The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Summary:

 Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs' weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman.

It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. She's having a baby boy--an unexpected but not unhappy development in the thirty-eight year-old's life. But before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her step-sister Rachel's marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, and she's been hiding her dementia with the help of Wattie, her best friend since girlhood.

Leia returns to Alabama to put her grandmother's affairs in order, clean out the big Victorian that has been in the Birch family for generations, and tell her family that she's pregnant. Yet just when Leia thinks she's got it all under control, she learns that illness is not the only thing Birchie's been hiding. Tucked in the attic is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War. Its exposure threatens the family's freedom and future, and it will change everything about how Leia sees herself and her sister, her son and his missing father, and the world she thinks she knows.

My Thoughts:

     This is my first Joshilyn Jackson book  which I read for the MMD Summer Reading Challenge/Book club and I cannot wait to find more of her books!  This story is filled with tons of great characters, great scenery and enough Southern Charm to make you choke on your sweet tea. 

     I loved reading about Leia's job as an artist and writer of comic books and watching her evolve from single woman with a crazy family into a loving mother and open-hearted caretaker.  This book is chock full of people who will make you laugh out loud, cringe and even cry a little but you will absolutely fall in love with Birchie and Wattie almost immediately.  

     The sign of an excellent story written well to me is that I am reading and I don't even care to try to figure out where the story is going or where it might end.  The Almost Sisters was one of those books! I enjoyed every single word written by Ms. Jackson and never stopped once to try to figure out the mystery aspect of the story or wonder where she might be taking us.  I was just along for the wonderful, touching, thoroughly enjoyable ride! 5/5 stars

Author's site: http://www.joshilynjackson.com/jj/