The Review
Honestly, as much as I wanted to connect to this novel, I found it hard. It was a fun, enjoyable novel but some of the dialog felt contrived and stiff. I did love the story and the characters, the book felt whimsical and airy. While I wouldn't put it on my loved list, I will be looking for the next chapter. I think part of my difficulty with the book may have been that it will be a three parter and the back story will be revealed piece by piece but the references to it left me feeling frustrated because I couldn't get the full story yet. I've always been a bit impatient like that. I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of Jennifer Crusie, Hailey North and Dixie Kane. Ms. Bodine captures the flow of a story well and left me wanting more.

The Author
I’m sure growing up in my grandmother’s house, taking care of my developmentally disabled mother, forged who I am, but I don’t believe any one thing defines me. My philosophy of life is that we are all in this together—and we need to embrace one another with as much grace, humor and compassion as we can muster. I see life as big, bigger, biggest, and I want to take everyone along with me on the journey. I not only attend black-tie affairs and work on charity board projects, but I am also just as likely to be taking a grandchild to lunch and a movie. I’m happily married to John, with whom I eloped when I was an 18-year-old freshman in college. It was quite the scandal. We have four beautiful children and 11 grandchildren.

I won my first writing award in the seventh grade in a statewide essay contest about a television broadcast of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. Instead of Silver Skates, they sent real skates, which I enjoyed immensely. I’m only sorry I don’t still have them so they could hang in my office.

While moving 22 times across the country and rearing our children, I sold stories to Fate Magazine, Home Life Magazine and True Confessions. In 1988, I sold my first novel and a week later received a two-book contract from Fawcett. Sixteen novels later, I’ve seen The Other Amanda win the Wisconsin Romance Writers of America Write Touch Readers’ Award and Talk of the Town chosen by Cosmopolitan magazine as its “Red Hot Read” for February 2009.

The Idea
The idea for A Black Tie Affair came to me after my friend, a curator of the costume collection at the Chicago History Museum, told me about being poisoned by a black Dior dress!

What an original tale, and how could I resist—especially after he shared with me the existence of a top-secret, fall-out shelter designed solely to house historical textile treasures? My friend gave me the grand tour of the storage vaults, but only after I promised to suit up with a lab coat and gloves and not to touch (so very difficult for a woman known for “talking with my hands”). They don’t let many people into the collection vault, so it was quite the experience for this author.
And a story was born!

The Video


More Info
Sherrill Bodine has a great website that you can visit here.
Follow @SherrillBodine on Twitter.