Love and Hot Chicken

A Delicious Southern Novel

By: Mary Liza Hartong

Narrated by: Dorothy Dillingham Blue

""Delightful! This novel will open your heart and preach to your funny bone.""--Jill Conner Browne, New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love

The debut of a dynamite new voice from the South, Love and Hot Chicken is a spicy and hilarious Tennessee story about family, friendship, fried chicken, and two girls in love.

The Chickie Shak is something of a historical landmark. Red clapboard walls, thriving wasp population, yard-toilets resplendent with sunflowers. My best friend Lee Ray and I used to come after our softball games and snag a picnic table while our mammas ordered the home team special. Truth is, most people around here order the same thing until the day somebody throws their ashes off a roller coaster at Dollywood. The line snakes around the building as far as you can see, the grimiest bunch of Jessies, Pearls, and Scooters you ever did behold, hobnobbing in the parking lot from noon until night.

When PJ Spoon returns home for her beloved daddy’s funeral, she doesn’t expect to stick around. Why abandon her PhD program at Vanderbilt for the humble charms of her hometown, Pennywhistle, Tennessee? Mamma’s broken heart, that’s why. But truth be told, PJ’s own heart ain’t doing too good either. She impulsively takes a job as a fry cook at Pennywhistle’s beloved Chickie Shak, where locals gather for Nashville-style hot chicken. It may not be glamorous, but it’s something to do.

Fate shakes up PJ’s life again when the town rallies around the terribly retro and terribly fun Hot Chicken Pageant. PJ finally notices her cute redheaded coworker Boof, a singer-songwriter with a talent as striking as her curly hair, and learns to fear her smack-talking manager, Linda.

As PJ and Boof fall for each other, Boof’s search for her birth mother—a Pennywhistle native—catapults the budding couple into a mystery that might be better left unsolved. The Chickie Shak pageant takes off, spurring old rivalries and new friendships in this tale of unexpected connections and new beginnings.

A heartwarming and funny listen

The narrator brings this story to life with joy and warmth and laughs. A great summer listen!

Cute

Cute, funny, PG rated sapphic book. I felt it was a bit slow for my liking and I like a bit of spice in books I read. Zero spice. Quite funny. I felt that the characters were more teenagers than adults. They were immature.

The humor and language

This was an excellent read and really hope for a sequel. The story must go on. It can’t end like that

Funny, Smart, Charming!

Loved this book from the start. The story is fun, smart, and the dialogue can make you laugh out loud and shed a tear in a single scene. Sweet without ever being saccharine, this book was a treat! In addition, the audiobook narration was outstanding.