Stashes

Jackie and Steve Breeden, Baby Boomer parents, have built a solid, idyllic life on a small Midwestern farm. Aching body parts remind them that they are not getting any younger, and neither are their dreams. They long to get their lives on the road like their hero, the late Charles Kuralt.. Opportunity arrives when their married son loses his job - and home to foreclosure. They become reverse empty nesters, and buy a Winnebago to cut loose and explore America.

Son Brandon, and his ambitiously conniving wife Amy, embody their generation's prevailing sense of entitlement. Before the older couple departs, Amy embellishes the micro-dairy business by growing and selling marijuana edibles, dragging Jackie into the scheme. As the local bank vice president, Amy secretly increases the amount of the Home Equity Line of Credit that financed the Winnebago. Oops - adventures and adversities ensue.

Stashes reaches behind the sensational headlines about job downsizing, recession, foreclosure, medical marijuana, and generational conflicts of ideals, expectations, and values to show how these issues can actually play out in comical real time. Our times.

"The author of Stashes uses an interesting technique in switching narrators, and in doing so the reader gets a better feel for the personalities of the characters, primarily Jackie and Amy. The book is filled with clever turns of phrase, which add to the story and keeps the reader engrossed in it. Because many people occasionally dream of traveling the country in a similar fashion to Steve and Jackie's trip, Stashes is even more entertaining." - Red City Review

PJ Colando has a natural gift for characterization and a very good 'dialogue ear'. Her book, Stashes, is definitely funny.  -Mike Foley, Writers' Review

Steve and Jackie own a small Midwestern farm, content with life. Their married son Brandon loses his job and house, turning everyone's world upside down. Trusting all to the hapless Brandon and his scheming wife, Amy, Steve and Jackie buy a Winnebago to travel the States.  An array of impossibly hilarious scenarios are set in motion whereby nerves are tested, values demolished, and self-respect is challenged. You'll join the fun and laugh at the tongue-in-cheek humor. I could relate very well to Jackie and felt she handled all the situations into which she was thrown with grace and aplomb.

I was immediately drawn to this book because the people on the cover could be my parents. The image really captures the relatability of the main characters and their situation. The mingling of generations is very natural and, again, relatable. Interesting use of bouncing between Amy's perspective in some chapters--this breaking down of the 3rd wall allows readers to, again, see the difference in generational perspectives. -2015 Benjamin Franklin Awards Review

PJ Colando's sprightly novel shines its light on an uncommon slice of contemporary Americana, a Midwest culture most often viewed from flyover range. Dismayed by a cynical world gone to hell? Stashes' hearty protagonists, good-humored cussing, rewarded kindness, and luck synched with prayer might just be your antidote. -Art Plotnik, author of numerous writing books