Goodness Gracious Green 

Paperback – eBook

July 12, 2010

by Judy Christie

• Series: Green
• 288 pages
• Publisher: Abingdon Press 
• ISBN-13: 978-1426700552

Will Lois Barker put down roots in Green . . . or will small-town life be too tough? 

The charming and uncertain journalist is delighted with her decision to keep The Green News-Item and excited about the possibility of romance with her good-looking catfish farmer/coach neighbor and the growth of her fresh faith and friendships. 

Her second year in Green has scarcely been rung in, though, before Lois is wrung out. The former owners of the paper want it back. The mayor s dog bites her on the face. A series of fires threaten Lois. And while her friends blossom, Lois feels wilted. Although Lois finds fresh hopes turning stale in her second year in Green, in the midst of challenges and lessons, Lois's journey still explodes with possibilities!

This is the second book in the series - and readers will want to read book one Gone to Green first as it does not stand alone. There are also a lot more books than I expected in this series!  In order they are:

Gone to Green, GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREEN, The Glory of Green, Rally 'Round Green, and Downtown Green.  I have only read book one, so am not basing my opinion of this book on the series as the whole. 

Written in first person, GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREEN is about a big city reporter trying to reinvent herself in a small town. There are the usual array of small town quirky characters, including a female doctor with a male name. That threw me big time - not too many females named Kevin. I went back to double check on the gender. Of course, in this day and age, I guess anything goes. 

I didn't really connect with these characters, and if this was a mystery (which some allude it as) then it was terribly obvious who was behind the fires from the very first fire. And no one figured it out.... wow. 

The romance dragged, but if it had to last throughout a five book series, I suppose it needed to be very slow. 

Overall, it was an okay book. It killed a few hours (as well as a few trees) and was pleasant enough, if predictable. There is no faith message to speak of. 3 stars.  I won't be looking up the other books in the series to find out how it ends or develops.