Diva (Flappers #3) by Jillian Larkin-Review

Diva by Jillian Larkin

I am continuing my mission to finish the series I read in my Young Adult Book Club .  This is one series I really enjoyed!  I received this book from NetGalley! Here is the goodreads description:

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 wanted to read this series the moment I saw the cover of the first book.  The covers are beautiful.  Plus I really love reading about flappers.  It is such a fascinating era to me.  Where women were women who were fabulous and everything they did seemed to be on the edge of being rebellious, and men were gentlemen.   The third book in the series is my favorite.  It's like the author is getting better and better at writing.    Though I do think Jerome and Gloria's story was kinda avoided.

I wish I could've seen all the outfits and places described in the book.  The ensembles of the ladies I tried to picture in my mind but I am not sure if I gave them justice!    I did think the book finished in a little bow.  I thought it finished a little quick.  We went from a big wedding party to just two more chapters and then it was over. 

I just think the book could've been a little longer... a few plots line seemed hurried.  Otherwise, I am sad the series is over.  Thanks NetGally for the ARC!!!

Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011

My top 10 books in 2011 are hard to pick (click the picture above to find out how to participate). Ok so here goes:

Title: 11/22/63
Author: Stephen King
Published: November 8th 2011 by Scribner
My number one book is 11/22/63!  This book is AMAZING!  One of his best in a long time.  I will take you on a time traveling journey!







Title:Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 3rd 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
I loved Divergent.  It was my favorite YA distopian novels this year.  I am dying to read the next book in the series.

Title: Go the Fuck to Sleep
Author: Adam Mansbach
Published: June 14th 2011 by Akashic Books

This book is hilarious!  I recommend if you don't want to buy it or check it out from the library to look it up on youtube.com and listen to Samuel L. Jackson narrate it!


Title: Paranormalcy
Author:Kiersten White
Published: August 31st 2010 by HarperTeen

Ok so I know this wasn't published in 2011 (the second book was) but the first time I read it was in 2011 so I am going to count it.  Now if only Ms. White would do a Q&A with my book club on goodreads!!





Title: Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Film Making Journey
Author: Bob McCabe
Published: October 25th 2011 by Harper Design

I have not done a review on this book yet.  I checked this MASSIVE book out from the library and then bought it for my husband for Christmas so I wanted to wait for that before I did a review.  This book is WONDERFUL and perfect for any Harry Potter fan.  Especially the ones who are so sad there are no more movies.



Title: The Night Circus
By: Erin Morgenstern
Published: September 13th 2011 by Doubleday

Ok this is another book I have not done a review on... because I have about 100 pages to go.  I should be reading it right now but I am writing this post instead!! It is so good and very descriptive.  Nothing like the vampire, werewolf novels that are so popular which makes it more of a refreshing book!




Title: The 39 Clues Series: Medusa's Plot
By: Gordon Korman

Published: August 30th 2011 by Scholastic Press

I don't see many of my fellow bloggers reading the 39 Clue series... but man they are good!  So good in fact that in a couple of weeks when I do my first giveaway I am going to give away book 1!





Title: Vixen

By: Jillian Larkin

Published: December 14th 2010 by Random House Children's Books

This series is great!  I think people aren't reading it though because it came out at the same time as the popular series Bright Young Things (which I have not read so I can't compare).  This is a fun series though and I recommend it if you are interested in reading a YA book that takes time during the Flapper era. 




Title:  The Iron King

By: Julie Kagawa

Published: February 1st 2010 by Harlequin Teen

Ok I know this is another 2010 book, but again I didn't read it till 2011.  I also read the Iron Daughter in 2011 too.  Great series!



 

Title: Dead Reckoning

By: Charlaine Harris

Published: May 3rd 2011 by Ace

Love the Sookie series. Kinda sad there are only two more books! 








Ok so those are my choices!  Leave me a link to yours! 

Ingenue by Jillian Larkin- Review

Ingenue by Jillian Larkin

I just finished reading the second book in the Flapper series, Ingenue.  Here is the goodreads description:

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 really enjoy this series. I read the second one because the first one, Vixen,  I read for my YA Book Club and enjoyed it so I wanted to continue the series.  I know it's not as popular as the Bright Young Things books but it should be.  The characters are so fun and I love the whole interracial relationship in the book.  I can't imagine going through this in the 1920s.  In fact, I think the book might make it a little more light since it is YA then it really would be.

This book changes characters in each paragraph and that makes this book more interesting!  Each person's story takes place in a totally different area finally meeting up in the end.  And the ride is fabulous!   Flappers, speakeasies, prohibition, gangsters, jazz, an interracial relationship and murder all jump from the pages of "Ingenue". This young adult book transports the reader back to a time when life was exciting and dangerous and where interracial relationships were forbidden. 

I can't wait for the next book Diva to come out in 2012.  The Flapper Series has a great website so be sure to check it out!!