Thank you for the ARC. A good story about the friendship between three women. Well written, It held my interest throughout. ( )

Three longtime best friends ... three lives in shambles ... an opportunity to rebuild their lives together ...

Jackie, Cheryl and Doris have been longtime best friends through thick and thin. When each of their lives takes a downward turn, they come together at the age of forty to pick themselves up off the floor and rebuild their lives together.

Jackie had married into money, and when her husband Robert died, she took off for Paris to become an artist. After living the glamorous Parisian high society life for two years, the money from her husband's estate has run out and she is left penniless. What does she do ... why she goes back home to her BFFs in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Cheryl is a career oriented marketing executive who is on top of her game, until a racquetball incident and damaging information on her Blackberry gets her wrongfully terminated from the marketing firm. She also likes to sleep around until one of her dalliances leads to an unexpected pregnancy.

Doris and Doug were high school sweethearts who got married at 17 years of age when Doris became pregnant, only to suffer a miscarriage. Their marriage survived and Doris has been a stay-at-home mom for their only child, Mandy, a fifteen year old ungrateful spoiled brat. Two years ago Doris' mother passed away and she became a completely different person: gloomy, depressed, judgmental, prone to panic attacks and chocolate binges. When their twenty-third wedding anniversary arrives, Doug has a mid-life crisis and tells Doris that he needs to "find himself."

Now back together, the three BFFs go out on the town to a strip club and come up with a brilliant business idea: open a Hooteresque like restaurant called The Whole Package that caters to women staffed with half-naked male servers.

Can their business plan yield a success and help them rebuild their lives, or will it tear their lifelong friendships apart?

The Whole Package is a delightfully entertaining story about the importance and beauty of the power of friendship. Written in the third person narrative with alternating perspectives of Jackie, Cheryl and Doris, the author weaves a magical tale about the special bond that is formed in lifelong friendships. Through thick and thin, good times and bad, ups and downs, these three ladies share a special bond that has kept them together for over thirty years. The author does a wonderful job describing the women's individual life stories, their shared memories, and their lifelong friendship bond. Rich in detail, the women's plans to start-up their restaurant was intriguing and had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. The journey that the three women take to rediscover themselves and rebuild their lives is a testament that even when the chips are down, someone will still be in your corner giving you support. Their story is heartwarming, tender and poignant, it will make you think about your own friendships, while providing a nice dose of humor to make you smile as you turn the pages.

The author has created a cast of characters who are realistic, complex, strong, loving women. I loved the dynamic of their friendship. The description of their different personalities and lifestyles along with the complexities of their friendship was intriguing, I loved seeing how their three lives meshed together over the span of three decades. The dialogue had a nice mixture of poignancy and humor, it made the story an enjoyable and compelling read. You can't help but become engrossed in the women's lives and cheer for them to succeed as they go on a journey to rebuild their lives.

The Whole Package is a wonderful story that captures the beauty and essence of the bond of friendship. This heartwarming and poignant story will resonate with you long after the last words have been read.

Disclaimer: I purchased the book and will give my honest review. I am participating in a virtual book tour event hosted by CBLS Promotions.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-whole-package-by-cynthia-e... ( )