Book Review: Diva (Flappers #3) by Jillian Larkin

**I received this ARC from NetGalley for review**

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Parties, bad boys, speakeasies—life in Manhattan has become a woozy blur for Clara Knowles. If Marcus Eastman truly loved her, how could he have fallen for another girl so quickly? Their romance mustn't have been as magical as Clara thought. And if she has to be unhappy, she's going to drag everyone else down to the depths of despair right along with her.

Being a Barnard girl is the stuff of Lorraine Dyer's dreams. Finding out that Marcus is marrying a gold digger who may or may not be named Anastasia? A nightmare. The old Lorraine would have sat by and let the chips fall where they may, but she's grown up a lot these past few months. She can't bear to see Marcus lose a chance for true love. But will anyone listen to her?

Now that the charges against her have been dropped, Gloria Carmody is spending the last dizzying days of summer on Long Island, yachting on the sound and palling around with socialites at Forrest Hamilton's swanky villa. Beneath her smile, though, Gloria's keeping a secret. One that could have deadly consequences . . .

My Thoughts: I know I have said this before but I love the 1920s! The flappers, the dangers of drinking and getting caught, the music and dancing...I love it all! So it was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this series. I was sad that this was the last book but it was a very enjoyable and quick read.

Gloria is out of jail but only on one condition. She needs to find how Forrest Hamilton has so much money. The FBI is sure that it is something illegal and they send Gloria in, undercover, to find out. Gloria, not knowing where Jerome is, agrees to do it in the hopes that she can keep herself and her fiance out of jail.

Once she meets Forrest, she realizes he is actually a good guy. She meets him, his shady man, Pembroke, and his other houseguests, Glamour and Glitz and Ruby and Marty. She quickly discovers that there is more between Forrest and Ruby than meets the eye. She must discover how Forrest is getting his money and get proof for the FBI, find Jerome and help Forrest and Ruby. Sounds easy right?

Meanwhile, Clara, Goria's cousin, is still heartbroken over her breakup with Marcus Eastman. This is made worse when she finds out that he has quickly found another woman and gotten engaged. She tries to put Marcus behind her and continue with her journalism career at The Manhattanite, the local rag magazine and even goes out with her boss, Parker, a few times. At a party put on by Forrest Hamilton, she is reunited (sort of) with Gloria and Lorraine Dyer. Lorraine tells Clara that the woman Marcus is marrying is a gold digging con artist and together they must expose her and stop Marcus from making the biggest mistake of his life.

Lorraine is a student at Barnard College. She is still disliked by everyone for her part in putting Gloria in jail. Her only friends are her roommate, Becky, and Melvin, the nerdy guy who has hung around her since school started. Lorraine thinks she is madly in love with Marcus Eastman and follows him through the campus of Columbia. When she discovers that he is engaged to a con artist, she seeks out Clara and together with Melvin, they attempt to expose the con. While working with Melvin, Lorraine finds out that maybe there is more to a guy than just his looks and his wallet.

I loved all the main characters in this book! They were strong, smart and funny! I liked how everything came around full circle and even though they all left each other in the first book, they all find each other again in this one. Lorraine grew up a lot in this book and I enjoyed seeing that.

The secondary characters were great too! Glamour and Glitz were flaky and all they cared about was drinking and dancing but they were fun to listen too. Pembroke was completely creepy and Forrest was very mysterious. Melvin was sweet and he put up with a lot from Lorraine but wasn't a total pushover.

I liked how this book ended the series. It was a complete happy ending, for the most part. I thought the wedding events were a little unrealistic. I mean, really? How much excitement can you have in one wedding? But it was still fun to read and it was definitely exciting!

This book comes out in July and if you have read the first two books, I highly recommend picking up this one. If you haven't read the first two books, what are you waiting for? Go read them so you can be ready when this one is released (July 10th)!