TLC Book Tours Review: A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

Title: A Certain Age
Author: Beatriz Williams
Format: ARC
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: June 28, 2016
Source: TLC Book Tours

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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."

My Two Cents:

"A Certain Age" is a historical fiction book that takes place in the Roaring 20s in New York City. Based off of an opera about old money versus new money and throwing in a murder mystery (make sure you read the Author's Note; Williams' inspiration is fascinating for this one), you have all the makings of a great summer read (or really any time read) that will thrill you with its fast pace and glittering setting.

Oh, how I love reading about the 1920s. It's such a fascinating time period. In this book, we meet Theresa, a well kept woman having an affair with a much younger man, Captain Rofrano. She loves the affair but has no intentions of upending her life as a kept woman. Then there is her lover, a man who is a romantic at heart. In a chance meeting with Sophie, Theresa's brother's fiance, Captain Rofrano falls in love with her and is torn between the two women. I'm usually not into love triangles in books. It seems so hard to find unique ones but this one is definitely unique and kept me engaged in the book! Between the love triangle and the murder at the center of the book, there are a ton of twists and turns in the book!

Williams definitely knows how to create a good sense of place and time! Again, I just plain love reading historical fiction set in the 1920s but I really love how she was able to add so much detail to make the book come to life. Not only is the historical detail great but she writes really great dialogue that sounds very much like what the 1920s would sound like with all the turns of phrase and slang. It made the characters seem very vivid to me! Overall, I thought this book was great and really enjoyed it!