Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1)

Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1)
Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch - Queen Bee, Bk 1
Author: Haywood Smith
ISBN-13: 9780312300562
ISBN-10: 0312300565
Publication Date: 10/7/2002
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 45

3.6 stars, based on 45 ratings
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

56 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 293 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
The characters were good, lots of action, things happening to them. A dysfunctional family who loves each other and comes together when necessary. Is there a sequel? There should be.
Fulltimer avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 179 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
I loved this book. It shows us that being 50 and divorced is not the end of the world and women can survive anything and come out stronger for it.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
A, yet another Ya-Ya knockoff - but this one is good!!! It will make you laugh and as well, cry... you see the main character come to grips with her inner demons in the crazy town she grew up in.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 183 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book! I enjoyed the fact that the heroine was not a twenty something, hard body, looking for Mr Right. I liked the fact that Linwood is flat-broke, fifty and divorced (all of which I could identify with, even though Im not quite fifty!). I laughed out loud several times while reading this and some of the descriptions still crack me up when I think about them. Her description comparing the coffee club to crows on a line reminds me of some of the people from my home town. This is the first book I've read by this author, however I am looking forward to reading more by her.
teacup49 avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 72 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Started out slow but this book is well worth the read. Very funny story of a woman starting over after her divorce at 50, moving in with her parents, brother and aunt and uncle. Loved it once the plot started moving.
imnellen avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 246 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I really enjoyed this book because it is funny, and involves the imperfections of real living. A good story!
Readnmachine avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 1440 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The only problem with this book is that the publishers, for whatever reason, have chosen to market it as "funny". It's not "funny", and I don't think the author ever intended it to be. Yes, there are moments that will make you smile -- mostly from the main character's dry and self-deprecating comments. But there are also moments that will make your heart ache as Lin faces the fantasies that have shaken her life and looks for truths to replace them.
lillinda avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 175 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A hilarious good read for summer!
Quixotic1 avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Funny! A great read for the pool or beach. Great Southern humor.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
It took e FOREVER to get through this book. I did not like it. Too much detail that was not necesary.
NuttyNanny avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved it because I am from the South as is the author and it is just plain funny and entertaining.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very Ya Ya, southern to the hilt. Charming.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 41 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I really liked this book. It kinda starts out ya-ya like but has its own unique character and charm. Better than YaYa!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great beach read. Southern hospitality at its best!!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 38 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
It may be down to my more sedate Northern background, but I didn't care for this book at all. First, as I've mentioned previously in other reviews, first person narrative does nothing for me. It's like listening to or reading a friend's blog. Second, while zany works as a plot point in many other novels, there is far too much of it in this book. Even as a parody of the Southern stereotypes, it took forever for the narrator (Linwood "Lin" Breedlove Scott) to literally exit her car, dodge a mentally ill relative, and get her bags up the steps and into her family home where she's come to roost after an unsavory divorce. I gave in after twenty-six pages. Simply not for me.
ajmtym2003 avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
Funny story, easy read
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
Funny and heart-warming book about a woman who hast to return to her Southern homestead after her husband of thirty years leaves her. She learns to accept her family and move on. Great read!!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 93 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
My best friend lives in CT and I live in TX. She read this book and called me and said I had to read this book. I found it and read it and just fell in love with it! I must read!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 336 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
this was a great novel..couldn'tt putt it down..lol
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 20 more book reviews
Cute book, different because the heroine is an older lady (above 40!)
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
This is a very funny book! It gives us all hope after we've had life knock us down.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Very enjoyable!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 57 more book reviews
Very entertaining and amusing. A good, quick read.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 26 more book reviews
I thought i was really going to enjoy this book at the begining, but i lost interest about half way through!!! I thought the language was very crude!!!!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 61 more book reviews
Linwood Breedlove Scott's life has officially hit rock bottom. Her husband of 30 years has run off with a stripper. The IRS has taken everything but her coffee table. And her hot flashes are four-alarmers! The only thing that could make being flat broke and fifty any worse is having to crawl home to her parents' house in Mimosa Branch, Georgia...which is exactly where she's headed.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 23 more book reviews
A good story full of lovable characters that you probably know (especially if you live in the loony bin we call the South)
AimeeR avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 46 more book reviews
wonderful book about a woman picking up the pieces of her shattered life after her husband runs off with a stripper and the IRS takes everything!! She retreats to her parents home in small town Georgia and discovers old friends, romance and more!!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 300 more book reviews
Linwood Breedlove Scott returns to her hometown of Mimosa Branch, Georgia after her 30 year marriage ends. She moves right back into the household of "odd" (that Southern euphemism for crazy!) relatives, including her mom and dad, aunt and uncle and her alcoholic, always fishin' brother. Have they changed, or has she?

