Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go to Funerals by Sharon Mondragon Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Title: Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go To Funerals
Author: Sharon Mondragon
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Something is brewing in Raeburne’s Ferry, Georgia–and it’s not sweet tea.

In a small town where gossip flows, bedridden Mary Ruth McCready reigns supreme, doling out wisdom and meddling in everyone’s business with a fervor that would make a matchmaker blush. When her best friend has her world rocked by a scandalous revelation from her dying husband, Mary Ruth kicks into high gear, commandeering the help of her favorite granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth, in tracking down the truth. Finding clues in funeral condolence cards and decades-old gossip dredged up at the Blue Moon Beauty Emporium, the two stir up trouble faster than you can say “pecan pie.”

But just when things are starting to look up, a blast from the past waltzes in with an outrageous claim. But as Grandma Ruth always says when things get tough, “God is too big.” With him, nothing is impossible–even bringing long-held secrets to light. Grandma Ruth and Sarah just might have to ruffle a whole mess of feathers to do it.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Kregel Publications | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christianbook

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About the Author

Sharon J. Mondragón is a Southern girl at heart, having spent most of her adult life where tea is sweet and mac and cheese is a vegetable. Settled in Midlothian, Texas, she writes, facilitates the prayer shawl ministry at her church, and teaches at the local yarn shop. She’s the author of the Purls and Prayers series, and her work has earned recognition from The Saturday Evening Post, ACFW, Foreword INDIES, and the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.

Connect with Sharon by visiting sharonjmondragon.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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My Imprssions

“…things are not always, or even often, as they seem.” – Father David

Wow! What a fun ride this book, Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go to Funerals, is! This is my first novel by Sharon Mondragon, but her others just moved way up my TBR. Grandma Ruth is a bed-ridden Southern matriarch whom no one can deny and whose specialty is “meddling love”…though she would call it staying informed about her friends and loved ones. Grandma Ruth has a great understanding of the human psyche and uses that and her respected age to her advantage. 

Her twenty-four year old granddaughter, Sarah, our narrator, finds herself Grandma Ruth’s personal *assistant* and co-conspirator, representing the older lady at social events, esp. funerals. Sarah is caught between showing her grandmother proper respect, obeying her grandmother, and proving she can make her own decisions, including who to date. 

I had a perma-smile on my face and often broke out in laughter as I read. Grandma Ruth is such a force to be reckoned with. She refuses to allow her granddaughter to listen to gossip, but is quite willing to “gather information” by listening to others’ opinions of facts. In this novel, Grandma Ruth wants most to comfort her newly widowed best friend and to set up Sarah with her best friend’s grandson. Cookies and brownies are a sleuth’s best friend, in Grandma Ruth’s case! Plied with enough, a visitor to Grandma Ruth’s room would soon be spilling the beans. 

The novel zigs and zags along as it rollicks towards its rather surprising and totally satisfying conclusion. I personally hope Meredith somehow merits her own story. 

Get your copy ASAP! You won’t be sorry! 

I have to insert… the novel takes a good look at eyes. As in eye crinkles, eye rolls, kind eyes, etc. Obviously Mondragon and Grandma Ruth are firm believers that “eyes are the windows to the soul.”

I received a copy of the book from the author through JustRead via NetGalley. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“Miss Charlotte had the right idea, I mused. It was better to know the truth, even if it hurt, than to eat your heart out over suspicions and possibilities.”

“God was indeed too big—too big for me ever to have imagined what he had in store for me.”

“It’s about time you learned that meddling upsets the innocent as well as the guilty.”

“It’s better to leave the past in the past and get on with life.”- Grandma Ruth

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Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a signed copy of Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go To Funerals and a $25 Amazon gift card!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight February 12, 2025 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on February 19, 2025. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight February 12, 2025 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on February 19, 2025. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Enter Giveaway