189 reviews for:

California Girls

Susan Mallery

3.61 AVERAGE


It only takes one week for Finola's picture perfect marriage to implode, for Zennie's maybe to dump her, and for Ali's fiance to send his brother to do his dirty work. One week, three sisters, three relationships. Like all sisters, there is love and there is competition and there are hard feelings from their unconventional upbringing with their highly disapproving mother. Forced to face their own issues, the sisters discover that to start over they first have to work together.

Filled with love, laughter, and heart, California Girls was the Susan Mallery read I didn't know I needed. It's women's fiction at it's best, with the three sisters uncovering their identities and learning how to be sisters again. It's about facing the past, facing the now, and making futures that rely on them finally standing on their own two feet. It's a bit heart-wrenching I admit, I cried a lot, especially with Ali's chapters, but it's also so heart warming. I love a good family story and this is the sort of romantic family story that I want to reread over and over.

ARC provided.

I hated every single one of these characters. Shallow, self-serving, and some were just downright nasty! The plot was obvious from miles away, and even though it's supposed to be a cutsey read, it was just annoying.

Enjoyable. A stand alone novel, so you don't have to worry about finding a Mallery book in the middle of a series.

Highly predictable, except ... who the hell feels like having sex with someone 24 hours after they gave birth?? How ridiculous.

4 1/2 stars

When I reached the last word of Susan Mallery’s California Girls, I immediately began writing the review in my head and tried to ascertain exactly what this emotion was that I was feeling. Fulfillment? No, satisfaction.

In California Girls three sisters have the misfortune of being dumped on the same Friday. While none of them saw it coming, it gives them the opportunity to reflect on their relationships and lives as well as allows them to draw closer to each other and their prickly mother.

read more: https://saschadarlington.me/2019/02/21/book-review-of-california-girls/
hopeful reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A very pleasant read. Sort of romance, sort of a domestic drama this book was fun. Reading women who are fully fleshed out - they have friends and careers and hobbies and families was a pleasure. It's the sort of book you can just read for pleasure, it doesn't need a lot of thought or analysis. And while there are love stories in there, this book does not posit that the solution to every problem is a man.

Thanks Netgalley and Harlequin Mira foor the ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

I actually loved this book. The characters were flawed and the story told of their road to fixing and/or accepting those flaws. I also loved that happy endings weren't all about love.
emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was my first standalone Susan Mallery and I was very pleasantly surprised! The only other books by Susan that I’ve read were her Happily Inc series (a cheesy, cutesy romance series). California Girls is about three sisters who, coincidentally and unfortunately, all get dumped on the same weekend. The character development of the sisters was great and I loved the theme of female empowerment throughout the story! I will definitely be picking up more Susan Mallery in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin – MIRA for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.