N.M. Silber
Author of the Bestselling sexy Romantic Comedy series, Lawyers in Love.
""The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”
― Dorothy Parker"
― Dorothy Parker"
It's not often that you find an author willing to take a chance and do things differently. Penny Reid took a chance by creating a romantic heroine unlike any other and she did it with wit. Janie is both intelligent and intellectual. In fact, I would have loved to have had her on my College Bowl team because her knowledge of trivia is encyclopedic. I liked reading something that celebrated a woman's ability to think and her resilience. Not many people could weather having felons in their immediate families nearly so well. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something truly different and creative.
Let me preface by saying that the fact that it took me so long to finish this novel had nothing to do with the novel itself and everything to do with my own writing schedule.This book was like nothing I have read before, and was not at all like what I usually read. I found that ironic, as the story incorporates elements of erotica and subtle wit, both of which I am a fan. Moreover, perhaps my all-time favorite author, (Dorothy Parker), creates a unifying them throughout. As with anything unique, it can sometimes take a while to fully appreciate it, and that was the case with this novel. (So perhaps it's better that my own final edits interfered:)
This is a story about strong, intelligent, three-dimensional women who survive. It's the characters that make the story, in my opinion, and the characters wherein the author, Marie Wilson, demonstrates her insight and talent. The protagonists are aficionados of Twentieth Century author, poet and satirist, Dorothy Parker. Dorothy is most commonly recalled for her biting wit and social commentary as a member of the Algonquin Roundtable, but she was so much more than that. She was a woman who carried bitterness and pain inside but who carried ON - largely by wielding her pen and her sharp tongue. She had survived, unhappiness, trauma, abuse, social stimgma etc. She was real and she didn't exist merely to amuse. Marie Wilson's characters are like that. They are women who have brains, and strength, and vulnerability and they have lived and loved and felt pain. Dorothy Parker was not just a clever literary device in this novel -- she was a muse.
The book read more like literary fiction than erotica or women's fiction to me, and there were stylistic things that were not to my taste. I do not like frequent changes in tense and POV. Nor do I like wordy or flowery descriptions. Initially, that was a distraction, but when I really had a chance to contemplate the character development, and how it related to Dorothy, I appreciated the novel much more and the stylistic elements became much less distracting. I think that Marie Wilson has talent. The book may not appeal to some readers, but that does not detract from the quality of the writing.
I don't usually read paranormal romance but this author is a friend of mine and I read hers and really liked it. She creates interesting plots and she has great pacing.
Being a history buff and lover of pop culture and Americana myself, I loved the clever premise of this novella. It was refreshingly original. Despite the length, the characters were well developed and I felt a connection with them. I consider it a "keeper" and I believe that I'll read it again.
