Wow! First of all I rarely ever find books that take place in the Midwest, let alone a small town in Wisconsin and the book really did it justice. I loved reading about locations in Wisconsin and all the things near and dear to a Wisconsinites heart including cheese and old fashioneds.

Becoming a Playboy bunny at the Playboy resort in Lake Geneva allows Sherri the chance she needs to get out of her small town and make money. What Sherri doesn’t know is just how this experience will shape her for the rest of her life.

I loved this one! I feel like there is always fascination for the whole Playboy empire so going on this journey with Sherri into the seemingly glamorous but dangerous world was so much fun to read about. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Shoulder Season follows the very naïve Sherri Taylor as she goes from caretaker for her mother to a Playboy bunny. Clancy explores some real-world issues that are still relevant today. Some of the text made me cringe, and that was clearly Clancy’s intent.

“She wanted to convince Gwen that she wasn’t racist without coming across the way Rhonda did when Gwen said she was saving for college. “Oh, good for you!” she said in an overly congratulatory tone..." If that doesn’t make you cringe, I don’t know what would.

Sherri’s naivety makes her an easy mark for people to take advantage of. Unfortunately, that happens a lot to her. She gets swept up in a world she never imagined for herself. Because she isn’t street smart, she gets herself into these sketchy situations. But she’s loving life and is among women she considers family, but it’s clear that she’s spiraling. This story takes us through those years and her friendship with Roberta, which she always comes back to.

There are a few text inconsistencies that I imagine might be resolved before release day. Such as Sherri drinking Mad Dog 20/20, which didn’t come out until four years after this story takes place. For me, the story really found its groove in the last 20 percent of the book, and that’s when I found myself unable to put it down. Overall, this is an engaging story. I enjoyed the time frame and the way Clancy framed the story. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along.

I read this author’s first book The Second Home, it was a little different than my normal read but I really enjoyed it. So, when I saw that she had another book coming out, and even though historical fiction is not my cup of tea I decided to give it a go.
Sherri Taylor was raised in small town with her parents, but at the age 19, she lost both of her parents, she felt all alone in the world.
Her best friend Roberta tells her they’re interviewing for Bunnies at the Playboy resort. She already mailed in an application, got a call for an interview. She tries to talk her into joining her, days later Roberta has arranged for Sherri to join her for the interview. A few days later she received a letter offering employment, but Roberta did not. We follow along as Sherri navigates this new life, the ups and downs, the ins and outs of living in the Playboy resort.
This is a standalone, historical fiction told in the 3rd pov.

Christina Clancy definitely gave me a Taylor Jenkins Reid feeling with Shoulder Season. (And trust me, TJR is IT and that's most definitely a compliment, Ms. Clancy!)

Do you think the 80's and Playboy Bunnies were my first choice of reading subjects? I certainly didn't but I couldn't put this one down! Fantastic writing on a super interesting time period.

Sherri grew up in a small town and lived through the death of both of her parents. After their deaths, she was floating about, with nothing to anchor her - no family, no plans, and basically no ambition. She found the Playboy resort as a family of sorts and Shoulder Season follows her descent into drugs and sex. There is definitely a happy-ish ending, with the book wrapped up in a neat bow. I quite enjoyed this coming-of-age novel and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author!

3.75 stars - rounded up to maybe 4.

I absolutely ADORED Christina's first book, The Second Home. It was extremely well written and I really liked the characters, so I was thrilled to get an early copy of SHOULDER SEASON!

I dove right into this one and agree that it would be a fun beach read. I was absolutely fascinated by the life of a playboy bunny (a world I know nothing about, but have always been curious), but I found the first half of the book to really drag. I wanted to shake Sherri so many times - she made bad decisions and while I understand that grief and the loss of your parents at a super young age may cause you to fall off course, it was difficult as a reader to support her journey at times.

I liked the aspect of strong female friendships in this book. I was concerned because women, especially beautiful women fighting for attention and money, can be very chatty, but I am so glad that Christina chose to make them friends vs. foes. All in all, this was an OK book, but I wasn't floored. Is it a must read? In my opinion, no. It was a unique premise and I did enjoy the book overall, just wasnt blown away!

Shoulder Season is a coming of age story by Christina Clancy. I really enjoyed her book, The Second Home and was excited to read this new work.

The reader follows the protagonist Sherri though trauma, thrilling opportunities, serious lapses in judgment, more trauma, and her journey toward an honest perspective on her past and present life. This book had lofty goals but fell short for me. The plot points didn’t seem to contribute meaningfully to the overall story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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#NetGalley
#ShoulderSeason
#fiction
#playboybunny
#comingofage
#fastlife
#regrets
#bookreview
#bookstagram

Shoulder Season is the second book written by Christina Clancy that I have read. I loved The Second Home! I was not sure what to expect from Shoulder Season after reading the synopsis. It is so much more than a book about being a Playboy Bunny at a Playboy resort in Wisconsin during the '80s. It is a coming of age story, a story about overcoming loss and life's obstacles. Shoulder Season has some twist and turns and through the main character, Sherri Taylor, we see that "you can go home again" ! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
The main premise of the life of a Playboy Bunny in the 80’s was one I was so interested in reading. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity.

💜 What I liked:
The first 40% of the book painted a picture of what it was like to live at the resort and being from a small town. The author really did her research here. I loved hearing about the process of being employed at a resort (different from the mansion).

😱 What I didn’t like:
The last half of the book was a disappointment to me, almost like it kept trying to keep the interest in these dramatic moments. It was marketed as a tragic turning point, but it had a few “is this it?” moments before the tragedy finally was revealed. It made the ending a little tedious. If there was more about the resort and the other Bunnys it would have made me happier.

