Porch Lights audiobook

Book ReviewByC. Neuroticus Absolutus I just finished reading Porch Lights by Dorthea Benton Frank, another story about life on the barrier islands of South Carolina. They say write about what you know best. Ms. Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island and weaves a treasure trove of knowledge and experience into one story after another about the South Carolina Lowcountry. I’ve read eight of the dozen books she has written, each with charming, lovable characters who draw the reader into real-life predicaments where Ms. Frank lets the characters lead the reader to happy endings. She writes feel-good books that go well with sun block, sand, seashells, colorful beach umbrellas and pitchers of Margaritas. She has mastered the art of storytelling with an occasional twist of humor. Moreover, whereas the average chick-lit authors write to fit the formulas of the Harlequin ilk, Ms. Frank skillfully constructs entertaining narratives outside the constricting formula mold. Porch Lights features Jackie McMullen, an Army nurse with multiple tours of Afghanistan who is widowed when her firefighter husband dies in the line of duty. She comes home to a ten-year-old son Charlie who is devastated by his father’s passing―as is she. The boy’s depression leads her and her son from New York back to Sullivans Island and her long-separated mother and father. Jackie refuses to believe that she will ever love again and plans to return to Brooklyn before the next school year begins. But Charlie develops a relationship with his grandfather and the kind bachelor doctor next door and refuses to leave the island. An approaching hurricane provides the impetus for Jackie to leave Sullivans Island quickly, but Mother Nature moves in to put the kibosh on all human plans. Oh, did I mention that Steve Plofker, the handsome doctor next door, eyes curvy nurse Jackie from the moment she arrives home. Before you can say Bob’s your uncle, he develops longer-range plans for Jackie than she is willing to consider. As they say, love will find a way. Or will it? Each chapter in Porch Lights is preceded by a quote from Edgar Allen Poe, whose work The Gold Bug captures young Charlie’s imagination and leads him to discover the marvelous history of Sullivans Island, which Ms. Frank skillfully intertwines in her story. What’s more, each chapter alternates the point of view between Jackie and her mother Annie. An unusual approach considering that most agents, editors and critics say never switch points of view. However, in Porch Lights, Ms. Frank accomplishes this with a story that changes POV effortlessly and seamlessly, a credit to her mastery of her craft. I like action/adventure Uzi-toting bad guys and all-American, Glock-in-hand heroes who look like they stepped out of a WWII Army recruiting poster. Still, with all that tiring action, I occasionally need a laid-back story that tugs at my heartstrings and lets me unwind. That’s when I turn to Ms. Frank’s creations, books guaranteed to warm your heart and let you relax. I admit that Ms. Frank’s books are getting more predictable with the printing of each new novel. I believe her best work lies in her earlier books. Nevertheless, I like her stories. I know pretty much what I’m going to get when I take one of Ms. Frank’s novels to the cash register. No disappointments. Bedtime or beachtime, poolside or plane ride, Porch Lights is a good read.

This is a typically enjoyable read from Dotty Benton-Frank. The locale is Sullivan's Island, a favorite place of ours (and where the author is from)....so, what is not to love? The main character has lost her NYFD husband to a fire related accident. She comes to Sullivan's Island to spend the summer school holiday because she is concerned about the prolonged depression of her ten-year-old son. The beautiful setting and presence of family work their magic and both Jackie and her son begin to recover from their loss. The story was a bit predictable but the quirky, lovable personalities make up for that....On a more personal note, the MC is protrayed as an Army Reserve nurse and although she thanks someone for helping her with this part of the story, the author makes multiple errors in this story line. I wish she or her editor had really sought some technical fact-checking to prevent folks like me from being annoyed. I am a 29 year Army employee and my husband was in the Army for 30 years, so I can't help but feel annoyed that she does not know the difference between enlisting and being commissioned as an officer or that U.S.Army is a proper noun which is capitalized (unlike military which is an adjective). The medical facts are pretty muddy as well and should have been reviewed more closely by a career nurse.

Ms. Frank never fails to amuse and entertain me. Her characters always touch my funny bone and in this novel Annie Britt, matriarch and owner of her home, The Salty Dog down on Sullivans Island, makes me giggle out loud with her thoughts and words. Things like: “I had two hormones left. Benedict and Arnold” and “I still believed I could handle Dr. Love. That’s why the Lord invented dimmer switches. There comes a time when we’re all better off in the dark.” Annie’s daughter Jackie and her sweet ten year old son, Charlie, have come to spend the summer with her. Jackie’s husband, a New York City fireman, recently lost his life doing the job he loved and both Jackie and Charlie were still distraught – so back to the island they came. Can the lovely Low Country and Annie’s love heal their hearts? This novel is a great summertime read or anytime read…Another line by Annie and wholeheartedly agreed with is: “…because a book lets your imagination soar and a movie makes all the decisions for you.”