Lots of funny expressions and characters.
baeb47 avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 207 more book reviews
I really enjoyed Lin and her crazy family, and the way she learned to get along with them and enjoy her life.
Bernie avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on
Very funny, a southern type of funny. Its not often you read about a women in her 50's going home to live with mom and dad.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 85 more book reviews
Haywood Smith's Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch is about a recently divorced woman who has to move home with her wacky family. She finds herself working at her high school job and chasing the "boy" next door like a teenager. Mix in shady politics and you get a very good read. Just be warned that the main character's new favorite motto includes the "f" word. This is the only reason I won't forward this book to my mom.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 25 more book reviews
a fun read
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 23 more book reviews
This book was great fun - I would go from laughing to crying in a few minutes.
panthergirl12 avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 13 more book reviews
Great Book! Great story about taking what life has given you and making the best of it! Even though the main character is in her 50's I related to everything she wrote about! Laughed a lot too!!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
Southern chick lit - quick, easy read and enjoyable characters. Check out my full review at http://www.epinions.com/content_151015296644
Debisbooked avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 136 more book reviews
Great book about a southern woman going back to her childhood home after a failed marriage and how she finds herself a stronger person for it. The author does a wonderful job at evoking southern life as it was and is now.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 140 more book reviews
This was our book club's selection and we all enjoyed reading it and discussing it.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 19 more book reviews
Very good Southern characters that can make you laugh or cry. Charming story.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 9 more book reviews
This book is hilarious! It a great pick me up book.
StacyJ avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 87 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book. It took me a few chapters to get into, but it was worth the wait.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 61 more book reviews
Five Stars! I did really enjoy this story! I hope that you will too...
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 22 more book reviews
Loved it! You love and know the characters in minutes. One of those books where you wonder what happened after the book ends. Easy and fun read, but you still want to know more!
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 104 more book reviews
I initialy thought this book was mindless fluff (crazy southern relatives, love/hate attraction to man next door), but it gets deeper as it goes. I can identify with the starting-over-after-divorce from your only love-who-turned-out-to-be-a-jerk. Lin is very real, dealing with hot flashes, no money and a deep fear of dating for the first time since high school.
rolltide1al avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 223 more book reviews
Another great book by Haywood Smith. I loved all of her Red Hat books as well.

****
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 54 more book reviews
A story about starting your life over at 50, in your mother's house in the south, with crazy characters and new adventures. Haywood Smith "The Red Hat Club" writes of Linwood's return home after her husband of 30 years leaves her for a stripper
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 91 more book reviews
Funny, sweet book.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on
I LOVE this book. I posted most of my books on here, but just cannot seem to separate from this one. I always go back to it when I need a good laugh.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 19 more book reviews
Lin's life has officially hit rock-bottom. The only thing that could make being broke and 50 any worse is having to crawl home to her parents.
She's abt to discover that it's never too late for old friends, new romance, the ties of family, and a second chance to survive it all on the road to becoming the person you were always menat to be...
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 122 more book reviews
"Strong characters and ...irrepressible wit...snapshots of Southern living will charm even the hardest-hearted Yankee." ~Publisher's Weekly
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 153 more book reviews
I really want to be a GRITS. Girls Raised In The South are so funny and feisty. This book is great fun.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 145 more book reviews
When her husband drains their bank account and leaves her for a stripper, Lin retreats to her hometown of Mimosa Branch, Ga., to lick her wounds. Facing her conservative, gossipy Southern town as a newly divorced woman is no easy task, however, especially when her best friend lives miles away, her house has become a menagerie haunted by her Alzheimer's-stricken Uncle Bedford, and her boss at the drugstore is an uptight Northerner, Grant Owens, whom she finds disturbingly attractive. Determined to leave her meek hausfrau self behind and start taking charge of her life, she plots to seduce Grant and joins forces with an ex-con preacher with the proverbial heart of gold to oust the corrupt mayor from office. The story covers familiar territory, but Lin's efforts to make a home for herself in a now-unfamiliar town, to reconnect with her old friends and mend rifts with her family are well-observed and bittersweet. Snapshots of Southern living will charm the hardest-hearted Yankee; the purple bathtub full of pink begonias on Lin's mother's porch is irresistible.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 53 more book reviews
Fun read.
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
In this book, Lindwood Breedlove Scott's life has officially hit rock-bottom. Her husband of thirty years has run off with a stripper. She's going through menopause, is flat broke, and needs to move back home to her parents' house in Mimosa Branch, Georgia.

To find out how Lindwood manages to make a new life for herself, read this book.
ErinMc avatar reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 373 more book reviews
Linwood Breedlove Scott's life hs officially hit rock-bottom. Her husband of thirty years has run off with a stripper. The IRS has taken everything but her coffee table. And her hot flashes are four-alarmers. The only thing that could make being flat-broke and fifty any worse is having to crawl to her parents' house in Mimosa Branch,Georgia.. which is exactly where she's headed.
Lin's barely prepared for the loony bin that greets her, fromher controlling ,eighty-year-old mother and shockingly blunt father to her long -suffering Aunt Glory and her deranged Uncle Bedford who is convinced a cannibal lives under the furniture. Nor is she ready for the instant love-hate attraction she feels for her handsome,new,next-door neighbor.Trying to navigate her way through the second act of her life with nothing more than a prepaid calling card,a broken heart,and plenty of Prozac. Lin's about to discover that it's never too late for old friends,new romance,the ties of family ,and a second chance to survive it all on the road to becoming the person you were always meant to be....
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 367 more book reviews
Linwood Breedlove Scott's life has officially hit rock bottom. Her husband of thirty years has run off with a stripper. The IRS has taken everything but her coffee table. And her hot flashes are four-alarmers. The only thing that could make being flat-broke and fifty any worse is having to crawl home to her parents' house in Mimosa Branch, Georgia...which is exactly where she's headed.

Lin's barely prepared for the loony bin that greets her, from her controlling, eighty-year-old mother and shockingly blunt father to her long-suffering Aunt Glory and her deranged Uncle Bedford who is convinced a cannibal lives under the furniture. Nor is she ready for the instant love-hate attraction she feels for her handsome new next-door neighbor. Trying to navigate her way through the second act of her life with nothing more than a prepaid calling card, a broken heart, and plenty of Prozac, Lin's about to discover that it's never too late for old friends, new romance, the ties of family, and a second chance to survive it all on the road to becoming the person you were always meant to be...
reviewed Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch (Queen Bee, Bk 1) on + 59 more book reviews
The Red Hat ladies like this book. It is about Red Hat ladies.