving up her grits.
ExcerptReality Check“Oh come on, Jesse, you’re joking, right?” I pause in my
task of filling saltshakers and glance across the counter
at my brother who’s wiping down the speckled green
Formica. Mama’s already gone home and we’re buttoning up
the diner for the night. “Who in their right mind would
bring a ballroom dance competition to Misty Creek,
Kentucky?” Jesse gives me a sheepish look. “Um… well… Comedy Corner,
maybe?” “You mean the cable channel that you watch all the
time?” I sputter and he opens his mouth to answer but I
just keep right on talking. “The one that has that
disgusting cartoon that mama said you couldn’t watch?” “Give me a break, Abby, I’m eighteen. I watch whatever I
want to.” I ignore this and continue, “The station that makes fun of
midgets?” “Little people,” he corrects, “and they don’t exactly make
fun-” “The same station that defames The President of The United
States of America?” I slam down the salt container and
narrow my eyes at my little brother… well, at six feet two
he’s hardly little, but I’m six years older so that still
trumps his height advantage. “Yes Abby, and it’s called political satire. Comedy Corner
does parodies… spoofs on pop culture. Most of their stuff
is pure genius.” Okay, so he’s taller and smarter. Jesse belongs going to a
big, fancy college next year but although the diner we own
pays the bills we don’t have that kind of
money. “Whatever.” I wave my hand like I know all about
political satire and whatnot. “So, explain to me how and
why Comedy Corner is coming to Misty Creek of all places to
do a ballroom dance competition.” “Well…” His sheepish look gets more pronounced and all of
the sudden I get it. “To poke fun of us!” I sputter. “Gee, what are they gonna
call it? Dancing With the Rednecks?” I’m joking but red
heat creeps up his neck and I have to gasp. “My Gawd, I’m
right?” “It’s more of a spoof on reality TV, Abby, not rednecks.
Where’s your sense of humor? You laugh at Jeff Foxworthy
and he makes fun of rednecks.” “He’s one of us. That’s different.” I point at
him. “Jesse William Harper did you somehow have something
to do with this?” He runs his fingers through his dark blonde hair that would
be the same color as mine if I didn’t get mine highlighted. “Well?” I demand, nearly shouting. Jesse is such a
hardworking, good kid that mama and I rarely raise our
voices to him but I’m getting a prickly feeling running
down my spine about this whole thing so I want to know
what’s going on. “What’s this ballroom dancing competition
all about and just how are you involved?” He takes a deep breath and jams his hands in his jeans
pockets. “Well, a few weeks ago I was surfing the Comedy
Corner website and I read about the ballroom dance
competition spoof that they were going to do. There was a
place where you could type in an essay on why your hometown
would be the best location for the show and well,” he
pauses and then finishes in a rush, “I suggested Misty
Creek.” I put my hands to my chest. “How could you do such a
thing? Why would you want them to come here and make fun
of us?” “Come on, Abby think about it.” Jesse slices his hand
through the air in the direction of the big picture window
overlooking Main Street. “Misty Creek has been like a
ghost town lately. Business is suffering in all of the
antique and craft shops. The inns are practically empty.