Leave the light on for me. PORCH LIGHTS was a book about caring, family, healing, and a book that will steal your heart in more ways than one.Jackie, recently widowed with a ten-year-old son, decides to go back home for the rest of the summer to help Charlie heal from the loss of his father. Many surprises await Jackie as well as many decisions. One of the surprises is her mother. They never did have an easy relationship, but her mother seems to have changed.The characters were a nice mix of fun, intensity, loneliness, being loveable, and unique. The setting was very well described as well as the emotions of each character. You will cry, laugh, and even be envious of the family connection. You will want to be part of the Britt family and live with them on Sullivan's Island. You will definitely want to share the delicious meals made by Annie, but you won't want to be Jackie who has a major life decision to make.I have never read a book by Ms. Frank. She has an easy style and drew me in. This book was a pleasant read. 4/5This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Porch Lights are a sign of welcome or a symbol that you are waiting for someone to come home and that's exactly what you, the reader, will find when you read the latest novel by Dorothea Benton Frank, Porch Lights!I guess the hardest thing for someone to deal with in life is to lose someone that they love. Dealing with the loss and finding a way to move forward when it feels like you lack the motivation to do so would be a challenging thing to do. Yet that is exactly what Jackie and Charlie McMullen are trying to do. Finding a way to move forward without Jimmy McMullen, who was killed as a New York fireman when the building he was in collapsed, living Jackie without a husband and young, ten-year-old, Charlie without a dad.Now Jackie is trying to find a way to pull Charlie out of a lingering depression that is consuming his life. Withdrawing as an Army nurse, Jackie takes a trip back to her childhood home on Sullivan's Island in Charleston to stay the summer with her mom, Annie Britt in hopes of finding a solution. What she learns there is a process of letting go of the pain but retaining the love and memories she has of her life with Jimmy and begin building a new one. Along the way she learns how much she needs to change as well as the beach begins to sooth away the worn and sharp edges of her past. She learns to let Charlie begin to experience his own challenges as a boy growing up, from skateboarding with the friends he meets, sleep overs, baseball games and learning a different way of life from the one he left behind before the summer.Along the way, Charlie and Jackie have plenty of help from not only Jackie's mom Annie, but her father, Buster who comes and stays with them to help Charlie make the transition much easier doing stuff a father and son might. A neighbor next door to Annie's, is a local doctor, Steven Plofker, who offers Charlie a job walking his dogs and taking care of them for the summer while teaching him the value of a job and responsibility. He is also very interested in Jackie seeing as they both share losing a spouse in common.The delight the reader finds in Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank is a life that is much more simple. Spending the days walking along the beach in search of the ocean's treasures, sharing homemade ice cream from an old fashioned crank machine, and just memories of grilled bar-b-que meals eaten in the company of close family and friends on porch, calls the reader home in a serene way. Healing begins for all of them and changes how they view life as they work together to move forward in the next chapters of their life. Dorothea paints such a splendid canvas for the reader, you can smell the salty air and feel the cool ocean breezes in her latest novel.I received Porch Lights compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins publishers for my honest review. If you are truly looking for a memorable summer read, than search no further and pick this one up. It is such a treasure to find a difficult subject like the loss of someone dear is something to be shared with family and friends and in the end changes them all and brings healing no one really expected. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and the cast of supporting characters Dorothea created make this an exceptionally fun read, especially Jackie's mom, Annie who fears aging the most!

When I read Frank's Sullivans Island books, I feel as though I am on the island too, taking part in best friends' lives. I want to live in her books.Jackie is called home from active duty in Afghanistan to bury her firefighter husband and to figure out how she and her ten year old son will go on without the man they loved so deeply. Settling on the idea of going home to visit her family on Sullivans Island is the beginning of the healing that takes place for Jackie and her son as well as for her feisty parents who, still married, have been separated for 11 years and really can't stand to be around each other.I missed the more out-loud laugh humor that Frank usually weaves into her wonderful stories, but the interaction between Jackie's parents made me smile.I look forward to Frank's next book full of southern style and island life.

I really loved this book--probably 4.5 stars. Great story of love, loss, and family.Frank has an amazing way with descriptions of the Lowcountry and the characters who reside there. Porch Lights is an incredible novel centered on love, loss, and family that will resonate long after the last page is turned. What a treat!SUMMARY: Jackie McMullen is reeling trying to figure out how to survive life without her husband Jimmy, who was tragically killed in an on-the-job injury. Leaving her job as an Army nurse after serving three tours in Afghanistan is difficult enough, but trying to raise her ten-year-old son Charlie on her own when they are both grieving and depressed is almost more than she can handle. She decides to visit her mother, Annie, in North Carolina for the summer, and this move turns out to be a healing balm and the impetus for change that both Jackie and Annie need.

I love DBF. She can write a good southern novel, and transform you in the moment. The story is told by Jackie and Annie. A mother and daughter that are complete opposites of each other. Jackie has recently became a widow and trying to raise her son Charlie. Charlie is not dealing with his Dad's death well at all. Jackie decides to go to Sullivan's Island to stay with her Mom, and try to pick up the pieces. I saw the mix reviews on this book, and I really wander if some that reviewed didn't get Frank's writing style. For me, this was a loving story filled with relatable emotions and very humorous moments. Very enjoyable.

