Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen YP FIC GODBERSE

It is 1929 in New York and anything goes. The city is a glittering playground for the wealthy and beautiful, but prohibition makes it necessary for hoodlums and heiresses to rub elbows to keep the liquor flowing and the party going non-stop. Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey left the same small town to follow two different dreams. Letty wants to be the belle of Broadway with her name in lights. Cordelia just wants a life with the father she never knew, but his dangerous lifestyle leaves Cordelia with just one person to trust: her new friend Astrid Donal. Astrid seems to have everything a flapper could want but is hiding a secret past. They are the Bright Young Things and they’ll love, lose, win, or die to find their dreams in this new series by the author of The Luxe books.

Luxe fans rejoice, you have a new spoiled rich kid historical romance series to go crazy for! Bright Young Things is more than just a Gossip Girl clone set in the 20s (but Gossip Girl fans should love Godbersen’s books to!). Godbersen is able to recreate history and bring a sense of the glamour and danger of a magical time gone by. Then she fills the set with characters that are larger than life and fun to root for and/or against. In Bright Young Things there is a lot of characters and plot to take in, but with Godbersen’s skill with large casts I never felt lost. I think the best romantic pairing so far is Thom and Cordelia. Thom is the son of a gangster rival of Cordelia’s father. FORBIDDEN ROMANCE ALERT!!! Always good fun! With Letty we get the glitter and seamy underbelly of Broadway and Astrid is the ultimate Party Girl with a Past. This is a must for fans of historical romance, rich kid books like the Gossip Girl series, and especially fans of the Luxe series.

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford YP FIC STANDIFO

Norrie, Jane, and Sassy Sullivan have something to confess. Their very rich and very angry grandmother Almighty Sullivan has decreed that none of the Sullivan family will get a dime from her estate because one of the Sullivans has offended her, unless the nameless and offending party apologizes. So the three girls unbury all their secrets that are once, romantic, dark, funny, and sad in this story of wealth, power, emptiness, and forgiveness.

This is the second book by Standiford. Her first How to Say Goodbye in Robot is still one of my favorite books about friendship I’ve read in years. Confessions isn’t quite as memorable as her first book, but it still has a lot going for it. Standiford crafts a cast of interesting characters and takes a deeper look at the superficial lives of the privileged and pampered. All the confessions are first person and separate. There is some crossover between the sister’s events but not much. I think this was to show how separate the lives of the sisters are becoming, but it would have been nice to have to confessions be more related. The book ties things off in the end very nicely and it has a good payoff. If you are fans of realistic fiction with a helping of humor, check this one out.