“Above all, this is a beautiful love story about aging, changing, life and marital/family relationships and what it means to make a promise of forever. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful read–any time of the year.”
~ Ionia Martin, Readful Things Blog
“Molly Hayes might have been able to fight another woman, but her husband was having an affair with his engines and cars. How did a woman fight that?”
Childhood sweethearts, Molly and Tommy Lee Hayes are considered the perfect couple. Together they have built a home and raised three children and are about to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary at the VFW hall. However, beneath the perfection, dissatisfaction smolders. One morning Molly packs her things– including both her cat and her horse– and takes off for the sanctuary of Aunt Hestie’s cottage, the place reserved for all women of her family who leave their husbands. Tommy Lee is left bewildered and holding his own anger.
With her engaging style of affectionate humor and emotional drama, Curtiss Ann Matlock goes deep into the hidden desires and needs of a passionate woman and the man strong enough to love her. Proving that no marriage is an island is a cast of colorful supporting characters:
- Molly’s family of women—Mama, who goes frequently in public dressed in her robe, and the four other unique Collier sisters. When one is threatened, they come together as an invincible force.
- Sam Ketchum, who is Tommy Lee’s best friend, and who has always loved Molly.
- Savannah, eldest child, pregnant and emotional, and her straight-laced husband who wants nothing to do with his loony in-laws; sons Boone and Colter, grown, but still with expectations of their parents.
- And the entire community of Valentine, Oklahoma, everyone having a view on Molly and Tommy Lee’s situation, and a great deal to say about it, too.
In the end, Molly and Tommy Lee, and many in the town of Valentine, find that rediscovered love may be the sweetest love of all.
This tender story of passionate love and family devotion is a splendid example of Ms. Matlock’s ability to look deep into the soul of individuals and celebrate their strengths and foibles. Wonderful! ~ Romantic Times Magazine
Love in a Small Town is available in both trade paperback and digital. Buy the paperback on Amazon and get the Kindle version Free! Look for the Matchbook logo.
Curtiss Ann Matlock 