Author: Mary R. Butler

Illustrator: Charles Somerville

Publisher: Green Olive Tree (GOT) Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-9636963-7-3

Mary R. Butler wrote her first short story while in fifth grade at school. Everyone was impressed by her work; her teacher even accused her of stealing her piece from a book.

Of course, this was not true as Mary then went on to become a playwright, poet and the inventor behind the hilarious character, Mama Peavy, proving to everyone she could write and entertain. She is also the author behind A Kiss in the Dark and has written and published a collection of poetry called Poetry of Life: Then and Now.

It is from these achievements that Mary has now published a novella, written in the laugh-out-loud persona of comic Mama Peavy.

Mary has two daughters and spends her time in Georgia with husband Michael, busily writing her next novel.

Mama Peavy is the pastor of a church for single women whose mission is to marry off as many as possible including herself.

Is it really OK to marry an ugly man?  Mama Peavy explores this question and reveals the five “good” reasons why it isn’t such a bad thing. Mama apparently thinks it doesn’t matter if your future husband is blind, crippled or crazy. What matters is YOU.

 Marrying an ugly man doesn’t mean you are going to lead a miserable life. Mama insists it is the perfect balance, especially if you are a good-looking woman, and will ensure that your man doesn’t stray.  Marrying an ugly man will also guarantee a blossoming  marriage, filled with inner happiness and confidence. If you do marry an ugly man and he becomes a little grumpy for whatever reason, take Mama’s advice and pass him a mirror.

This will soon remind him of where his loyalties lie and you’ll be able to twist him around your little finger, no problem. Ms Peavy says that this is easily done as ugly men think they will not do well with the fairer sex, especially when faced with tough competition from attractive men. Therefore if you are a pretty lady, grab yourself an ugly guy and he’ll be yours forever. Spend his pay cheques and outshine him. He’ll never want to leave home.

I rather liked this book and I thought it was a very funny read, filled with lots of laughs. In almost every chapter there are comical scribbles with an underlying sentiment that should amuse people.

No-one will take this book seriously as it is written from the perception of a fictional character and her quite naive beliefs. Whether the reader is supposed to act on these recommendations or not remains a mystery.  The layout of the book looked quite amateurish and more thought could have been put into producing a more attractive layout. It still makes a very amusing read and definitely a good chuckle.

The above review was contributed by: Jessica Roberts: Jessica has been a book reviewer for a newspaper and a national women's magazine and is working on a novel.