Where Cee Cee Honeycutt was sweet, Looking For Me is a direct hit to the heart.

So accurately imbedded are these characters that you will not soon

forget them… nor will you want to.

~Sheila

Teddy Overman found from a young age that she had a passion for taking the old and abandoned treasures she found in furniture and making them unique and new.  It was always exciting to find something broken down along side a garbage dumpster or in a ditch like a chair or end table and work her magic into restoring it to something to be loved again.  Teddy’s mother felt differently and encouraged her daughter to take up other interests like typing so she could be a secretary with a steady pay check, but Teddy’s love or restoring did not waver.

Teddy’s brother Josh had a heart for animals.  He would go out of his way to rescue the abandoned and the abused… in a way, the siblings had similar hearts.  As Teddy felt she could see into the heart of a piece of furniture and see what is could be, Josh felt he could hear the animals and nature call to him.  That call was so strong that one day he left his home… and never returned again.  As time goes by and days pass into years the family has no choice but to think that Josh has surely died out in the elements. 

As Teddy grows to be an adult she finds she can full fill her passion for working with furniture in a shop that has a delightful cast of characters that not only work along side her, but frequent the shop.  Each one as unique and beautiful as the furniture she loves.  When tragedy strikes and Teddy finds herself driving that familiar road back to her childhood home signs lead to the fact that Josh may be alive. 

Trapped between her past and her future, Teddy must decide what is true and to be held on to, and what must be let go.

Holy cheese on a cracker.  Or something like that.  Looking For Me spoke to my heart in so many ways I do not even know where to begin.  I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Beth Hoffman’s debut in Cee Cee Honeycutt, a sweet as sweet tea story that made me long to keep Cee Cee in my circle of fictitious friends.  When Looking For Me was on its way into my hot little hands I am pretty sure I watched the mail box every day for a week. 

Looking For Me was everything I had hoped it would be … every bit as strongly written as Cee Cee Honeycutt but also more.  Looking For Me has a sharp edge to it, one that is tamed a bit by the southern feel and location of the book, but it is there all the same and it is a good thing.  The book deals with family disappointments, loss, reaching for your dreams, taking the road less traveled, love, heartbreak, friendships, and letting go – in some cases; all of the above.

I laughed and cheered Teddy on – strong willed and self assured (even when she was faking it) I found a bit of me in her.  I would also have to say I cried… at least twice while reading this book.  There are subjects that always hit a bit close to home for me, and not in a bad way.  I love a book that makes you feel.. that makes you want to pick it up again and again…

Looking For Me was that book.  One of the most impactful books I have read this year.  If you are looking for such a read to enjoy while spending time in the sun or curled up with a blanket in a cozy chair, please consider Looking For Me to be that book.