Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9781414311692
ISBN number: 1414311699
Label: Tyndale House Publishing houses
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishing houses
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: August 02, 2007
Publishing house: Tyndale House Publishing houses
Sale Popularity Level: 265134
Studio: Tyndale House Publishing houses
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How do you cope when God asks you to bury a dream? In this new series by best-selling author Angela Hunt, readers will meet Jennifer Graham, the no-nonsense chief of staff for a Virginia senator who quits her job after a divorce and finds herself an unemployed single mom. Forced to live with her mother until she can find work on Capitol Hill that does not involve her gregarious ex-husband, her efforts are stymied until she learns that she has inherited a funeral home in picturesque Mt. Dora. Jennifer journeys to the small Florida town with her two sons and her mother, never dreaming that within a mortuary she will discover she has inherited a rewarding career that teaches her far more about life than death.
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Rated by buyers 
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I never thought I would enjoy a book that has a funeral home as a backdrop, but I love this series! Angela Hunt does great research for her books & I usually end up learning something. Her books just get better and better, with this series being no exception. My only regret is I have to wait until late November for the 3rd book in the series to be released.
Rated by buyers 
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Jennifer Graham's hubby abruptly annouces their marriage is over. Impetuously, Jenny packs her bags and two boys to move to an inherited piece of land that boasts a Herculean rundown mansion, once a funeral parlor. YIKES, not what they were expecting. Without the recourse to move back to Virginia, Jenny decides to make this enormous "Fairlawn" into a bed and breakfast. Many events impede this endeavor including that 12 other owners of B&B's in this small tourist town are NOT amused and less than inviting to her plans.
An elderly employee who has obligations to fulfill promised pre-paid funerals resides with the Graham family working in the confines of the funeral rooms. Curiosity drives Jenny to peek, watch him, and become fascinated. Soon she is doing a great deal of the work, and Fairview Funeral Home rises from the dead.
Many plotlines of other characters, the deceased, and the children, keep a spirited plotline flowing.
This is a Christian offering, but not in the least bit preachy. Also it gets rather graphic about how bodies are embalmed so if you are very squeamish be warned. I am, but my fascination with the story kept me going.
This will be a series. I recommend this read and hope you all find it as interesting, amusing, and intriguing as I did.
Rated by buyers -
Angela Hunt is one of the most prolific and enjoyable inspirational novelists writing today. So it's no surprise that DOESN'T SHE LOOK NATURAL? is an entertaining and thoughtful read, and a promising beginning to a new series.
Hunt's story revolves around Jennifer Graham, a middle-aged working mom whose high-powered husband has just left her for the attractive and younger nanny. Devastated by this turn of events, Graham is forced to sell her home just outside Washington, D.C., leave her career and take her two young boys to live-in with her widowed mother. When an uncle dies and leaves Jennifer a sprawling Victorian house in Florida, Jennifer sees it as a chance to get back on her feet financially. She soon discovers that the house is also a business...and not just any kind of business.
The beautiful Victorian pictured on the Internet is actually a rambling wreck (think "money pit") and a long-time mortuary --- Fairlawn Funeral Home --- that has served the citizens of the small town of Mt. Dora for years. To sell it, Jennifer, her boys, her mother Joella and their Jack Russell terrier move to Mt. Dora for the summer. At least that's the plan. Jennifer tells herself she'll fix up the old house and sell it so that she has a financial cushion until her husband comes to his senses and returns to the family.
Of course, readers will see a lot of what's coming, but that makes it no less enjoyable to get there. As Jennifer meets the funeral home's on-site mortician, Gerald Huffman (a wise mentor-ish sort of man who continues to live in the house as the book progresses), and navigates single-parenting and her relationship with her mother, there is plenty to keep audiences involved. One particularly odd twist toward the end of the book will require readers to suspend their disbelief (even if it could happen in real life, it is still difficult to believe), but the overall result is an enjoyable, entertaining read.
One of the interesting minor themes in the book is a glimpse into the Red Hat Society, a feisty older women's club. A particularly good scene in the novel features the funeral of a member of the Red Hatters; it is full of quirky and offbeat moments, as well as poignant ones, just as most real-life funerals are.
Hunt does a competent job portraying the relationships between middle-age daughters and their mothers, and the tensions of both generations with each other. As the story unfolds, Joella is able to be more honest with Jennifer about her own relationship with her husband, Jennifer's father. She learns to strike a better balance between being an interfering mother and grandmother and becoming an understanding and supportive parent. Jennifer is also able to acknowledge the importance of her mother's role in her family, especially with an absent husband. Most interestingly, I thought, was that Hunt portrays Joella as an independent woman with interests outside her immediate family and a desire to continue to live life on her own terms, while still being available for her daughter.
Plenty of details about the funeral home industry, the inner workings of mortuaries and the families who live in funeral homes show that Hunt did her research. Details about the challenges of moving from the east to the humid tropics of Florida, Hunt's home state (and a place she has set many of her novels), are also a good backdrop to the plot. Many of the characters are only lightly sketched, but this is expected, perhaps, for the very first installment of a series. Deeper character development is likely on the way.
Hunt fans won't want to miss DOESN'T SHE LOOK NATURAL? Those new to her novels will discover here what makes her stories so palatable.
--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
Rated by buyers -
I enjoyed this book. It was different from Angela's other books. Some of the other books are quite intense. This one was not. The story was slow paced. It's the story of picking up the pieces after a divorce. And the healing process, I suspect, is slow in real life. I think this is why the story was written this way. I did enjoy the story, although I put off reading it for a long time because I didn't like the cover.
Rated by buyers -
"Doesn't She Look Natural" is a wonderful book. Angela Hunt writes excellent books. I am aways so excited when I see that she has written a new book and I even pre-order. I have spent many pleasure hours reading. Angela Hunt is an author that spikes your interest the moment that a person starts reading.
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