An Oprah.com Best Romance Novel of 2019! “Perfect for readers who love the dishy women’s fiction of Candace Bushnell.” –Booklist From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city … dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.
For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite–the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants–but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.
The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham–the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them.
“Strong characters and relatable situations elevate Layne’s bighearted contemporary…[which] digs into class differences, emotional baggage, and the reality of dealing with aging parents” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). With the sexy combination of charm, heart, and snark, Lauren Layne’s new series is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.
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Passion on Park Avenue starts off in sort of a bizarre way. Naomi is headed to the funeral of her boyfriend, who she found out (per his obituary) now has a widow. She meets said widow and another mistress the day of the funeral and they become fast friends.
Now, while I ABSOLUTELY love the idea of women scorned by a man not taking that scorn out on each other, it still felt a bit unbelievable. However, I kept reading, I wanted to see if that was a bond this author could truly keep up.
I’m happy to say she could. The relationship between the three women did work for me quite well in the long run. In fact, I think if not for the other two influencing her, I might not have liked Naomi an awful lot.
She has great moments, but her drive was often misplaced as well. Revenge is just not something I relate to well. And there was a small serving of revenge on her plate.
You see, Naomi was wronged as a child. In a way completely out of her control and that had some fairly harsh results. She hasn’t forgotten, it’s made her the fighter she is.
Twenty years later, learning to swallow that revenge because the people you always saw as evil are no longer that, is a hard lesson to learn. But Naomi must learn it before she loses the only man she’s ever truly loved.
I struggled with Naomi’s struggling. I’ll be honest. There were many moments I felt she was making the wrong decisions. It kept me reading though and that’s a good thing.
Another good thing is Oliver. I adored his puzzle loving self.
So, maybe not my favorite read ever, but solid enough.