California Girls by Susan Mallery

California Girls by Susan Mallery
Published by Mira ISBN 9780778351252
Trade paperback, $15.99, 417 pages

To say that the three Schmitt sisters are having a bad week in Susan Mallery's California Girls is an understatement. Finola, the hardworking host of a Los Angeles morning show has just been told by her husband that he is having an affair- right before she is to interview the much younger woman, a Taylor Swift-like popular singer, live on air.

Sister Zennie is single and her latest date, a nice guy named Clark, has just broken up with her. She isn't that upset about it, she's happy being on her own, but she dreads telling her mother who will try to set her up with both men and women.

Ali, the youngest, has just been informed by her fiance's brother that the wedding is off the day after the invitations have gone out. Her fiance wasn't going to tell her, he was just going to leave her at the altar until his brother stepped in.

Top that off with their disapproving mother's insistence that the sisters must come help her clean out the home they grew up in because she is moving, and you've got a lot of stress for these ladies.

Finnola thought that she had a solid marriage, so her husband's declaration has thrown her for a loop. They were preparing to go to Hawaii on vacation where she was planning to tell him that she was ready to start a family. Now she is dodging paparazzi and trying to hold it all together without her producers, fans, or heaven help her, her mother, finding out.

Zennie's best friend , who survived ovarian cancer, comes to her with a huge favor to ask- would Zennie be their egg donor and surrogate mother for the baby she and her husband want to have? Zennie agrees, much to the consternation of her other friends and Finola, who think this is a very bad idea. And don't tell her mother who spends much of her time lamenting that her daughters have yet to make her a grandmother.

Ali has to undo all the wedding plans, try to get deposits back, and find a new apartment since she was planning on moving in with her husband. His brother Daniel gallantly offers to help Ali with all of this, even though Ali always thought he never particularly liked her.

The relationships between the sisters is very believeable and the characters are well-written. They have shifting alliances, and we get information about their upbringing that informs their relationships today. They are all at a crossroads in their lives and have to lean on others even though that may not be easy for them.

They have to balance their careers and relationships, something that many readers will be able to relate to. Will Finola lose her job and her husband? Can Zennie really give up a baby she carries for nine months, and will her friendship survive her now-overbearing friend, and how will this affect her career as a surgical nurse? Will Ali finally speak up for herself and go for the job and man she wants?

Mallery prides herself on always have a satisfying ending, so all of these storylines get wrapped up, if not in the obvious way, they all get an ending that will make readers happy. California Girls is a perfect beach read book, which is where I read it.  If you're looking for a quick, easy read to take you out of  this dreary weather, California Girls is it.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Susan Mallery's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Review Tour:

Monday, February 25th: Reading Reality

Monday, February 25th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy

Monday, February 25th: @booknerdingout

Tuesday, February 26th: The Book Date

Wednesday, February 27th: Palmer’s Page Turners

Friday, March 1st: Books & Bindings

Friday, March 1st: Not in Jersey

Monday, March 4th: Bewitched Bookworms

Monday, March 4th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Tuesday, March 5th: Odd and Bookish and @oddandbookish

Wednesday, March 6th: Bookchickdi

Thursday, March 7th: Running Through the Storms

Thursday, March 7th: Why Girls Are Weird

Friday, March 8th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, March 11th: The Romance Dish

Monday, March 11th: Tar Heel Reader and @tarheelreader

Tuesday, March 12th: Girl Who Reads

Wednesday, March 13th: Kahakai Kitchen

Wednesday, March 13th: Romantic Reads and Such

Thursday, March 14th: Moonlight Rendezvous

Thursday, March 14th: Cheryl’s Book Nook

Friday, March 15th: Mrs. Mommy Booknerd

Monday, March 18th: Jathan & Heather

Monday, March 18th: Rad Babes Read and @radbabesread

Tuesday, March 19th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Wednesday, March 20th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, March 20th: A Splendid Messy Life

Thursday, March 21st: Broken Teepee

Friday, March 22nd: Girls in Books and @girlsinbooks

Monday, March 25th: Eliot’s Eats

Tuesday, March 26th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, March 27th: Into the Hall of Books

Thursday, March 28th: A Holland Reads

Friday, March 29th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Friday, March 29th: What is That Book About