HOT FLASH HOLIDAYS

Our Review

There are five middle-age ladies in the Hot Flash Club: Shirley, Alice, Marilyn, Polly and Faye. All of them are single because their spouses have died or they have never married. They spend time at The Haven, a spa they all have financial stock in and are also on the board.

They are five ladies who help each other when their lives go crazy. Shirley runs the spa and is a recovering alcoholic. Alice is a former big business manager who loves retirement but wants to run a business sometimes. Marilyn is a paleo biologist and professor at MIT. She likes her solitude but when her sister calls to ask her to take their mother for a while to see if her senility is bad enough to place her in assisted living, Marilyn can’t turn her down.

Polly is the newest member of the Hot Flash Club so she tries to be there for the other ladies as often as possible. When she gets a phone message from Faye that she has fallen and can’t get up, Polly is devastated. Faye’s daughter who is coming to spend the holidays with her mother, gets there in time to take Faye to the hospital.

Polly’s son and daughter-in-law live on a vegan farm and don’t spend much time with her. They are coming for Christmas Eve and Polly lights her candles on the mantle. While she’s in the shower, the greenery catches on fire so there is smoke everywhere when Polly comes downstairs, just as her son and his family arrive. Not much is damaged and the fireman say it is okay but Polly’s daughter-in-law wants to go home. They stay for a while but it isn’t a fun evening.

Shirley has a live-in boyfriend at The Haven who is an aspiring author and several years younger than her. Alice has a problem with Justin and is always looking to find dirt on him. Finding out what his book is about may cause problems.

They all have personal problems and try to help each other through them. Their hot flashes and disrobing makes for some funny times. This book is a comical dramatization of five single women, their relationship problems and the rules of their women’s club. I enjoy Nancy Thayer’s books and this one met my expectations. A fine holiday story from one Christmas to the next with all the holidays as sections of the book in-between.