Our traffic here has been off too, and you damned well know
it.” “Watch your language!” He rolls his eyes. “This is the slow time of the year. Business will pick up
when the weather gets warmer,” I protest even though the
lack of customers has been a real cause of concern lately. Jesse shakes his head. “With the insane price of gas
people aren’t gonna take day trips like they used to. We
need a reason for people to come here other than shoppin’
and stayin’ at bed and breakfast inns. Havin’ this show
filmed here could be the shot in the arm that Misty Creek
needs.” I know he’s right but I stubbornly remain silent and cross
my arms over my chest. “Abby, this show could put Misty Creek on the map. People
will flock here if it’s a hit and I think it will be.” “Yeah, but at our expense. I’m proud of this little town
and I don’t relish being laughed at,” I tell Jesse in a bit
of an uppity tone that’s not like me at all. Being laughed
at is something I’m no stranger to so this is hitting close
to home. As I start to screw the silver caps back onto the
saltshakers I mutter, “Dancing with the rednecks… just who
would even try out for such a thing?” I glance up from my
task and guilt is written all over his handsome face. Yes,
Jesse is quite a hottie with his shaggy blond hair and deep
blue eyes even though he has yet to realize it since he’s
such a nerd. Just this past year he’s filled out from the
tall and gangly proportions that had plagued him all of his
life and let me tell ya, the girls have noticed. His
tousled hair and stubble on his cheeks is from lack of
caring how he looks rather than trying to sport the Keith
Urban scruffy look so he just doesn’t get it that the
giggling girls who stop in the diner after school for
cherry cokes and chili cheese fries are mostly here to see
him. I too grew up being all knees and elbows, hating my long
legs that made me tower over boys like the jolly green
giant. But now those same boys are men and tend to give me
the once over every time they come in for the blue plate
special. Jackasses. Where were they on prom night? But
I’m going off of a tangent. Right now all I want to know
is why Jesse looks so damned guilty. “There’s more to this
story isn’t there?” Jesse puts his palms up in a whoa there position and gives
me a level look. “Now just keep your cool and hear me out. Of course that’s the kind of statement that makes a person
immediately lose their cool but I take a deep breath and
say as calmly as possible which is not calm at all, “Tell
me what the hell’s goin’ on here!” “Well, after Comedy Corner showed interest in my essay,
they e-mailed me this form that asked for names of
potential contestants.” “Go on.” “See, they wanted six men and six women representing… ah,
various walks of small town life. I had to provide names
of these certain individuals to help them narrow the field
since they want to get this show on the air right away.
For instance, they wanted a farmer and I suggested Travis
Tucker.” “To ballroom dance?” I squeak. “No…” Jesse nods. “And they wanted a truck driver. Mac Murphy
came to mind.” I’m trying to picture three hundred pound Mac Murphy doing
the Tango and I have to chuckle. My mirth encourages Jesse
and he smiles. “See, you’re catching on to the concept.
It’ll be a riot. They wanted a high school lunch lady and
I suggested Betty Cook.” “Olive Oil?” We called her that because she looks just
like the cartoon character and I try not to snicker. “Who
else?” He hesitates but then says, “Julia Mayer.” “Why her?” My good humor evaporates like rain on a summer
sidewalk. Julia Mayer is one of the few people in Misty
Creek that I don’t like. She was miss popularity back in
high school, homecoming queen and all that and never gave
me the time of day. Although… the thought of her being
ridiculed by some snarky judge in front of millions of
people does have a certain appeal. “Well?” Jesse shrugs. “They needed a hairdresser. She may
actually be kind of good.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Fat chance.” “Why do you hate her so much?” I angle my head and tell him firmly, “I don’t hate her.
Although she did steal my boyfriend in high school.” “I don’t remember you having a boyfriend.” Details, details. I feel heat creep into my
cheeks. “Okay, potential boyfriend. I was making huge
strides with Danny Becker when Julia up and snatched him
away from me.” Jesse swallows and gives me a look that I don’t like. “You
mean Danny Becker, the mechanic?” I roll my eyes. “How many other Danny Beckers are there in
Misty Creek? Of course I mean him. Ohmigod, is he part of
the competition?” When Jesse nods I have to snicker once more. Seeing Danny
taken down a peg or two would suit me just fine, too. My
major crush on him in high school went unnoticed because
his sights were set on petite and perky Julia Mayer instead
of tall and dorky me. Of course just last week I gave him
a little bit of payback for snubbing me when I was a
teenager. I had my Ford Ranger in at Becker’s Garage for a
lube job and when Danny was coming on to me like
gangbusters I ignored his flirtatious comments even though
I secretly wanted to flirt back. My mama tells me that I
have a bad habit of cutting off my nose to spite my face.
