Praise for The Red Hat Club Rides Again:

From Publishers Weekly

THE RED HAT CLUB RIDES AGAIN
Haywood Smith. St Martin’s, $24.95
(336p) ISBN 0-312-31691-7

Smith fans know tat when 50-something females don red hats for lunch at Atlanta’s Swan Coach House tearoom, mayhem ensues. Club members Susu (wild divorcee now studying law), Teeny (abandoned woman turned corporate mogul), Diane (displaced wife now fashion designer), Linda (unflappable Jewish mother now in crisis), and Georgia (married narrator newly in love with her husband) unite to save old pal Pru from addition. Four of the five fly to Las Vegas, where they kidnap Pru from a casino with the help of a good-looking cowboy, and then the six reunite to help Pru confront her inner demons in rehab. They also help each other through personal and family challenges and the wrap everything up with a cosmetic surgery cruise. Talk about intervention. For all their mischief, these women on the verge of second adolescence retain core values of Southern womanhood: goodness, graciousness and grandchildren. With flashbacks to their younger days and the ladies’ not-so-strict adherence to 12 Sacred Traditions (“No Lies,” “No ‘I Told You So’s,’”, etc.), the book’s fun lies not in guessing how things out but in Smith’s warm, chatty style and images of “mommy-faced” women prancing about on an ocean liner wearing nothing but high heels, sunglasses and, of course, red hats. Though attempts at hilarity can be hit and miss, and outrageous scenarios and easy solutions strain credibility, well, it’s hard to keep good women down, as The Red Hat Club’s bestseller status proves. (Mar.)

From Booklist

If you think all Red Hat Club members are sweet old ladies with a penchant for purple frocks and crimson chapeaus, think again. Smith's bunch of Buckhead babes--Georgia, Diane, Linda, SuSu, and Teeny--may all be women of a "certain age," but that doesn't mean they have to act like it. They're feisty, and sexy, and loyal to a fault, so when there's trouble within the group, they rally like the Three Musketeers on steroids. Of course, it helps when one of the members is a multimillionaire, able to spare no expense when it comes to problem solving. And if that means firing up the corporate jet to launch a drug intervention in Vegas, or booking an ocean liner for a monthlong plastic surgery cruise, then that's what the Red Hats do. If you're willing to suspend disbelief and go along for the joy ride, then hitting the road with Smith's lovable ladies is a riotous, raucous, roller-coaster adventure. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Library Journal--March 1, 2005

SMITH, HAYWOOD. The Red Hat Club Rides Again. St. Martin's. Mar. 2005. c.336p. ISBN 0-312-31691-7. $24.95. For three decades, no matter what, the Red Hat Club has met for their monthly luncheon. They religiously adhere to the Twelve Traditions, but each of these fiftysomething Southern belles is delightfully unique. In this sequel to The Red Hat Club, Smith's intrepid ladies are a bit older, but even drug addiction, alcoholism, cancer, and a pregnancy scare hasn't destroyed Georgia, Teeny, SuSu, Linda, Diane, and Pru's spirit. Now they're ready for their next group project: a mock kidnapping in Las Vegas, where they check Pru into drug rehab. Engaging flashbacks help tell this charming story. Readers who enjoy friendship-themed books, such as Rebecca Wells's Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, will definitely go for this, too. A welcome addition to libraries of all sizes. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/04.]-Shelley Mosley, Glendale Community Coll. Lib. Media Ctr., AZ

"An engaging ode to the lasting bonds of southern sisterhood and life-begins-at-50 optimism."
- Kirkus Reviews

“[I]t’s hard to keep good women down, as The Red Hat Club’s bestseller status proves.”
- Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Red Hat Club:

Praise for Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch:

"Haywood Smith paints a portrait of lasting relationships between family and lifeling friends in the small-town South. Her colorful cast of characters is unforgettable."
- Southern Living

"A veritable goldmine of Southern homespun homilies and hospitality, where the Ya-Ya sisterhood would feel right at home."
- Booklist

"Snapshots of Southern living will charm even the hardest-hearted Yankee."
- Publishers Weekly

"Hilariously on the mark...the perfect combination of wit and touching sentiment...[A] one-of-a-kind feel-good read."
- Romantic Times

A "hilarious slice of life." - Midwest Book Review