Laugh out loud funny. Take this one to the beach, if you're not concerned over strangers staring because you're giggling to yourself as you read. Mostly light and quirky. Utterly ridiculous but completely charming. I needed a light, witty read and that's exactly what I got from Kathy Cooperman.

It all started with the book club. Annie is invited by a friend to attend a meeting in an affluent area she lives near but not in. At first eager to read and discuss literature with other women, she quickly realizes that's not going to happen. The book club seems to be more of an excuse to drink wine and gossip. Though she's disappointed, it all leads to a crazy idea...

Sarah is a stunningly beautiful and successful lawyer. To some, she may seem like she has everything... but what she wants is a child. She and her husband have been trying for ages and are undergoing fertility treatments, but much to her frustration it doesn't seem to want to take.

Though very different, these two women have had a loyal and loving friendship that has stood the test of time. They're immensely devoted to each other. When Annie learns that one of her three children has autism and requires incredibly expensive treatment and therapy, she doesn't know where to turn. She hatches a money making scheme: selling extremely overpriced face cream to the ladies in the book club and others like them. Her background in chemistry helps, but she really wants the cream to have some kind of effect to keep the ladies buying. Crazily, she settles on adding something very illegal to the mix... and business starts booming.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

This was a cute and funny story!I loved the book club aspect relating books to the things that were happening in the different women's lives.The storyline was unique and interesting!

I finished this book in like 12 hours, I couldn't put it down. I was even reading it on my phone in the car while we were running errands, that's something that I never do. Crimes Against a Book Club by Kathy Cooperman is an unexpected and hilarious story about how far women will go in order to save their children.

Annie's son Oscar needs a plethora of interventions, including therapy, since he has recently been diagnosed with high functioning autism. Annie's best friend Sarah has had 3 rounds of IVF, and this is the last time she's going to try. There's just so much you can put your body through before you realize that maybe something isn't right for you. She desperately wants a baby, but considering this is her last chance, she's willing to do almost anything to get pregnant.

When Annie attends a book club in La Jolla, California, the women that attend are rich, beautiful and willing to spend thousands of dollars on practically anything. So, that's when Annie gets the idea that in order to make enough money for Oscar's therapy and Sarah's IVF, they have to trick these women into believing that their concoction of potions is the newest and best face cream around- one that will take 10 years off your skin in an instant.

Sarah and Annie make up a story about how Sarah is in the loop with famous celebrities that use this product, and though no one knows what's actually in it, it's all the rage in Hollywood. In truth, it's just a bunch of drug store creams mixed together with some rosemary, and Annie's secret cocaine that she stole from her brother.

That's right, I said cocaine. Not even Sarah knows the secret ingredient to the cream, but soon it's the best selling thing around town. At two grand a pop, the girls can barely keep up with demand, and Annie can barely find the cocaine she needs in order to keep these women coming back for more.

When a La Jolla woman holding a grudge against Sarah sends the cream to a lab to expose the ingredients online, she finds out more than she bargained for, and soon the local authorities are all over the distributors.

This book made such an unexpectedly hilarious turn, I just had to know what became of Annie and her best friend Sarah. There were so many components to this book, like if Sarah ever gets pregnant, if Annie gets convicted of narcotics distribution, and most of all what happens to the women who have been using the drug filled cream? I mean who could think this up! I loved this book so much, it was definitely a great surprise. Plus, it was so easy and quick to read, I definitely have to find more books by this author. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, pure gold, or pure cocaine, whatever works for you.

Cooperman builds a solid foundation with Annabelle and Sarah, best friends who lack the financial means to make their families whole. One can’t pay for the specialized therapy her son requires for an autism spectrum / Asperger’s condition. Childless, the other one is unable to continue expensive IVF procedures. The women come up with a scheme to create income selling repackaged skin cream. In the process of repackaging, one of the ladies decides to add “something special” to give the cream extra perk, so their customers will feel it working. It is the perk in the cream that raises the stakes to a whole new level.

Channeling a Cloris Leachman-esque voice, Annabelle’s mother, Chloe, acts as a hindrance. Later, she joins in the act. Wherever she is, she delivers high drama and keeps the cream-dealing ladies on their toes. The satire flows as their female customers drop big bucks, showing that they have more money than sense when it comes to making themselves look younger. Even as we see the women have venture too far off the cliff, we can’t help but root for them. Hope is delivered on both sides of their transactions. Cooperman has concocted a secret formula of sharp-wit and snarky humor.

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Katherine Hayward's review May 08, 2017 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: netgalley, chick-lit

This book is great- witty funny and so well written. I got sent a copy via NetGalley. Thanks to the publisher and author for my eARC.

Each of the women has her story which is interesting. They all meet at a book club run by the moneyed Valerie in the chic area of La Jolla in Southern California.

Annie and Sarah studied at Harvard. Annie has a son who's diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. She needs money for his therapies and Sarah needs the money for IVF treatments.

The book kept me reading, had me laughing out loud and also had its serious moments. The book club is an interesting place where the ladies gossip. It definitely isn't your usual book club. The book is perfect for fans of Sex and The City. An amazing and refreshing feel good read.

What can I say about 'Crimes Against a Book Club'? I truly loved the book. I loved the way the author made each character deep and interesting, I loved the way the author laid out each stage of the story without bogging the reader down with to many details but at the same time enough to give it depth and be entertaining, and I also loved how it ended by wrapping up the tale with a perfect ending; not too sweet but not too sour.
Even though I detested a few of the characters and how easily justifications were thrown around, I believe that was the whole point. It's so easy to good/bad people to justify just about anything. Even some the 'victims' in this situation, I felt, were at times unworthy of sympathy while the reader could certainly sympathize with the 'criminals', as wrong as their actions were. I straddled the fence on being appalled and sympathetic by most everyone's actions.

Overall, just a thoroughly entertaining story about the lengths people go to, to protect and support the people they love. And how sometimes you gotta see past every blatant flaws to the heart underneath.
I like that all these lessons can be wrapped up in a entertaining tale.

A biting, funny and oh so real story about what it means to be a mother in today's world, about what it means to be a modern woman and, especially, what it means to be a friend. You will laugh along with Annie and Sarah, you will feel their pain as they try to fit in, as they try to define marriage, work and life. This is a great story told with compassion and heart that will have you rooting for them.

Sarah wants a child more than anything, but she needs very expensive IVF treatments. Annie needs money to help pay for her autistic son’s therapy. The two friends come up with a sure-fire way to make fast cash – they will cash in on the fears of a group of aging California book club beauties. They offer a miracle face cream, Etinav, for only $2000. A steal in a world where women are prepared to cough up ten times that for plastic surgery. There’s just one problem, the main ingredient in the cream is illegal. Yes, this was an amusing book, but I can’t help but wince when women get dragged under the “gotta look younger than you are” bus.

reviewing for publication RT Book Reviews May issue