Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison *Review*

Helene Zahari's politician husband keeps her on a tight leash and cancels her credit cards as a way of controlling her. Lorna Rafferty is up to her eyeballs in debt and can't stop her addiction to eBay. Sandra Vanderslice, battling agoraphobia, pays her shoe bills by working as a phone-sex operator. And Jocelyn Bowen is a nanny for the family from hell (who barely knows a sole from a heel but will do anything to get out of the house). On Tuesday nights, these women meet to trade shoes and, in the process, form friendships that will help each triumph over their problems- from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating. Funny, emotional and powerful, Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the perfect read for any woman who has ever struggled to find the perfect fit.

I picked this up at the library several weeks ago at the same time I picked up a lot of heavy war-themed books. I figured a little levity to balance things out would be much needed and that is just what I got.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the humorous tale of four women addicted to shoes- expensive shoes, and not the means to purchase them.

Lorna is debt-ridden by bills she ignores a little too long. Electricity is cut off and car in danger of being repossessed just so she can buy another pair of shoes. Helene is the wife of an ambitious politician who cuts off her credit cards when he catches her in a lie. Sandra is an agoraphobic phone sex operator who tries to keep her clients on the phone as long as possible to be able to afford the newest pair of shoes she's salivating over. Jocelyn is the young nanny who is looking for a way to get out of the house to keep her insufferable boss from finding her more work to do that is not in her contract.

When Lorna realizes she needs to quit spending money on shoes she can't afford she comes up with a plan. She organizes a Shoe Addicts Anonymous group for the "sole" (pun shamelessly intended) purpose of trading designer shoes with others.

What she and others get though, is more than a new pair of pumps. This mismatched group form a lasting friendship that fills the ache of loneliness and encourages recovery.

A delightfully and sometimes wickedly funny tale that kept me laughing at the end of a hard day. I listened to this on audio format in my car. Because of the language sprinkled in here and there I did keep my windows rolled up but the chuckles definitely outweighed the winces!