BOOKIN' BINGO'S REVIEW: SUBURBAN WEIRD

SUBURBAN WEIRD
by J. R. LaGreca
A REVIEW by Bingo

Perhaps you remember my giveaway of this book a while back along with my review of another of J. R. LaGreca's books, AFTERNOON TEA. Well, I have finally gotten around to posting my review of the second book in the giveaway. It is now out in paperback so makes it easy for book club groups to purchase as it is sure to generate lots of discussion. With that said, here is my review of SUBURBAN WEIRD!

A tale of deceit and desire, Suburban Weird lives up to its title even though you won’t realize why until the end. It is a spellbinding story that never is quite what it appears to be. Just when you think you have it figured out and know where the story is going, it changes and veers off in another mystifying direction to hold your interest.

Suburban Weird is centered on Courtney Gold, a forty-year-old woman who has maintained her good looks and seems to have everything anyone could ask for. She is married to a man who seems to adore her, provides well for her with his job as a criminal attorney, and also has the luxury of living on his mother’s massive estate. However, all this changes when her brother-in-law moves in with his new wife who just happens to be a mail-order bride from Russia—a YOUNG mail-order bride. Courtney gets caught up in a game of seduction and deception.

The story is set in an area called Bay Shore out on Long Island, New York. For Courtney, prior to actually marrying her fiancé, Seth, things begin to change for real when her future mother-in-law, a woman named Edith Stern, turns out to be a rather odd and unconventional type that Courtney had been warned about before.

Even though Courtney sees some things that are just not right, she goes ahead and marries her fiancé, Seth. Soon, however, Courtney finds that she is attracted to Seth’s adopted brother, Dr. Aaron Stein. Aaron is a fertility specialist as well as a specialist in coming on to Courtney while he also puts his brother down constantly. Seth is the youngest in the family and somewhat of a bad boy but Courtney must learn to handle him as well as the feelings he brings out in her.

When Courtney and Seth move into the mansion that belongs to his mother, it would appear that things would be glorious until we find that Aaron, and his mail-order bride, Natasha, move in with them. Natasha is 27 years younger than Aaron and is gorgeous and dangerous at the same time. The four of them in that house is a recipe for disaster, and one other tiny detail that may get you to thinking is when we find that Dr. Aaron is treating Courtney for infertility as she is having trouble getting pregnant.

As if there weren’t enough twists and turns up to this point, the story is masterfully told by J. R. LaGreca so that you never know until the end what is going to happen. How will Courtney deal with the flirtations from Aaron and the passion it brings out in her? What part will the young nymph, Natasha, play in this foursome? Will Edith remain in the background or play a more important role in this madness called Courtney’s life? This is a novel you must read for yourself to find the answers to these questions and all the others that will continually come up as you read of the lust and love on Long Island that LaGreca spins into a purely hypnotic conclusion.
Highly recommended for book clubs as sure to bring on plenty of discussion!