"Diva" Book Review

Diva by Jillian Larkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Parties, bad boys, speakeasies—life in Manhattan has become a woozy blur for Clara Knowles. If Marcus Eastman truly loved her, how could he have fallen for another girl so quickly? Their romance mustn't have been as magical as Clara thought. And if she has to be unhappy, she's going to drag everyone else down to the depths of despair right along with her.

"Being a Barnard girl is the stuff of Lorraine Dyer's dreams. Finding out that Marcus is marrying a gold digger who may or may not be named Anastasia? A nightmare. The old Lorraine would have sat by and let the chips fall where they may, but she's grown up a lot these past few months. She can't bear to see Marcus lose a chance for true love. But will anyone listen to her?

"Now that the charges against her have been dropped, Gloria Carmody is spending the last dizzying days of summer on Long Island, yachting on the sound and palling around with socialites at Forrest Hamilton's swanky villa. Beneath her smile, though, Gloria's keeping a secret. One that could have deadly consequences . . ."

I really enjoyed this one. I liked how all of the strings were pulled together in the end.

*SPOILERS* Read at own risk:

Lorraine gets redeemed and a new reliable love of her own. Clara and Marcus get back together. Jerome and Gloria find each other at long last. The right people get arrested.

The only thing I didn't like, which is to be expected, was Ruby and Forrest. I liked them as characters, I liked their story, I liked how they referenced Gloria and Jay Gatsby from Fitzgerald's little literary classic. But I had been hoping for a different ending for those two characters in this story. I even loved them to an extent, but it was never meant to be.

But an otherwise wonderful ending to an excellent series. I hope for more from Ms. Larkin in the near future.


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"Ingenue" Book Review

Ingenue by Jillian Larkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Power . . . love . . . scandal . . .

"There’s never enough to go around.

"In the city that never sleeps, Lorraine Dyer is wide awake. Ever since she exposed Clara Knowles for the tramp she was—and lost her closest confidante in the process—Lorraine has spent every second scheming to make her selfish, lovesick ex–best friend pay for what she did. No one crosses Lorraine. Not even Gloria.

"True love conquers everything—or so Gloria Carmody crazily believed. She and Jerome Johnson can barely scrape together cash for their rent, let alone have a moment to whisper sweet nothings in the dark. And if they thought escaping Chicago meant they’d get away with murder . . . they were dead wrong.

"Clara was sure that once handsome, charming Marcus Eastman discovered her shameful secret, he’d drop her like a bad habit. Instead, he swept her off her feet and whisked her away to New York. Being with Marcus is a breath of fresh air—and a chance for Clara to leave her wild flapper ways firmly in the past. Except the dazzling parties and bright lights won’t stop whispering her name. . . .

"INGENUE is the second novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic Flappers series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . where revenge is a dish best served cold."

I had a hard time rating this one. While I enjoyed it, it wasn't as good as the first one. So my rating is actually a 3.5 but I put it as 4 stars.

It was pretty good, I felt so much sympathy for many of the characters. Excepting maybe the mob bosses. I even felt sympathy for Lorraine - she really is a dumb duck.

I liked seeing things from Vera's point of view, the first book just made her look like a bitch. I missed Marcus though - his romantic gestures filled me with hope in the last book.

Also the humor that was in the last book wasn't here in this one. It's understandable though, because people are starving and other people plan on killing other people. This book made the actions of the characters have much more serious consequences.

It was very cathartic to go from those rich houses in the first book to the almost starving Gloria and Jerome and kind of normal Clara and Lorraine's apartments. I felt slightly closer to the characters in that way. I find it slightly ironic that the dresses were still awesome, even though everyone was poor.

*SPOILERS*

We finally meet Gloria's dad, who turns out to be the jerk we always knew him to be.

The ending was good, but I would've liked the assassin to have been someone we already met. That part felt really odd.

Still gonna read the third one though.


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"Vixen" Book Review

Vixen by Jillian Larkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

"Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

"Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

"Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

"From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes."

I really liked this book and cannot wait to read the next one in this series. It's fun and sexy and rife with intrigue. The characters had life in them, which is important for a young adult book. The only problem I had with it was every once in a while the wrong name would be mentioned where someone else's name should have been. So, it needed a better editor, but overall the story was well written. I enjoyed all of the characters and even felt bad for Lorraine, she was just so stupid half of the time.

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