Do You like book Sister Mine (2007)?
Set in the coal mining region of Western Pennsylvania, this book tells the story of Shae-Lynn Penrose and her sister Shannon as well as the Jolly Mount Five~~coal miners who survived a mining accident that found them trapped underground for five days.Shae-Lynn and Shannon grew up without a Mother. Their Mom died just after giving birth to Shannon~~something that would come to shape Shannon’s entire being. The girls’ Dad was a coal miner who was ill equipped to handle raising two girls. He did it poorly and he took out his anger on Shae-Lynn. Always trying to protect Shannon, Shae-Lynn took the beatings. And then when Shae-Lynn became a mother herself at the age of seventeen, she stopped taking beatings and refused to allow her father to lay a finger on her baby son. Destined to make something of her life, Shae-Lynn left Jolly Mount and became a police officer and raises her son on her own. After that, Shannon disappeared, without a trace.E.J., Jimmy, Lib, Dusty and Ray became famous after the mining disaster a JoJo Mine. Fame isn’t always a blessing. Each of these men are facing the demons of that disaster. E.J. and Shae-Lynn were always best friends and now their relationship is strained~~especially since Shae-Lynn moved back to Jolly Mount to open her own cab company (in a town where people don’t need a cab, they just need a ride).Eighteen years after Shannon’s disappearance, she shows up on Shae-Lynn’s door step. She’s nine months pregnant. And she’s hiding from someone. Determined to help her sister and to figure out why she needs to hide, Shae-Lynn finds herself on the receiving end of the fist of a Russian thug. Here’s what I liked~~the coal mining story. It was brilliant and the author was able to portray coal mining with integrity. I loved the characters of the coal miners. They were gritty and honest. I also loved the story of Fanci and her brother Kenny.Here’s where I glazed over~~Shae-Lynn COULD have been a character every bit as prolific as Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum and Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson but the author ended up making Shae-Lynn almost unlikeable. She is snarky and that’s kind of fun; but she’s also mean when she needn’t be. This character is a forty year old woman who picks fights in bars, dresses like a 21 year old, picks up guys she doesn’t know, and yet she sits in judgment of sister. Who by the way~~is another very unlikeable character. I wish that this were two different books: One story of the coal miners and the other story of Shae-Lynn and Shannon. I commend the writing style~~it flows. I absolutely plan to read more from this author. I expect her to wow me. I know she can do it.3.5 Stars
—Maryellen
While you are reading, keep in mind the main character speaks and acts like a dumb, promiscuous, trashy, bar fighting, something-but-nothing to prove, attitude saturated, typical 20 year old…….oh wait….she is 40. The main character in this book, Shae-Lynn, is not likable on page; perhaps it is because I do not like women like her in real life. She dresses like a bimbo, acts like a fool and the pages are riddled with her speaking about her breasts like they are dangerous ICBM’s and her random stories of “Oh, when I was sleeping with the married senator.” Her hunting of random men to sleep with like a in heat 16 year old, or her other stories of sleeping with half the men in town was ridiculous for a woman of her age; yet the reader cannot expect much less from the type of woman Shae-Lynn is. Is the reader to be impressed with a trashy miner’s daughter who is immature and ridiculous lacking regard for anything that resembles class or respect? This plot would have been more enjoyable if I appreciated the characters. There was promise here, the premise was catching, but all I found was annoyance.
—Whitney
This is another I got to read early. I emailed Tawni and asked to get an ARC and I would share this one with many people becaus of how much I liked her first novel Back Roads. She sent me one and I got to meet her in Chicago. I really liked this one told from Shae-Lynn's voice. She used to be a cop and now drives a cap in a town where no body needs a cab, but lots of people need rides. She moved back to where she grew up and is living with the thought her sister died at the hands of their abusive father and then in the matter of a day she encounters 3 people looking for her sister and Shannon shows up very pregnant with quite a story. I highly recommend this one.
—David
