Review: IN 1920s CHICAGO, COME JOIN THE DOLLED UP DAMES & SPIFFY FLYBOYS AT THE CAT'S MEOW SPEAKEASY, THE RED PHOENIX
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2014
In 1920s Chicago, The Red Phoenix is the Cat's Meow speakeasy in town. All the flappers, live wires, dolled up dames and flyboys love to get all their KEISTERS in the front row, drink gin, listen to the smooth sounds of Miss Maude and maybe if they are lucky, make WHOOPEE!Jessica, Jessie, Harlan leads a double live, as a run of the mill Butcher shop owner by day and the UNKNOWN owner of the speakeasy, The Red Phoenix. Only her BF Maude, who sings at the club, and Joe, the long time friend of her deceased dad and worker at the Butcher shop, know she is the Big Cheese! Jessie is so sick of all the Prohibition problems she has, her flimflam ex Mario, his mobster boss Willie the Weasel and the worst is Prohibition Agent Earl Jameson are getting her all balled up. She just needs to keep The Red Phoenix open for a few more months and she will pay off the money her dad borrowed from Willie, have enough cash to keep devoted Joe on payroll and a nice nest egg for the shop.Private dick Anthony, Tony, Solomon was a brilliant cop who was ALLOWED to retire, after a bust when side ways and his partner was shot and killed. He crawled into a bottle, crawled out with help from his mom, was unable to find a job in law enforcement, so he opened a gumshoe shop to keep a cheap roof over his Mom's head. Now Tony takes up lollygagging cases for cheating spouses. Agent(ex friend) Jameson walks into his office with a paycheck that would make a ugly dog purr and a possible chance to make is law enforcement name COPACETIC again. Jameson, the wet blanket, tells Tony he must cozy up to the Phoenix 's moll, Jessie Harlan, uncover the Phoenix identity and get evidence to slam the mysterious Phoenix in lockup for good.When Tony and Jessie meet, it like a whammy for them both, his a tall drink of water to her and she is a Ritzy dame with spiffy gams to him. Tony makes a play to have her sing in his Gin Mill and hopefully get the low down on his mark. Jessie accepts because she needs the info on him, Jameson, Willie and to protect herself. When she gets all spiffy and dolled up to sing at The Corkscrew, she always looks, finds and sings directly to him. Tony is downing rum just to keep away for the sexy Bearcat. The sexual tension from they steamy necking, sensual caresses and almost hard up against the wall action is going to blow up in their faces. Will Tony betray Jessie just to get his law career back? Can Jessie actually trust Tony with her all her secrets? With all they wandering lips and hands, who romancing who? Will revealing the true Phoenix demolished both their worlds? Is their love the Real McCoy?This was such a change different time, place and language for me to digest and I will be honest and say Google was my friend with the 1920s slang. Ms. McLean had to have her head in 1920s slang books and old Prohibition and mobster research until she thought she was the Phoenix, SNAP she was, wasn't she! Jessie is heroine with a heart of gold, who put everyone before herself and she learned that from her dad. Tony was reformed rake who just wanted to do right by his mom, but his mom didn't need his money, just her son to be happy and loved. Ms. McLean writes great steamy and described scenes, but they were always had a rude intruder and I was getting a little ticked off, but then I got to the end of her tale and she gave me an long, fierce, passionate and uninterrupted scene. Since this was my first 1920s novel, I loved and kinda soaked up (as my review shows) all the slang, the characters, the Chicago setting and all the 1920s Prohibition craziness. This is a book that should not be missed for any romance fan who wants to expand their reading diet to different and unique places and times. This is my first, but no way my last, Ms. McLean story and it was the BEE'S KNEE, and gets my score of 4 fingers up and 8 toes!NetGalley ARC given for my honest review.