Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the sophomore book by Christina Clancy. I was a huge fan of her debut novel, The Second Home, and with Shoulder Season she has given us another finely-crafted, atmospheric novel. 4.5 stars!
Sherri has had a difficult life, never quite fitting in at school and eventually losing both parents by the time she was out of her teens. On a lark, she accompanied her best friend, Roberta, to an audition at the Playboy Club in nearby Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. When she is surprisingly hired, she quickly learns that the job is not as glamorous as anticipated but still opens up doors she never dreamed of. For the first time, living in dorms with the other bunnies, Sherri gets quick lessons in sex, drugs, money, friendship. When she meets Arnold, she feels love for the first time but can't quite navigate both her worlds.
This book took me back in time to the early 1980s and the author is skilled at putting you into the atmosphere of her settings. I really felt for Sherri who was experiencing as a young adult things she should have experienced earlier when she was forced to grow up and take care of her sick mom. She wanted to be the life of the party to make up for never fitting in. But all her decisions would come to weigh heavy on her heart and soul. I really raced through this novel, engrossed in another world!
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