Southern Humor Fiction

“Don’t you ever want to run away from Christmas?” Mildred Budge’s answer to Dixie was immediate and truthful. “Yes, yes, yes,” Mildred said with conviction. She couldn’t stop saying yes, though the very idea that a good church lady would want to run away from the occasion during the year that marked the birth of Jesus-- the reason for the season for a tried and true church lady of the South-- was almost beyond explanation. “Then, let’s go. Let’s go to Fountain City and find Mr. Fixit and eat sublime pies,” her friend Dixie urged. The two needed Mr. Fixit because of a ...

Laugh out loud funny! The “West Texas Folks” Series is a satirical, historical saga encompassing three generations of three families from West Texas from the turn of the Twentieth Century to present day. Told with the raw humor of the many characters that include: Grandma Jessie Belle; a flamboyant grandmotherly prostitute who achieved success in her profession of “running the girls” at the local truck stop. Amos; a shrewd and uneducated pioneer of cocaine trafficking that paved the route to the American northeast by networking through the brothels and truck stops up the Mississippi...

Always a bride's maid--never a bride. That's part of the story of the life of Mildred Budge in this third novel in the series. But there is more to know about this Sunday School teacher who has been recruited to be a maid of honor for her good friend's wedding. As someone who has routinely had to muzzle herself at weddings by not calling out when the preacher asks if anyone knows a reason these two should not be wed, "It's not going to work out," this new role of supporting the bride has its challenges for this church lady of the South, Mildred Budge. But being a bride's maid also has its ...

In the heart of the Deep South, Stanley Sinclair’s dream simmers quietly in a worn-down kitchen behind a wood-burning stove. But when he dares to serve more than food—to serve comfort—he ends up feeding more than stomachs. He feeds a town. Grease, Grits, and Glory is a soulful, funny, and deeply satisfying story about second chances, family (by blood and by biscuit), and the magical messiness of life when you live with your heart wide open. With a cast of unforgettable characters—including a kazoo-playing oddball, a fiercely wise little girl, and a goat with too much personality—...

Buckhead isn’t a place you live, it’s a place you survive. And that applies even to the wealthy housewives that have it all. Fancy cars, designer clothes, and daily salon appointments aren’t nearly enough to keep them fulfilled and happy. Because in this town, privilege and opulence go hand in hand with betrayal and revenge. Jenny, the owner of Glow, an exclusive membership-only beauty salon, knows that better than anyone, because she knows everything about these housewives—down to each individual strand of hair.

Drugs. Delusions. Or the Biggest Mystery in Florida Since Will-o'-the-wisp? Meet Barry Babcock, your typical Florida Man—unemployed, self-medicated, and living in a swamp-side trailer with a laundry list of bad decisions behind him. But when a death-defying stunt lands him in a psychiatric facility, Barry’s got a hell of a story to tell. To the staff psychiatrist, it starts off as the usual Florida nonsense: drugs, booze, alligator dodging, and some questionable life choices. But then Barry takes a sharp left into the unexplainable—because according to him, the real reason he wound up...

Mildred Budge returns in Kingdom Come, a story about setbacks and how to face them. The fourth novel in the series, Kingdom Come, continues with the stories of Mildred, Fran, Winston, Janie, and Chase. In this story, Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow is crowded. Her best friend Fran observes, “For a single woman, Mildred, your quiver is getting very full.” And it is. There is little room in Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow for solitude and extended prayer, and Mildred Budge needs both. Many people do. And it is harder to find that kind of quiet in a world where background noise is as ...

After a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left almost broke, unemployed, and homeless. She reluctantly accepts to refurbish Birdsong, the old family place in Guthrie, Georgia. But, oh, is Dempsey in for a surprise. "Bird Droppings" would more aptly describe the moldering Pepto Bismol - pink dump. There's also a murderously grumpy old lady who has claimed squatter's rights and isn't moving out. Ever.

Fannie Flagg gives us a story of richly human characters, the saving graces of the once-maligned middle classes and small-town life, and the daily contest between laughter and tears.

In a suburban Atlanta neighborhood where divorce is as rampant as kudzu, Mary Bliss McGowan doesn't notice that her own marriage is in trouble until the summer night she finds a note from her husband, telling her he's gone. Stunned and humiliated, a desperate Mary Bliss, left behind with 17-year-old daughter Erin and a mountain of debt, decides to salvage what's left of her life by telling one little bitty lie.

