Book Review and Giveaway: These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen

nWe've reviewed one of Sarah's previous books, Skipping a Beat, last year, so I was quite happy to review her latest book, her third novel!

Synopsis: Family secrets may shape us all, but it’s the rich, complicated layers of friendship that can save us.

Cate, Renee, and Abby have come to New York for very different reasons, and in a bustling city of millions, they are linked together through circumstance and chance.

Cate has just been named the features editor of Gloss, a high-end lifestyle magazine. It’s a professional coup, but her new job comes with more complications than Cate ever anticipated.

Her roommate Renee will do anything to nab the plum job of beauty editor at Gloss. But snide comments about Renee’s weight send her into an emotional tailspin. Soon she is taking black market diet pills—despite the racing heartbeat and trembling hands that signal she’s heading for real danger.

Then there’s Abby, whom they take in as a third roommate. Once a joyful graduate student working as a nanny part time, she abruptly fled a seemingly happy life in the D.C. suburbs. No one knows what shattered Abby—or why she left everything she once loved behind.

Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.


About the Author: Sarah is the mother of three young boys, which explains why she wrote part of her novel at Chuck E. Cheese. Seriously. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true. At least some dreams - Brad Pitt has yet to show up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a tool belt and asking if she needs anything fixed. 


So maybe it's only G-rated dreams that come true. Other tidbits about Sarah: She was once rejected as a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune." She wrote an article for People magazine on a parrot psychologist. In college, she worked as a model and as an extra on the set of Hollywood movies. Oh, and she has a website (www.sarahpekkanen.com) where she holds monthly drawings for Godiva chocolates and books for her newsletter subscribers. She'd love it if you'd stop by and say hi sometime


Review: This was a very quick read, and to me it read like a classic 'Chick-Lit' book. It was funny, light and very enjoyable. In fact, I read it in one sitting, when I had my foot up, after I broke it! To me, it was the perfect book to satire and expose the fashion underside of magazine publishing, and the quest to be a size 0, to fit in. Like all of Sarah's books, there's alot of honesty and realistic dialogue, that keeps you involved in the characters. It's perfect for a Spring day and reading on a picnic!


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Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book for review purposes, free of charge, from BooksparksPR! No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.