Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Who: Jillian Larkin
What: Vixen (Flappers #1)
Where: Randomhouse
When: December 14th, 2010
Why: Historical love
How: Bought

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. . . .

Vixen starts off with Gloria, a rich girl with a snobbish fiance who wants a different life, particularly the one of flappers, who's flair, fashion, and bold attitude broke the rigid social standards the Victorian Age had set for women before the 1920's. Then you have Lorraine, one of her best friends with a serious jealousy problem. She doesn't understand why Gloria should get everything, including the attention from Marcus, Gloria's most trusted confident that she happens to be infatuated with! Finally, there's Clara, who's running from her previous dangerous flapper past in Gloria's house as her cousin. But the past starts catching up with her just when she's starting to mend with the present.

Vixen perfectly describes the era it's in, giving you vivid descriptions of both of Gloria's lives, the lavish mansion she lives in, and the dirty, underground speakeasys she wants to be in. And seeing as how when I read Historical Fiction, I do a little background check before on that exact time period i'm reading about, everything checked out as pretty accurate. The plot was intriguing and really wove a web in all of the three ladies lives. Some people who you didn't expect to betray do, and people you do expect, do as well.

Gloria, Lorraine, and Clara were all 3-D, well-rounded characters with personalities that you won't always like, but you'll definitely want to read more about. Gloria was sometimes frozen and naive, but she had a good heart and I loved how she gave her all with everything that she wanted, from her singing to men. I have no sympathy for Lorraine, who was bitter and let her jealousy get in the way of everything that was possibly important in her life, including her best-friendship with Gloria. Clara didn't always have the best intentions but she wanted a better life for herself and ended out being loyal, soothing, and trustworthy.

Finally, Marcus and Jerome? Swoon-worthy. Bastian Gray? Not so much.

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.