Welcome to the front porch of Possum Neck, Arkansas—where the tea is sweet, the air is thick with crickets and mischief, and Grandpa Charlie’s rocking chair creaks with more secrets than a preacher at a pie auction. In That Reminds Me of a Story, you’re about to experience twenty outrageous, side-splitting, and possibly-not-entirely-true tales straight from the mouth of the South’s most animated storyteller. From possessed hams and time-warping lawnmowers to ghost-filled outhouses and championship possum pageants, these stories walk the fine line between “that never happened” ...

Three sassy retirees. One dead developer. Zero patience for nonsense. Welcome to Conch Key, where the sun is hot, the gossip is hotter, and the local beach just coughed up a corpse in Gucci loafers. Daisy Picklesworth wanted nothing more than a quiet morning, a strong cup of tea, and to finish her mystery novel on the porch of The Barnacle. What she got instead was a bloated real estate mogul dead in the surf, a jellyfish charm that doesn’t belong, and the strong suspicion that someone in their sleepy seaside town just committed the most stylish murder Florida’s ever seen. With her ...

An Atlanta ex-cop comes to Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet - but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met. Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything - but it seems rude to embalm them and not say hello. Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family.

Do you brace for Christmas and the energy it requires to meet the social demands? At the same time do you long for that elusive Christmas spirit that brings refreshment and satisfaction? You will find amusement and nostalgia in your favorite Christmas movies. You will enjoy singing along with your favorite characters about a white Christmas and love. But the Christmas spirit your soul craves is found in the story of a babe born in a stable. The story of the Christ child being born in squalor and what his life means for people everywhere is the story that will bring you the Christmas spirit ...

A body in a lake. A castle on the ridge. Can she sweep the streets clean and restore her town’s legendary appeal? Camelot, West Virginia. Mayor Dreama Avalon longs to see her small town thrive again. And her noble cause begins by transforming her ailing community in the heart of coal country into a bustling tourist hotspot. But when a former beauty queen turns up dead, the determined widow fears a growing crime wave means her home will never reclaim its prosperous past. Appointing a brave newcomer as her new white knight police chief, Dreama discovers the troublemaker victim was already ...

On paper, Jazmine, Judith, Erin, and Sara have little in common - they’re very different people leading very different lives. And yet at book club meetings in an historic carriage house turned bookstore, they bond over a shared love of reading (and more than a little wine) as well as the growing realization that their lives are not turning out like they expected.

Lifelong New Yorker Ronnie Khan never thought she’d leave Queens. She’s not an “aim high, dream big” person - until she meets socialite wellness guru Marley Dewhurst. Marley isn’t just a visionary; she’s a revelation. Seduced by the fever dream of finding her best self, Ronnie makes for the desert mountains of Sedona, Arizona. Healing yoga, transcendent hikes, epic juice cleanses...Ronnie consumes her new bougie existence like a fine wine. But is it, really? Or is this whole self-care business a little sour?

From Janet Evanovich, author of the best selling Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series, comes this romantic adventure tale written in the Plum tradition, teeming with fast-paced action, dysfunctional loveable characters, steamy sex, suspense, and lots of laughs.

Pursued by police and bounty hunters, Dan Lambert flees south toward the Louisiana bayous. In the swamplands he meets Arden Halliday, a young woman who bears the vivid burdens of her own past and who is searching for a legendary faith healer called the Bright Girl. Looking for simple kindness in a world that rarely shows it, bound by a loyalty stronger than love, Dan and Arden set off on a journey of relentless suspense and impassioned discovery...over dark, twisting waterways into the mysterious depths of the human heart.

The next in the hot, new series featuring Max Holt and Jamie Swift, filled with even more fast-paced action, crazy characters, steamy sex, suspense, and nonstop hilarity. This time Beaumont, South Carolina, is going to hell in a handbasket. It all starts when Jamie decides to increase revenues for her newspaper by starting a personal ads section. Suddenly, the town gets "all sexed up." A trashy lingerie shop opens. The bakery starts making pornographic pastries. Everyone gets the idea that sex sells.