Girls Who Gossip

by Theresa Alan

During her summer vacation from NYU film school, heiress Helaina Denner returns home to Denver, Colorado, to reconnect with her estranged father, while partying with her best friends, dealing with a caught-on-tape blackmail scheme, trying to find a decent bikini wax, and falling in love with a journalist. Original.

Genres: Chick Lit

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

My interests are women's fiction, literary fiction and nonfiction, humor, suspense, chick lit, health and fitness.

I became a bestselling author with my first novel, Who You Know (2003), and my novella Santa Unwrapped was in the New York Times bestseller Jingle All the Way (2004). I am the author of six additional Kensington novels, including Spur of the Moment, The Girls’ Global Guide to Guys, Girls Who Gossip, Getting Married, Spa Vacation, and The Dangers of Mistletoe. My work has also appeared in the anthologies I Shaved My Legs for This?! and Sex and the Single Witch. I was named the Colorado Romance Writer of the Year in 2004.

A graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Colorado at Boulder, I live in Denver, Colorado. I'm a member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Women's Fiction Writers Association Association, and Romance Writers of America.

http://theresaalan.net/

Reviews

[Sherri Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the title and book cover very misleading as the story turned out to be something else than what I was expecting. I was expecting a light, fun chick-lit read about, well, girls who gossip. I wouldn’t classify this book as a chick-lit, though that’s what it is marketed as. Don’t get me wrong; I still enjoyed the book once I got over the initial surprise at the punch this book packs. Instead of gossip, this story is actually more about death, the grieving process, dysfunctional families, and revenge. Add in some friends, an internship at a magazine and a budding relationship and you get this book.

The main character is Helaina Denner and she is returning home to Denver for the summer. Her mother recently died under mysterious circumstances a few months back and Helaina is still reeling from the shock and having a difficult time coping with the grieving process. For the most part, she is happy to be back at home and reconnecting with her best friends, Hannah and Marni. She is hoping to reconnect with her father but that proves next to impossible. Helaina discovers that her mother’s sister, Claudia, has moved in and is most likely having an affair with Helaina’s father. I know…ewwwww, right?

Helaina is offered an intern position at a local magazine by a friend of the family and meets Owen who is her boss’ stepson and, it turns out, is also working at the magazine. Helaina thinks the experience gained will be beneficial to her budding filmmaker career.

Things get interesting when Helaina decides to do a little investigating and locates her mother’s journal hidden away in a secret compartment of her mother’s desk. Upon reading the journal, Helaina is given a front-row seat into the despair her mother was feeling, knowing her husband has been unfaithful for most of their marriage, but to also learn that her husband is having an affair with her own sister. The sister she has allowed to move into her home, who she has given money to over the years. Sadly, Helaina’s mother is the victim of gossip as everyone seems to know about her marriage problems, even her hairdresser. Helaina decides she wants revenge on her father and aunt for their part in destroying her mother’s happiness which she believes is the reason behind her death, though the issue of whether Helaina’s mother committed suicide or died because she lost control of her car in a tragic accident is never clarified.

I liked Helaina and felt a lot of sympathy for her. I found her behavior very understandable under the circumstances and hated the way her father treated her. I thought he was a very selfish man who didn’t deserve one smidgen of success or happiness. The outcome of the story leads me to believe that her father and aunt get their comeuppance but there were still a lot of unresolved issues. Fortunately, Helaina makes a major breakthrough when she realizes that we don’t get to choose our family and that working through her grief brings her closer to her mother.

So, chick-lit fans, this is not a light, funny, typical chick-lit read, but it’s a good story that’s worth a look.

[Margot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was mistitled and the back cover description was too fluffy for what it actually turned out to be.

[Galia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Theresa Alan's books seem to be either hit or miss with me. This was a miss. Plot was boring and I agree the description is a little misleading. I was expecting a light read, and got a dark, depressing story.

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