THE RED HAT SOCIETY'S ACTING THEIR AGE

The new publishing imprint from Warner Books, called The Red Hat Society Inc., is a geriatric romance series featuring middle-aged women whose lives are enriched by unexpected love. The first entry features three Texas women who run a coffee shop and become revitalized by a runaway teenager. Staci Snell gives the characters the natural, not particularly melodious voices you might hear in a small town coffee shop. It's not her fault that the dialogue is uninspiring, the plot predictable, and the characters bland. Still, the scenes in which the grandmotherly Aggie berates her cantankerous husband are funny, and the parts are well played. There is clearly a market for this type of romance. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]