
This series uses the same formula as The Luxe with the author removing a main character and placing the action 30 years into the future. Instead of the Gay Nineties it’s the Roaring 20’s, the summer of 1929 to be exact. Two girls from Ohio, Letty and Cordelia, hop a train on Cordelia’s wedding day and head to New York City. One girl wants to see her name in lights, the other wants to find the father she never knew. A third girl, Astrid, befriends our heroines early on in her role as the girlfriend of Cordelia’s long lost half brother, Charlie. Add a feud between rival bootleggers, a daredevil pilot, and a rich boy who wants to be a writer, and you have the Bright Young Things trilogy.
F. Scott Fitzgerald this is not, but if you like your gangsters tough, your gun molls blonde, your chorus girls naive, and your plot lines standard issue, this is a series you’ll love. I enjoyed it almost as much as The Luxe but the ending seemed forced to me. Without ruining the fun of reading the series, I will say that the author wrote herself into a romance that couldn’t end happily so she ended it abruptly. This is a series meant for a young adult audience, but as with the former series, there’s enough bodice ripping and bed hopping to entertain a more jaded adult. Complete with some gun fights, car chases, a murder, and a submarine, Bright Young Things, Beautiful Days, and The Lucky Ones are more than just throwaway reads on a summer’s day; they’re an enjoyable visit to the era of flappers and bootleggers.