While I know that she’s right it’s hard to get over my
hellacious high school years. “Dancing With the Rednecks might be fun after all,” I admit
and chuckle again. I expect Jesse to laugh with me since
I’m coming over to his way of thinking but he blinks at me
for a second like he’s trying to think of how to word
something so that I won’t freak. “You’re fixin’ to tell me
something that I won’t like, aren’t you? Ohmigod, did you
enter mama into this farce?” No…” he says slowly but then clears his throat, which is a
tell sign for Jesse. He’s chock full of tell signs which
is why I always beat him at poker. “What then?” I prod but then it hits me like a ton of
bricks. While shaking my head I point at Jesse. “No… no
tell me you did not give them my name!” “They needed a waitress, Abby!” “I won’t agree to do it! I refuse to humiliate myself on
national television! Do you hear me?” I’m on the balls of
my feet shouting so he doesn’t have to answer that
particular question. “No way! I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.
My God, you know I have two left feet. I would suck…
suck! There’s nothin’ you could say to make me do this.
Not one thing!” “How about a fifty thousand dollar first prize?” “Whoowee, shut my mouth!” I blink at him. “Except for
maybe that.” I continue to blink dollar signs at him while
cha-chinging is ringing in my head. “Fifty. Thousand.
Dollars?” With raised eyebrows, Jesse nods. “Yeah.” “Wow.” I’m still cha-chinging. “I know.” He’s still nodding. “Think of what we could do
with that kind of money.” “Yeah…” I respond breathlessly, placing my palms on the
cool countertop. But then reality slaps me right upside
the head. “I’m a horrible dancer, Jesse. There’s no way I
could win a ballroom dancing competition no matter how good
my instructor might be.” “Come on, did you hear some of the names I threw out
there? Besides, you’re a hard worker and a quick learner,
Abby. You can do this.” “Ah, so you think that I could be the best of the worst?”
My voice is dripping with sarcasm. “Something like that,” he responds with a grin. I’m not so sure but I don’t want to burst his bubble. “Are
these people really going to compete? Has Comedy Corner
decided that Misty Creek will be the location? Where would
all of the people stay? All we have are bed and breakfasts-
” Jesse puts up his hands again. “Whoa there, motor mouth.
One question at a time.” “Okay, first tell me, is this a for sure thing?” “Not definitively until today.” Now what teenager uses words like definitively? Jesse has
been using fifty-cent words since he was a little kid. It
occurs to me that winning this money could send him to a
fine college that he deserves. “Why today?” “Well…” He starts wiping down the already clean counter so
as to avoid looking directly at me. Not a good sign… “Jesse…” I say his name in a low octave voice of warning
that used to get his immediate attention. It has little to
no affect now but I’m desperate. “Well, I’ve sort of been showing a couple of big shot
producers from Comedy Corner around Misty Creek for the
past week.” “What?” I squeak two octaves higher and a lot
louder. “Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?” He shrugs. “I guess I didn’t think it was really going to
happen so I didn’t want to get you all wound up for
nothin’. Comedy Corner had to go through some red tape to
get city permits to do the filming and take care of some
other legal stuff.” “But it’s a done deal?” He nods. “Yep. They’ve rented out Rabbit Run Hunting
Lodge. The whole doggone thing. Nothing is in season
right now so it was just sitting there empty and there’s
plenty of room. The actual dance competition will be
filmed live every Saturday night at the Bluegrass Dance
Hall.” “Have all of your suggested contestants signed on to do the
show?” “Except for you. I asked them to wait until last to
approach you since I thought it might take a bit of
convincing. Are you willing, Abby?” I look around the diner that could use some serious
updating. I think of my mama who has worked her fingers to
the bone providing for us after my daddy died in a tragic
farm related accident twelve years ago. Without asking for
a lick of help she sold the farm to get us out of debt and
bought this diner. Yeah, I could send her to a fancy spa
