Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook

I can always count on Claire Cook to get my summer reading off to a good start and Best Staged Plans did that again for me this summer.  Sandy Sullivan stages houses, (gets houses ready for selling).  As she looks toward retiring herself, she wants to get her house in order and gets frustrated with her family because she seems to be the only one who wants to get the house in Boston ready for selling.  Getting frustrated with everything she takes a job in Atlanta to stage a new hotel for her best friend's boyfriend.  She is excited at the opportunity to visit her married daughter in Atlanta. When she gets there she realizes her daughter is off to Boston for a month so Sandy spends the time with her son-in-law, which is humorous in itself.

Sandy and her friend Denise have some adventures in trying to figure out if Denise's boyfriend is all he is cracked up to be.  Sandy also meets Naomi living between the dumpsters at the Chocolate Hotel, that she is staging to open.  She befriends her and they both change each other's lives.

I love the description of the Chocolate Hotel as Sandy designs this Atlanta hotel, I would visit myself it were real!  There are lots of great tips in the book too for staging your own house to include some great paint colors.

The thing I love about Claire Cook's books is that you can always connect with her characters and you feel like they are your friends by the end of the book.  She has never disappointed me.  I can picture myself in a lot of the situations her characters get into.

Other books by Claire Cook are:  Must Love Dogs (my personal favorite) Ready to Fall,  Multiple Choice,  Life's a Beach,  Summer Blowout,  The Wildwater Walking Club,  and Seven Year Switch.