Rush    by Lisa Patton Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2018 (2018) Hardcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth I'm sure that fans of bestselling author Lisa Patton will be delighted to welcome her new novel Rush. While I am a mystery buff, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Patton takes readers to the most prestigious sorority, Alpha Delta Beta, at Ole Miss. We meet Lilith Whitmore, House Corp President, who will do anything she feels necessary for her daughter to be accepted into the Alpha Delta Beta Sorority. Lilith proves to be a conniving woman who will stop at nothing to see her dream for her daughter Annie Laurie become reality. We also meet Miss Pearl, who is housekeeper and the beloved second mother for her girls of the sorority, as well as Aunt Fee, a member of the staff at the sorority. For a number of pages, we live the lives of the girls who are just arriving for their freshman year at Ole Miss. That in itself takes up a good deal of the book – delightfully so. But the meat of the story is the fact that the staff that keeps Alpha Delta running smoothly is underpaid and receives no benefits. The students rebel against this injustice and plan to make the situation known and change it! Rush kept me enthralled and I wished for several hundred more pages so I could keep my new friends close by. I especially will miss Wilda Woodcock and her husband Haynes. They are freshman Ellie's parents. Good people who are unwittingly used by Lilith. You will like Ellie. And then there is Cali who has a secret she prefers no one learns of. The closeness of the sorority sisters is impressive. Closeness that lasts for a lifetime. Their acceptance of each other's foibles must be inbred in them. A racial issue makes an appearance. Oh, for heaven's sake, obtain a copy of Rush and indulge. You needn't thank me for bringing this book to your attention. I loved it and want others to do the same. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews