Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (comment for an extra contest entry)

Synopsis:
Her new summer job comes with baggage

Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small hotel in the heart of New York City, and Scarlett lives there with her four siblings - Spencer, Lola, and Marlene.

When each of the Martins turns fifteen, they are expected to take over the care of a suite in the once elegant, now shabby Art Deco hotel. For Scarlett's fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite, and a permanent guest called Mrs. Amberson.

Scarlett doesn't quite know what to make of this C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.

Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery, Broadway glamour, romantic missteps, and theatrical deceptions. But in the city where anything can happen, she just might be able to pull it off.

Review:

Suite Scarlett is a bright addition to Maureen Johnson's already fabulous list of works. Fun and bubbly, but with a capacity for more serious subject matter, this novel is filled with a wonderful range of character and emotion. Readers will quickly grasp Scarlett's delightful sense of humor as the novel progresses. However, our narrator isn't the only character well fleshed-out. There is the older brother Spencer who, though charming, has some faults. And who could forget about our romantic interest- the delectable Eric? Though he may seem flat at first (a stereotyped southern gentleman), his secrets and somewhat odd sense of logic add depth to his personality.

What I loved most about Suite Scarlett, though, is it's focus on family. Many novels today make the romantic interest everything. The crushes/boyfriends/husbands/heroes become the entire reason for the novel...and the heroine's entire reason for existence. While I like romance as much as the next girl, too many novels of such a variety could create a skewed and dangerous outlook on life. And that is what makes Suite Scarlett so refreshing. This is a novel where family is more important than the romantic interest.

Interested? Purchase Suite Scarlett here.

Or...you could enter the NSCG 5 Copy Giveaway. Don't forget to leave a comment here for an extra entry!