Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

Vixen was chosen as our March young adult read for the teacher book club I belong to - I have to confess,

as I was reading I had to keep reminding myself that these were actually KIDS because much of the lifestyle they are living is very adult, very VERY adult!

About the Book:


Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.

About the Author:

Jillian Larkin’s fascination with flappers and the 1920s began during her childhood, which included frequent home screenings of the classic Julie Andrews/Carol Channing film Thoroughly Modern Millie. She lives in New York.

My Thoughts:

Wow, this book packed a punch!  Such a punch that I had to keep reminding myself that it characters were kids!  The lifestyle is so adult, which I am sure is accurate for the upper elite in major cities in the 1920s.

I couldn't put this book down because it truly kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.  Each chapter follows from one of three points of view - Gloria, Clara, or Lorraine.  Gloria and Lorraine, best friends forever, have a fledgling relationship that as the girls get older is tested past its breaking point.  Clara, Gloria's country cousin who has a secret and sordid past of her own is trying to fit in to the Chicago scene without arousing any suspicion about her past in New York.

Throughout book one we follow the girls as they discover the speakeasy scene in Chicago and get caught up in all of its glory...we follow them as they fall into forbidden places both figuratively and literally.  The plot line is fast and easy to follow and the characters are charming and have depth to them.  But most of all, the setting makes this book - the 1920s are a fascinating time period which provides an amazing backdrop for Jillian Larkin's dynamite series.

I am about three-quarters through the second book, review coming soon!