She Regrets Nothing by Andrea Dunlop Published by Atria an Imprint of Simon & Schuster on February 6th, 2018
Pages: 400
Genres: Fiction
Review Copy Provided By: Atria
Goodreads
AMZ US
In the tradition of The Emperor’s Children and The House of Mirth, the forgotten granddaughter of one of New York’s wealthiest men is reunited with her family just as she comes of age—and once she’s had a glimpse of their glittering world, she refuses to let it go without a fight.
When Laila Lawrence becomes an orphan at twenty-three, the sudden loss unexpectedly introduces her to three glamorous cousins from New York who show up unannounced at her mother’s funeral. The three siblings are scions of the wealthy family from which Laila’s father had been estranged long before his own untimely demise ten years before.
Two years later, Laila has left behind her quiet life in Grosse Point, Michigan to move to New York City, landing her smack in the middle of her cousins’ decadent world. As the truth about why Laila’s parents became estranged from the family patriarch becomes clear, Laila grows ever more resolved to claim what’s rightfully hers. Caught between longing for the love of her family and her relentless pursuit of the lifestyle she feels she was unfairly denied, Laila finds herself reawakening a long dead family scandal—not to mention setting off several new ones—as she becomes further enmeshed in the lives and love affairs of her cousins. But will Laila ever, truly, belong in their world? Sly and sexy, She Regrets Nothing is a sharply observed and utterly seductive tale about family, fortune, and fate—and the dark side of wealth.
I was provided a review copy; this did not influence my opinion of the book.
❝I didn’t realize that matchmakers still existed,❞
❝Welcome to New York,❞ ❝How do you think all of those gross old men find their hot young wives?❞
When I read the blurb for ‘She Regrets Nothing‘, I was intrigued, and since Andrea Dunlop is a new-to-me-author, I was excited to start reading about a story that was said to be, “Sly and sexy, She Regrets Nothing is a sharply observed and utterly seductive tale about family, fortune, and fate—and the dark side of wealth.”
Did it deliver?
Yes and no
I do like this author’s voice, it’s smart and quick. This story was filled with sex, deceit, betrayal, and scandal. It was addictive and reminded me of a soap opera or a movie.
And that was where this book didn’t succeed for me.
It reads like a screenplay; where changes of character and time jumps are okay because there’s fade to black or scene changes to make the flow work and the plot make sense. But when reading, and not seeing, as in a movie, I struggled to keep up with the disjointed writing, character changes and time hops where there were no helpful warnings or headings. It was distracting and I had to stop and recalibrate my thoughts to keep up and figure out what was going on. All of that was disappointing because I did like the story.
As a 20 something, Laila Lawrence is left broke and orphaned. While at her mothers funeral, she meets her cousins, Liberty, Leo, and Nora, whom she had no idea existed. They were glamorous and giving and fun and very wealthy. Laila had stars or more accurately money signs in her eyes when she thought of them and their life in New York. Two years later after divorcing her husband, she leaves her Midwest town and heads to New York to live with her cousins. They take her in with open arms and introduce her to the wealthy, New York life. Leo and Nora are twins and are spoiled, and lack real direction, while Liberty is an independent, working woman. Liberty helps Laila get a job. While Laila helps herself to everything the cousins have AND I DO MEAN EVERYTHING!
An addictive read, ‘She Regrets Nothing‘ is a scandalous tale of betrayal, deceit, and greed.
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