Would you move a dead body for the sake of your best friend? Ask cha-cha babe Celia Ewing, a sixty-five-year-old widow who has just settled into Boca Pelicano Palms, the Florida retirement community of her dreams. When Celia’s best friend Marcy calls her and their friend Deb for help in the middle of the night, they find a naked Marcy trapped under the body of her beau, the community’s board president, Melvin. And he’s dead. The three friends secretly move Melvin back to his apartment setting off a chain of events that will threaten to tear their community apart and send them to jail. Melvin is one of a number of residents who are dying under suspicious circumstances; and soon Celia becomes an amateur sleuth in an attempt to identify what she suspects is a serial murderer.
Filled with humorous, witty observations about retirement communities, the realities of getting older, and the promise of new love, the Cha-Cha Babes of Pelican Way celebrates the deep bonds of female friendships, the desire for companionship at any age, and shows us that it’s never too late to learn how to cha-cha through life.
Character Guest Post
Celia, The Protagonist
I am the main character in THE CHA-CHA BABES OF PELICAN WAY. My name is Celia. I am 65 and come from a background of adhering to the unwritten rules of behavior society imposed mostly on women. I knuckled under to my parents and then my husband my husband who demanded I act age appropriate. "Make no waves" became my motto until I was widowed at age sixty-three. For the first time in my life I became restless and started looking back on my cowardice. So, I did some research and moved to a retirement community in Florida, Poca Pelicano Palms.
Looking to renew my life. I wanted to wake up to sunshine soaking into my bones. Things were looking up especially after meeting two zany women at a cha-cha lesson who became my fabulous new friends, Marcy and Deb. We were out of step with a small group of gossipy women who were determined to ruin us. It was intimidating until I started to get it together. Back in college, I was easily discouraged in studio arts, like painting and pottery, by my parents who said I was a mediocre talent. Changing my major to art history was pleasant, but the desire to make beautiful pottery simmered just beneath the surface for years until I found my own voice.
At the retirement village, I hooked up with an old boyfriend from college but was wary because he dumped me after we graduated. But I still carried a torch for him. He was encouraging of my art abilities so I agreed to a date. I had to step carefully. My best friends got me dressed to the nines, teddy and all. I even dyed my hair to chestnut and it hung in waves to my shoulder. I was always a conservative dresser, but I liked what my buds did for me. Then all kinds of trouble came crashing down, the kind of trouble that involved murder and an embezzlement charge against my daughter, Allison. I felt powerless. But I determined I had to get us out of terrible trouble. After all that, I determined that if I can solve a serial murder case, I certainly could become the potter I always wanted to be!
And I Thought
What a page turner. Honestly once I got into the story it
was hard to put down!
This one you will need to plan to read on a long
weekend. It is
a big 'ole book 497 pages. I read the print copy and what
I liked was it was big the print was so easy to read.
The plot/story did keep me turning the pages.
But for me I was left scratching my head a bit wondering
about the content. The story begins with one of the main
characters having sex and her partner dies during the
act! The main character Celia is called from one of
her besties come to and clean up the mess. Litterally!
Theses are some jazzy and rockin' seniors.
The death toll rises rather quickly as the seniors seem to
suspiciously meet their maker.
When one Celias besties end up being accused and her
daughter becomes under suspicion Celia wastes no time
trying to figure out who is really behind all the deaths.
The Cha Cha Babes is good read. Be prepared these
girls are a little racey. There some language,sexual talk
and pot smoking going on with the group.
I received a complimentary copy.
My review will appear on retail sites and Good Reads
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Thank you for your review on "The Cha-Cha Babes of Pelican Way" and for being part of the book tour.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a marvelous book and one that I would love the opportunity to read. Celia sounds like quite the character. It's nice to see the lead characters being more within my age bracket too.
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