for some much deserved pampering. I think of my old truck
that coughs and sputters… man how nice would it be to get a
brand spanking new pickup with all the trimmings? But most
of all I think of my little brother who deserves the best
education that money can buy and who has never asked for a
damned thing. “I’ll do it.” “Woohoo!” He gives me a very un-Jesse-like whoop and a
double knuckle-bump that nearly knocks me over. It’s great
to see my laid-back brother so revved up and I’m feeling
pretty excited too; but in the back of my head I’m
wondering what the hell I just got myself into. While my
brain is still trying to wrap itself around this whole
thing Jesse is already dialing up someone on his cell phone. “Well?” I ask when he finally finishes his conversation and
hangs up. “Mitchell Banks, the head producer, wants to meet with you
at nine o’clock tomorrow.” “That’s during the breakfast shift, Jesse!” “Yes and he’ll eat breakfast here,” Jesse says
patiently. “He just wants to meet you and probably have
you sign some paperwork. No big deal, Abby. You can sit a
spell with him. Mama won’t mind.” All the sudden another thought occurs to me. “What will
happen when the show starts? Who will help mama out?” Jesse takes a step toward me and puts his hands on my
shoulders. “Norma can come in early and I’ll work extra
hours.” “No! Not with your class schedule! School comes first,
Jesse.” “I’ve got school under control,” he assures me with a
gentle squeeze. My classes are easy. And if business
picks up we’ll hire another waitress. Don’t worry, I won’t
let mama overdo it in your absence.” I inhale a shaky breath but nod. “Okay. This is just all
so unexpected, ya know?” Jesse grins. “Yeah. It’s about time we had some
excitement here in Misty Creek. Things have been rather
mundane here lately.” I think mundane means ordinary so I nod. “When are you
gonna tell mama? Tonight when you get home?” He takes a step back. “I already have.” “And she was okay with it? I mean, what if-” “Abby, stop!” I’m so surprised by his outburst that I actually quit
talking. Jesse closes his eyes briefly and swallows before
saying, “Listen, mama and I both appreciate all of the
time that you’ve put in here at the diner.” “Well yeah, it’s our livelihood.” I’m not sure where he’s
going with this but it’s making me feel
uncomfortable. “Almost sounds like you’re firing me,” I
tell him with a laugh. “Well, you could certainly use a sabbatical.” This makes me frown at him. “A break, Abby.” “I know what sabbatical means,” I hotly assure him with a
little head bop… and I do in theory anyway. “So you and
mama have been discussing the state of my mundane
existence?” I cross my arms over my chest and tap my
rubber-soled shoe on the floor. “Ironically, yes, even before this competition was a
reality. Let’s face it, Abby. You’ve been is a rut. It’s
high time you shook things up a bit and this ballroom
competition is the perfect solution.” “Tell me how you really feel, Jesse. Don’t hold back.” I
say this in a joking manner but he doesn’t laugh. “You deserve a break.” “We all work hard.” He nods. “Yeah, but Abby you work too damned much. And
listen, as much as I want you to win the money, promise me
that you’ll have fun with this. If you win, then sweet,
but use this as an opportunity to chill… have a few laughs,
okay? Don’t obsess over winning.” “Right...,” I draw out the word with a shake of my
head. “With fifty thousand dollars on the line I’ll just
kick back and chill.” He grins and gives my shoulder a gentle shove. “Okay, you
can obsess a little.” I shove him right back and then tell him, “Go on home.
I’ll finish up here.” Jesse’s grin fades and he gives me one of his usual serious
expressions. “Do you have any idea how many times you’ve
said that to me?” My throat sort of closes up but I give him a casual
shrug. “Go on… get outta here,” I gruffly tell him and
give him another shove. I watch him walk out the door all
big and grown up but still my baby brother. I would do
anything for him I think to myself as I grab the broom and
begin sweeping but then I stop in my tracks and lean
against the handle. “Me, ballroom dancing on national
television? Oh, Lord have mercy.”
Copyright © 2005-2006 LuAnn McLane - All Rights
Reserved
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