Title: Totlandia
(The Onesies): Fall
Series: Totlandia,
#1
Author: Josie
Brown
Publisher: Coliloquy,
LLC
Publication Date: November
9, 2012
Genre: Chick Lit,
Humor
Reviewed by: Angie
Edwards
My rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
The Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club is the
most exclusive children’s playgroup in all of San Francisco. For the city’s
ultra-competitive elite, the club’s ten annual spots are the ultimate parenting
prize.
But not everyone is PHM&TC material. The club's founder, Bettina Connaught Cross, adheres to strict membership rules: Moms only. No single parents or working mothers allowed. Membership is an arduous commitment. And there’s no room in the club for scandal, bad behavior, or imperfection...from tots or their moms.
In a world of power and prestige, no one has more than Bettina. And as every mom in Pacific Heights knows, you simply cannot cross her. But this year’s admissions process is more rigorous than ever, pitting prospective members against each other to prove their mettle.
But four of the six candidates vying for the remaining four slots have a secret that would knock them out of the running. Jade is a former stripper and porn actress, who has been absent for most of her son’s life. Jillian’s husband cleaned out their joint accounts and left her for his pregnant assistant. Ally never even had a husband—just a sperm donor—and she’s hiding a high-ranking corporate job. And Lorna fears that her son may have special needs... just the excuse her sister-in-law, Bettina, needs to deny her entry to the club.
Can these hopeful moms keep up appearances long enough to outlast the competition? Or will their chances—and their private lives—go up in flames?
But not everyone is PHM&TC material. The club's founder, Bettina Connaught Cross, adheres to strict membership rules: Moms only. No single parents or working mothers allowed. Membership is an arduous commitment. And there’s no room in the club for scandal, bad behavior, or imperfection...from tots or their moms.
In a world of power and prestige, no one has more than Bettina. And as every mom in Pacific Heights knows, you simply cannot cross her. But this year’s admissions process is more rigorous than ever, pitting prospective members against each other to prove their mettle.
But four of the six candidates vying for the remaining four slots have a secret that would knock them out of the running. Jade is a former stripper and porn actress, who has been absent for most of her son’s life. Jillian’s husband cleaned out their joint accounts and left her for his pregnant assistant. Ally never even had a husband—just a sperm donor—and she’s hiding a high-ranking corporate job. And Lorna fears that her son may have special needs... just the excuse her sister-in-law, Bettina, needs to deny her entry to the club.
Can these hopeful moms keep up appearances long enough to outlast the competition? Or will their chances—and their private lives—go up in flames?
REVIEW
I’ve
had this on my Kindle for quite some time, and now, looking back, I wonder why
I haven’t read it sooner! I could’ve been so much further into this delightful
series, and also, it was such an amazingly quick read I finished it in one
night! Maybe it just felt like a quick read because I devoured it and simply
couldn’t put down my Kindle long enough to focus on anything else.
OK,
well, I don’t have much to say. It’s pretty standard chick lit. “Pretty
standard” for me – when it comes to chick lit - is synonymous with “enjoyable”
and “charming”. It has its funny bits that make you snort with laughter, but
mostly I really liked the characters. Their reality is very far from my own, so
it was quite an adventure to walk in their shoes for awhile with all that
money! In a very short time I got deeply invested in many of these characters
and I could see relatively early on that close friendships were going to be
formed between four specific characters.
The
book ended on a humongous cliff-hanger ending which left me curious to know
what’s going to happen next. Some mature content, but not too much. There you
go. That’s the long and short of it.
(At the time of posting, this book was still FREE on Amazon)
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Like
most authors I know, I'm a voracious reader. My favorite classic authors are
Edith Wharton, John le Carre, Martin Cruz Smith, Jane Austen, Graham Greene,
P.D. Wodehouse, Margaret Mitchell, Glen David Gold, and Raymond Chandler.
As
for contemporary authors, I think that both Martin Cruz Smith and John Le Carre
are two of the best writers alive, and I love the writing styles of Helen
Fielding, Jackie Collins and Allison Pearson. I think John Lescroart and MJ
Rose are amazing, both as authors and author advocates.
I'm
a cinephile (I see everything--chick flicks, action films, art house movies,
almost every kind of foreign film) and I'm a walker and hiker--anywhere from
four to eleven miles a day.
Otherwise,
I'M WRITING. Or researching for my next books....meeting the wonderful people
who let me know that what I write resonates with them...or hanging out in my
fave bookstores (which is any bookstore in any town I happen to be in, at the
time).
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1 comment:
Wow, Angie, thanks for this wonderful shout-out for my TOTLANDIA series! Made my night!
Regards,
Josie Brown
Author, the TOTLANDIA series
http://www.Totlandia.com
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