A Girl Like That

A Southside Review by Bobby Love " A Girl Like That " By Mary FlinnGreensboro's multiple literary award winner The skinny : A southern comfort pleasure, thoughtful narrative, believable characterizations, tragedy, comedy, edgy, humility and redemptive charm. Mary's a gifted writer. 👍👍👍👍👍 outta 5 5th in a series Mature women. 17 and up IMHO From the hills of Valle Crucis to the shores of Wrightsville Beach. A journey of loss and sweet redemption. Elle from hell to well. Tragedy and comedy, edginess and humility. Mary Flinn seduces us with her descriptive talent. Make an appointment this Fall with A Girl Like That !! ***************** Ok Fall is falling and that means the 4 F's. Family, Friends, Food and Fun !! Well add a 5th. Careful there ! " Fiction " ! Drink in some great southern comfort and read Mary Flinn's latest novel. " A Girl Like That ". Ladies download this warm, colloquial, reflective and humorous novel. The story of Elle McLarin. Elle's a valley girl, well a Valle Crucis girl that had some tough formative years that made her a Bad Ass Barbie. The kind the girls hate and the kind the guys love. She's scored a bad line between freedom and foolishness and regret and remorse. And you know that one moment in time, that one moment we wish we could undo or turn the clock back. Oh Elle you didn't ? She did and it cost her big. The kind of payment no one wants to face. Play and you pay. Consequences run long and deep. But Mary Flinn weaves Elle's story, her fall and her ascent, in a way that allows the reader to journey with Elle and also reflect on our own paths. The Good Elle and the Bad Elle. The good me and the bad me. Nothing preachy in this work, just life. In the end Elle learns the greatest secret, loving herself, by forgiving herself. And in forgiving herself she begins to forgive others and love better. A hopeful, second chance life. She's still edgy and tough and audacious, but she doesn't have to lose herself to find herself. Elle's story is like our story. Our lives are filled with all kinds of colorful characters, bitches and bastards and encouragers and angels. Mary and Elle paint a glorious, humorous host of characters. Redemption dressed well is always a great story. Bottom line ? I liked the book. I enjoy Mary's descriptive style of story telling. Mary Flinn paints on a colorful canvas. I look forward to reading the other 4 installments of this series. So pour a glass of wine and curl up in your favorite chair or nook...see if you know A GIRL LIKE THAT !A Southside ReviewBobby Love

This is a fast, fun, great read! Destined to be a movie! Can't wait to read her other books.

An easy read but a bit too perfect and wrapped in a nice bow....

Elle McLarin, known as “Badass Barbie” to her detractors, is the kind of girl whom readers just love to hate—at least she was until now. Mary Flinn introduced Elle in the first book of her Kyle and Chelsea series, The One, where Elle made an unforgettable debut as a high school senior so infatuated with Kyle that she gave him a roofie at a party to try to loosen him up so he’d have sex with her. That plan backfired—really backfired. When the party was raided by the cops, Kyle was found unconscious with his pants down. Elle ended up serving a prison term, during which time, she gave birth to her first child—out of wedlock, of course. Since then, Elle has dwelled on the margin of the Kyle and Chelsea series, occasionally being mentioned or making cameo appearances, but never having a chance to tell her own story.Until now—and what a story it turns out to be! In A Girl Like That, we find out about Elle’s dysfunctional childhood, what led to her mistake with Kyle, and her attempts since then to redeem herself. And who would have guessed that this bad girl would turn out to be Mary Flinn’s most loveable character?This new book is told from Elle’s point of view and begins nineteen years after Elle’s incident with Kyle. Elle’s grandmother has just died and Elle’s now eighteen-year-old son, Joey, has joined the Army, leaving Elle on her own and free finally to escape the mountain community where she has long been the talk of the town. Elle sells her grandmother’s cabin and heads for Wilmington, North Carolina, to reinvent herself by operating her own bakery. There she starts to make new friends, become a successful businesswoman, and try to forget the past, but her bad girl side still needs to be repressed now and then.When Elle meets her gorgeous neighbor, Nate, she knows better than to get involved with him, especially since he’s so hot he could be Kyle’s hotter twin. But a chain of events is soon unleashed that finds Elle not only involved with Nate, but enmeshed in a string of strange relationships and circumstances that will change her life forever.Flinn is at her finest in this novel, from depicting the irony of a heroine who has never married or found true love but spends her days baking and decorating wedding cakes, to the way she uses leitmotifs throughout the novel, such as Elle’s aversion for the color orange because it reminds her of her prison clothing. The supporting cast of characters includes a loveable elderly gardener, Elle’s costume designer landlord, a winery owner and his overly talkative fiancée, a handyman with a secret, the twenty-something bakery staff, the father of Elle’s son and his hateful family, a bitchy reporter who comes to cover Elle’s bakery’s grand opening, and a young boy desperately in need of Elle’s help. Their lives all weave together into Elle’s in a way that could rival any Dickens’ plot, and each plays his or her role in helping or hindering Elle in her pursuit of happiness, which can only be achieved when she learns to forgive herself for the past.It’s been a long time since I laughed so hard or felt so deeply for the main character when reading a novel, which shows Flinn is at the top of her form. Several years ago, this North Carolina author set out to write a romance novel. Today, with several books under her belt, she has proven herself to be one of the finest writers of realistic fiction alive today. Don’t miss A Girl Like That. I guarantee you’ll not only like it—you’ll love it!

I have read all seven of Ms. Flinn's books and I think that this is her best product yet. I really enjoyed how she brought Elle's character to life by merging her stormy, bad ass past with her determination to change her image and her drive to mend relationships with those she had harmed, as well as her son. Although this book is based on a character from Ms. Flinn's first book The One, this is a stand alone novel. I have enjoyed all of Ms.. Flinn's novels because I am a transplant to North Carolina and have become somewhat familiar with the venues of Boone and Valle Crucis. Because of the venues of Wilmington and the Outer Banks, I look forward to visiting those areas.

-Elle McLarin...A Girl Like That“We take our wine and wander out onto the front porch and watch the last of the sunset. Birds flutter toward dark trees, settling in to roost for the night as cicadas and crickets begin their evening serenade. My mountains are beginning to take their deep exhale.”Author Mary Flinn, also exhaled deeply, and the resulting breath became the novel, A Girl Like That, which takes her craft to the next level. Like a well-savored summer vacation, the reader follows Elle on a journey from the mountains of Valle Crucis to the sea at Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, North Carolina. The reader will fall in love with the free-spirited Elle and root for her as she navigates her life-changing journey to find change, forgiveness, acceptance...and love. Tim Swink, author