Review of Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Title: Vixen
Author: Jillian Larkin
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 421
Source: Bought
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: 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.

If I could go back in time to any era, I would pick the 1920s.  Ever since I was little I wanted to be a flapper; there is something about the sexiness and the scandal that pulls you in.  Jillian Larkin portrayed this wonderfully in her novel.  She brings you to the past filled with  gangsters, speakeasies, and flappers who captivate your attention in a way where you won't want to come back to the twenty first century. 

Each of these girls bring a new element to the story.  Gloria is the perfect girl who just wants to rebel a little and break out of her strict confines.  Lorraine is jealous and completely out for herself and Clara just wants to escape her past.  All of the character were completely believable and while Gloria and Clara were easy to like, Lorraine is another story.  I have never yet a character was deceitful and vindictive.  Her tone was completely petty and self-entitled.  She was an easy character to pin as "the bad guy." 

Vixen is filled with forbidden romance and surprise love around every corner.  At first it's hard to know who to trust and who not to, but each character shows their true colors soon enough. 

I don't know what has taken me so long to read Vixen, but I can't wait to continue the series.  I hope it's just as fabulous and as scandalous.