Happiness Key

Wonderful - Highly Recommend

This was a wonderful book. The characters were great. I enjoyed it so much that I have read the subsequent books in the trilogy as well.

Very enjoyable - A beach read for all seasons.

I loved this book. After reading The Help, I wanted to read another book that is rich in place and culture and coming together of women who haave nothing in common. This book more than satisfied those requirements. At the start, I found little to like about any of the characters, so blindly focused on their own life disappointments that they had little to offer anyone else. At 395 pages, I thought it would be too much time to spend with characters I couldn't warm up to. But as they grudgingly came together to achieve a common goad, they drew me into their world and I found their unfolding stories compelling. By the end of the book, I did not want to leave Happiness Key. I wanted to be a part of their circle of friendship. I especially enjoyed the many glimpses into the Indian culture with its richness of color and spice and family relationships. I will be reading more books by this author.

Loved it!

Happiness Key begins the story of four women who could not be any more different. First, there is Tracey Deloche, a former socialite still dealing with the consequences and figurative punches that come from her now ex-husband's con dealings that landed him in one of California's finest jails. The main consequence: having to live in and deal with Happiness Key, twenty-five acres of Florida Gulf Coast where five cottages and its residents reside. As for the residents, there's Janya, an India transplant dealing with her troubled past and her arranged marriage to a man she barley knows, as well as headstrong Wanda who is watching her marriage slowly fall apart, and Alice, a widow living with her son-in-law and granddaughter. At first, this women are ones who don't get along at all, but when their fifth neighbor, Herb, is found dead and alone in his cottage, these four woman are brought together to find his family as well as the secrets he left behind. It will not be an easy journey, especially when another destructive danger lies in their path. Will they be able to save the day? More importantly, will these four women ever call a truce? Find out in this first fun and fast-paced addition in the Happiness Key trilogy.

If there's one thing I love in a book, it's well-developed characters, and thankfully enough Happiness Key had that and even more! When I first discovered that the story would be told through reversing third person, I was a bit wary, but even with that, these four characters (Janya, Alice, Tracy, and Wanda) were able to thrive and come alive within their passages becoming four characters I could not help but root for and adore. Best of all, this book contained not only a fabulous mystery that constantly kept me guessing, but the kind of friendships I love to read about: strong and supportive ones that allow for the characters to learn new things about themselves as well as others. Emilie's writing was also great because of the way she constantly fleshed out the plot and storylines.

In all, if you are going to give a contemporary fiction read a try, pick up Happiness Key. It's sure to bring a smile to your face and keep you on the edge of your chair, guessing until the very last page. And if you're lucky, it may even become a new series to read!

Grade: A+

Good book

Good book loved it!

Great read

I just finished this book. I really enjoyed it. I live in Florida and it made me want to visit! Friends and the beach, who could want more? Love Love Love it

Great Summer Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The main characters were a bit slow to fall in love with in the beginning but soon everything meshed and fell into place. This book had tears in my eyes while I sat poolside; that is a feat in itself. I have recommended it to many of my friends and it will be a staple in my permanent collection.

Happiness Key a real good read

It has been a favorite book of mine that I read this summer. Loved the characters and the setting was so beautifully described. can not wait to see if there is another book about these same characters. I love all of Emilie Richards books and would recommend any of them for a good read

Happiness Is Emily Richards

This book was a quick, excellent read and I couldn't put it down. You became personally involved and could relate to the characters. Excellent book and I e-mailed the author and told her so. I read her other books from the Shenandoah Valley Series and they were excellent too. The author is lovely and e-mailed me back. She is coming out with another book hopefully a sequel to Happiness Key and I can't wait till it gets published. Edie, N.W., PA

Good, but Not Her Best

Emilie Richards is the best contemporary writer of our time. Overall, because her plotting, character development, settings, imagination, and writing style are flawless, I'd give her TEN stars, if it were possible. Please be aware, though, that Happiness Key is NOT part of her Shenandoah Album Series, as described on this site. My advice: once you're read Happiness Key, which is a well-written story but not the next book in the Shenandoah Album Series her fans were hoping for, buy all Ms. Richards' Shenandoah Album novels for your personal collection. You'll fall in love with the folks at Toms Creek and want to read them more than once. They're out in paperback now and on this site.

I also cannot recommend too highly Ms. Richards' earlier contemporary novels. They're wonderful too.

This is an interesting character study

Following the incarceration of her former spouse in a federal pen Tracy Deloche takes over managing his property Happiness Key. However, she is shocked to find the five Gold Coast acres contains five dilapidated shacks with a tenant in four of the beach cottages; she moves into the vacant one. Her renters are an eccentric group of seemingly losers. Still she tries to be nice to the oddball runaways who pay to lease a dump from her. Wanda Gray is fleeing a broken marriage; Janya Kapur is fleeing an arranged family marriage before she must wed; Alice Brooks is a widow who is becoming increasingly forgetful but does not want her son-in-law and granddaughter living with her; and the only male is hermit Herb Krause.

When Herb dies, Tracy leads the other three women in search of his family so they will know and if they want to arrange his funeral. As the four seemingly different women forge friendships on their mission, they begin to help one another.

This is an interesting character study focusing on four diverse females who come togetehr when the fifth person in their tiny community dies. The storyline is well written but the plot extremely thin. Still Emilie Richards enables the audience to get inside the fearsome foursome females enabling us to understand what motivates them to "hide" at dumpy Happiness Key and yet turn these five single dumps into a community.

Harriet Klausner

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