Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt
Author: Crickett Rumley
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Bad girl Jane Fontaine Ventouras is far from a Southern Belle, but if her Grandmother has anything to say about it she’s about to become one quick. After being expelled from thirteen boarding schools, Jane has just returned to Bienville, Alabama, a very small Southern town.

With a difficult past behind her, Jane isn’t sure she’s going to fit in in Bienville. After her mother passed away years earlier, her father buried himself in his work on the other side of the world. Jane moves in with her grandmother who promptly asks her to try out for the Magnolia Maid Pageant. The pageant has a long history in the town of Bienville, and only five lucky girls are chosen each year to become a Maid. Competing to become a maid is the last thing Jane wants to do, but when her grandmother sweetly asks her to try out, if only to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Jane reluctantly agrees, comforted by the fact that she’ll never in a million years be chosen to become a Maid.

Until she is chosen…and then all hell breaks loose.

In one word this book can be described as sweet. I absolutely adored the story and devoured this book in about a day and a half.

My favorite part of the entire book was the adorable Southern language. I found myself putting on my own little Southern twang as I read the dialogue. I’m clearly not from the South (Philly girl at heart) and I’ve never been to the South, so reading about Southern culture was extremely interesting to me. I wonder if people will mind if I start throwing “ya’lls” into my every day conversation.

I was fascinated by the idea of a Magnolia Maid Pageant. The fact that this honor was so sought after in this small town’s social circles was so interesting to me. Even though this book took place in modern times, the Southern charm and talk of hoopskirts and fancy dresses definitely took me back to a completely different time and place. I love that time has somehow managed to stand still in Bienville, but with the appropriate adjustments to embrace a more modern Maid (for example, including Brandi Lynn and Zara, two untypical choices for Bienville).

One thing I wasn’t a fan of were the several mentions to pop culture. I feel like Rumley may have dated this book a little by peppering in mentions of current TV shows and songs. Something else interesting included in this book was acknowledgment of the oil spill in the South in 2010. While I liked that Rumley was able to include a current event and how it affected these characters, again, I’m afraid that in a few years, this book will be pretty dated.

The only other part of the book that I had a slight problem with was how quickly the story wrapped up. I feel like there was a lot of build up, then the main conflict happened and all of a sudden the book was over. I would have liked to see the ending developed a bit more, especially since Rumley had done such a fantastic job helping us get to know each of the characters and their wants and desires.

Besides being laugh out loud funny, this book also has some serious heart. Rumley expertly inserted the right amount of history and emotion to truly make Jane come alive. We see Jane’s rough past sprinkled all throughout the story. Her mother becoming sick. Passing away. Her father leaving and only coming back when Jane was in trouble. Her friendship with Luke abruptly ending. Clearly Jane has had some tough times. This book isn’t serious by any means, but there are serious moments in the book, and I appreciated the way they were perfectly weaved into the story.

The dynamic between the five Magnolia Maids throughout the book was hilarious. I loved each and every character including the often bitchy Ashley and even tag-along Mallory. Brandi Lynn was absolutely adorable and I loved that throughout the course of the book, the other girls finally embraced her for who she is. I liked that Zara came from DC, far outside Bienville and brought a completely different worldview to the book.

And then of course there’s Jane. I liked Jane from the very beginning of the book. Her snarky and sarcastic commentary about the Magnolia Maid Pageant had me laughing out loud and I knew from the start that I’d enjoy this book from Jane’s point of view. Seeing Jane grow throughout the book from somewhat rebellious to a leader was a very fun transformation to watch. Reading the story through her eyes (and adorable Southern drawl) was an absolute treat.

This is the perfect, light summer read. Enjoy it with a mojito in hand.

4.5/5

Review copy provided by publicist.