TLC Book Tours: A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams
A Certain Age
Beatriz Williams
Copyright 2016
William Morrow Paperbacks
Paperback ISBN: 9780062404961
The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.
But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.
Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.
Read what others on the tour are saying about the book here!
Purchase Links
About Beatriz Williams
A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz Williams spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons, before her career as a writer took off. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore. Find out more about Beatriz at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.My Thoughts:
Theresa Marshall is okay living with a philandering husband because he turns a blind eye to her dalliance with beautiful young Octavian Rofrano, the dashing aviator and war hero. But things get quite complicated when she falls hard for her gentleman...and when he falls for somebody else. To further complicate matters, her brother Ox's fiancee has a checkered past that may endanger all parties involved--in more ways than one!
What can I say about this book other than I felt as if I were truly immersed in 1920s New York, living the life of a true flapper. I can't remember the last time I read a story that made the Roaring Twenties come to life in such a spectacular fashion. The love triangles, the clothes, the parties; A Certain Age has it all. A note about love triangles: I tend to not enjoy them, but here Theresa and Octavian and Sophie and Ox are each so darn interesting. I honestly didn't come out of this hating any of them! Whoa!
A Certain Age is a blast. Dare I say, it's the bee's knees? With a flair for the dramatic and the romantic, Williams gives vibrant life and color to 20s fiction that I've been desperate for. Like the beaded sheath gowns of the era, this story shimmers at every turn! I dare you to read this book and not feel as if you could step into its pages and join the party! I can't wait for her next story!
~My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars~
Happy Reading!
I LOVE reading about this era - all the glamour and glitz, following on the heels of the horrors of The Great War. It was a heady time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.
Yep! It certainly was a great period of transition!
DeleteRenee, this sounds like a terrific book! I enjoyed your enthusiastic and well-written review. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
ReplyDeleteI love Beatriz Williams' books! I will look out for this one.
DeleteThis was the first time for me reading one of her books! I'm definitely on the lookout for more from her.
DeleteThanks, Suko!
DeleteWow, an author who can make you enjoy all parties in a love triangle?! That's pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteRight?! I usually get so annoyed by the love triangle trope, but it works here!
Delete