This was such a good book. Easy read and reminded me of growing up in North Carolina

Every time I read one of DBF's books I want to move down south and get adopted by a big 'ole family and live like the characters in her book do. This book tells the story of a much fractured family. Annie and Buster is a married couple, both retired, that have been living apart for 11 years since he got fed up with her controlling ways. From Annie's point of view, it was the day after their daughter’s wedding, he had his junk all over the porch, and they had a bunch of relatives coming over so of course she was concerned. Jackie, the aforementioned daughter, is coming back to the low country with her son Charlie, aged 10. Jackie's husband Jimmie, an NYFD member had died on duty several months before and Jackie needs a break from life in Brooklyn. She is also grappling with decisions after being an active duty nurse in Afghanistan and now figuring out where her life will go.The visit is fraught with tension between Jackie and Annie and Annie and Buster. Throw in good looking Dr. Steve from next door who Annie has been lusting after in her heart and it just keeps getting deeper. Annie is the true southern woman who just keeps on living life every day no matter how hard it has become and who believes that good food is a cure for a lot of problems. She is a font of information for Charlie, telling him all about the low country ways, the battles in the area during the Revolution, and about local celebrity Edgar Allen Poe.One of things I love about DBF's books is that there is such a sense of normalcy in the lives of the characters, even when they are doing the craziest things- like scoping out Dr. Steve's unmentionables. The continuity of years of tradition becomes a balm that soothes the troubled soul whether you believe in the traditions or not. While this story does have a few incidents of emotional lows and one scary moment, generally it is a tale of a family finding its way back to each other by living day after day and opening their hearts to the healing they can give each other.

Dorothea Benton Frank is the perfect Southern hostess. She invites the reader onto her front porch on beautiful Sullivans Island, SC, pours the sweet tea and tells a funny and heartwrenching story of family. Jackie McMullan has just flown back from her third tour of duty in Afghanistan on bereavement leave because her husband, Jimmy, a New York City fireman, was killed while saving people in a burning building in Brooklyn. She and her 10-year-old son Charlie escape to her parents' home on Sullivans Island to let her family, the ocean and the natural beauty of the Low Country help them to heal their grief. Her mom, Annie, is the perfect Southern lady who adores her family to the point of suffocation, and her dad is a crusty fisherman who has a heart of gold but doesn't have the least bit of tact where his wife is concerned. Dorthea's humor and compassion make this story of family relationships so real, you may feel as if she is describing your own clan, no matter where you live.

Jackie is a grieving widow. She returned home from her third tour of duty as a nurse in Afghanistan because her husband, Jimmy a firefighter in NYC had died while fighting a fire. She was the only parent left for her ten year old son, Charlie and both of them were depressed. Although she was often at odds with her mother, Jackie decides to return "home" to stay with her mom on Sullivan's Island for the summer. Her parents are estranged but she is hoping that having his grandparents in his life will help Charlie heal. Dorothea Benton Frank, has written a warm, realistic story of the love of family, showing even the thorns in those relationships. They seem so real that you just know that you could show up on Annie's porch and be invited to stay for dinner. Hope I show up on one of those "special occasion days" which always call for red meat, according to Annie, rather than their fresh fish on the grill days!

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of Sullivan's Island and the surrounding areas had me feeling like I right there at the house on the beach. I came out of the gym (with no windows) after finishing the book and almost expected it to be raining. I thought the author did a nice job combining elements of history, geography, literature, and a great story all in one book. The information about Edgar Allan Poe, about the Civil War, and about the Lowcountry all flowed with the story really well in my opinion and even taught me a new thing or two.I thought the eventual romance between Jackie and Steve was done really tastefully as well as the romance between Jackie's parents. I'll definitely be picking up another one of Frank's books in the future.

I LOVED this book! Y'all know I am a fan of Dorothea Benton Frank, but even so, I admit the past couple of books have been good, but not great. NOT THIS ONE! Once again the Lowcountry & Sullivan's Island work their magic on wounded souls. Dorothea does SUCH an incredible job describing things about the Lowcountry that some people never see or truly appreciate: the amazing food, incredible sunsets, ocean breezes, salty marshes, and yes, PLUFF MUD! Every time I read one of her books I awaken anew to the beauty that surrounds me each & every day.READ THIS! You won't be sorry!

I have read three of Dorothea Benton Frank's books this week and loved them all - she is such a great storyteller, and mixed with the dynamic sense of humor and wit, keeps you laughing throughout the story. The Last Original Wife was excellent as well --just finished it. If you are from the south you will appreciate all the details of the Lowcountry area, as it makes you homesick to return. (get the audio as the narrator does an excellent job)!

The passion of two high-risk jobs in a loving marriage sets the backdrop for loss, devastation, and the ensuing grief of a mother and her ten-year-old son who is spiraling into depression. Hoping to find temporary reprieve, they travel to Sullivan’s Island where salted breezes and the loving arms of family and friends offers instead a deeply healing balm and the courage to move forward. Sprinkled with a healthy dose of wit and wisdom, Dorothea Benton Frank does not disappoint.