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Review of Elegantly Wasted

4 Nov 2013

Synopsis

On the eve of her high school graduation, proper socialite Francesca “Frankie” Fairholm rebelled against her elitist and controlling family to pursue the dark lifestyle of a contract killer for the enigmatic Osiris Corporation. Years later, with her training complete, she believes she's doomed to the life of a sociopathic lone gun until a botched hit brings two unlikely allies, her cousins Addison and Katharine.

Using Katharine’s etiquette school, Elegance, Inc., as a front, the trio weave through Frankie’s dark underworld, carrying out contracts, drinking too much wine, and trying not to get each other killed.

Trouble follows the team home when the death of the cruel Fairholm matriarch reveals more than they ever wanted to know about their family. As the funeral preparations play out, the trio begin to realize there is much more to their employer than meets the eye and their family connections run deeper than they ever imagined.


Review

I really had no clue what to think about this book initially.  It's got a Dexter vibe where the main character has sociopathic tendencies which are channeled into an appropriate career: contract killing. I worried the author would make contract killing too "fun" and then the whole book would be cheesy and ridiculous but that was definitely not the case.  The book was hilarious, don't get me wrong, but the author gave depth to the characters by showing their struggle with certain aspects of the job. There was plenty of bad-assery but there were missteps along the way too which provided both humor and balance.

I enjoyed the family element.  It gave the heroine confidantes that allowed her to avoid total isolation and well...her family is a prime example of complete dysfunction. There were lots of challenges, villains, and intrigue which kept me reading intently but the humor and snark of the heroine was my favorite part.  

This was a refreshing change of pace from the romances and dark thrillers I have been reading lately. In fact, there is pretty much no romance whatsoever but it worked perfectly without it and probably would have been over the top with all of the other crap that was going on in the heroine's life.
Plenty of sarcasm and humor, action and intrigue, and a little good old self discovery:  What more could you ask for?
 
Try it for yourself! Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK
 
Katie

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