Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Review: Ingenue (Flappers, #2) by Jillian Larkin

Ingenue (The Flappers Series #2)Title: Ingenue
Author: Jillian Larkin
Series: 2nd in Flappers
Pages: 351
Published: August 9, 2011 by Delacorte Books
ISBN: 9780385740364
Souce: Around The World Tours
 
Description: Bobbed hair. Short skirts. Cool jazz. Dark speakeasy. Anything goes. Meet the flappers, Gloria, Clara, Lorraine . . . and the rich young boys who love and loathe them. 

I Give This ...
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I really wish there was a  better description for this book. I obviously liked Vixen enough to read the sequel, but I was hoping that this would be better than the first.  I got so much more than I bargained for.

Gloria and Jerome are trying to make it on their own in New York City.  But, it's not easy for any young couple trying to make ends met.  Add in the fact that they aren't they same race in a time when frowned upon doesn't even begin to describe their relationship.  Their living on the edge of black harlem, and Gloria has to sneak in through the fence and into the building everyday.  But, their devotion is what sees them through the day.  But when Gloria gets a job first, Jerome feels like he's failing at his promise to take care of her.  That's were my only real disappointment was in the book.  At the first real test of their love, they both seem to take the easy way out.  Granted it makes them both miserable in the process.

I think I enjoyed Lorraine's story the most.  I was worried at how vindictive she had become at the end of the first book.  And she doesn't start out on a positive note here either.  She's been hired by the mob to head a club in NYC.  Her chief job is to lure Gloria and Jerome with jobs as the club's singer and piano player.  She thinks they just want to ruff them up a little bit, and in her opinion they both desire it.  But, along the way she learns the truth about what happened that night and what the mob really wants to do to her former best friend and boyfriend.  I really truly wondered if she could put aside her grudge and help them in some way.  I did feel bad for her in the end because she's seems to get burned a lot.   But, I'm hoping she's seen the error of her ways.

I was a little disappointed in Clara.  I think she fell back into her flapper girl ways to easily.  I don't know why she couldn't see that the thrill she got off writing anonymous articles about the extravagant parties she went to was a poor substituent for she could really be doing in her life.  I did think that Marcus was a little hard on her, but that's what happens when you get caught in a lie as big as the one Clara was telling him.  I'm really hoping that they can make up in the end.  I think they are good for each other.

Overall, a massive improvement over the first book.  It still has all the intrigue, the parties, and the gossip that makes this time period interesting.  Add in the mob, romance, and the illegal club scenes and you have a really good book.  I can't wait for the next in the series, Diva!

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