💁‍♀️ The Characters:
Sherri and her friend Rhonda interview to work at the Playboy resort in Wisconsin, although Rhonda doesn’t make it. We follow what Sherri goes through and how she meets the men in her life.

🚦 My face at the end:🤔

💭 3 Reasons to Read:
Interesting portrayal of a “family friendly” resort
80’s vibes
Love triangle


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

When nineteen year old Sherri’s parents both die, she leaves her small religious town for bigger things. She accepts a job as a bunny at the Wisconsin Playboy Resort. She quickly gets swept up in the partying ways of the 80’s.

I loved learning about what being a bunny at a Playboy resort was like! Believe it or not, the resort was a family area. While very tame and refined, the Bunny’s had specific protocols and rules they had to follow. The etiquette was so fun to learn about. Unfortunately tbat and the 80’s background was about all that I loved. K didn’t really like Sherri, who managed to be naive and cruel at the same time. I wasn’t into the romances in the book and I didn’t love the drama either. It was still worth a read for the unique story and the Bunny’s!

“Under the recessed lights in the dressing room she saw it all come together: her eyes now outlined like Cleopatra’s, and her hair an Auburn mane, with little tendrils of baby bangs on her forehead. She never knew she could be this person - this truly beautiful woman. Sherri, she thought, meet Bunny Sherri!”

Shoulder Season comes out 7/6.

Shoulder Season tells the story of Sherri Taylor's journey as a Playboy Bunny at a resort in Lake Geneva in the early 1980's. It details the highs and the lows, as well as the impact it has on her relationships. Very much coming of age theme. The plot moved quickly, and I liked that it provided insight and closure to her story in the end. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this good, quick summer read.

This book by Christina Clancy was well written but also hard to read as a feminist because of the content. It tells the story of a young insecure girl who becomes a playboy bunny in the 80's. It was interesting to read about the club because I live 15 mins away from Lake Geneva where the story takes place.

4.25/5⭐️

Sherri Taylor, a 19-year-old in East Troy, Wisconsin, lost her beloved dad at 12 and took care of her mom for the last 3 years of her life. She’s never been comfortable as herself, and on a lark with her friend Roberta, interviews for a job as a Playboy bunny at the neighboring resort in Lake Geneva. She lands it, in what will be a defining moment in her life.

Spanning from 1981-2019, we follow Sherri’s often painful journey of naïveté as she seeks acceptance and adoration by
re-inventing herself.

This was at times painful reading, frustrating as I wanted to shake Sherri but also hug her and advise/save her. She is surrounded by a diverse cast of characters...friends, users, lovers, exploiters. We follow her self-destructive path from her hometown all the way to California, and I actually found some relief and some needed clarity (plus surprises) in the last 20% of the book. An exhausting but good read.

Much thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for providing me the early arc for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

In Shoulder Season, Sherri is a newly orphaned 19 year old with no direction in life. On a whim, she decides to become a Playboy Bunny. In the process of learning how to be a perfect Bumny, she gets an education on life. This book spoke to me because Sherri would have been close to my age so I knew all the references from music to makeup. Sherri made more than her share of mistakes but luckily made some great friends and family along the way. The story was so fast paced and I loved the details of becoming a Bumny. What women have done to make a buck! For some reason, this book feels like a guilty pleasure- what my life could have been if I had not been so straight and boring. Loved it!

I absolutely loved following Sherri's journey in her adolescent years as a Playboy Bunny. To see her humble beginnings in Troy, and experience her heartbreak at losing both of her parents, it is fascinating to see how she finds a home at the Playboy resort, and the adult she turns out to be. Her story is truly one of survival- she has to grow up so incredibly quickly and with so little guidance. Her story is heartbreaking, at times funny, and overall inspiring.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an ARC of this book.

Sherri Taylor is orphaned just as she begins to enter adulthood. An only child raised by loving but older, strict, undemonstrative parents, she is naive and unfamiliar with the world outside her small Wisconsin town. After spending her late teens nursing her dying mother, she has both a world of options open to her and no clue what to do with herself. Until her best friend offers a solution: a job as a Bunny at the local Playboy resort.

This was a fascinating look into the history of a world previously unknown to me. (I thought Hugh Hefner’s mansion was the only Playboy facility, but that was definitely not the case.) Christina Clancy treated these young ladies with respect, not trying to justify outdated ways of thinking but also not judging 1980’s social mores by modern standards. I found her representation of ‘the Bunny life’ to be incredibly balanced, allowing the reader to focus on the story and form their own opinions.

The author also excelled at communicating the confusion, hope, fear, and headiness of being 20 years old and having everything in front of you. I connected with Sherri from my current mid-life, maternal viewpoint, and I also saw things from her own painfully young point of view.

My one problem with Shoulder Season was the ending. I could live with the big ‘twist’ at the end; in fact, I probably should’ve seen it coming. Being so engrossed that I missed the clues is another testament to the author’s writing skills. What really bothered me was Sherri's reaction. Having come on this incredibly complex emotional journey, it was disingenuous and disappointing for her to accept this revelation with a mere shrug of the shoulders. The ending was abrupt, overly convenient, and didn’t live up to the quality of the rest of the book.

Despite the unsatisfying ending, I highly recommend Shoulder Season. It would make an excellent Book Club selection- there’s a lot to unpack.

A very interesting coming of age story about a girl who became a Playboy Bunny at the Lake Geneva Resort (I had to look this up - it was a real place!) Readers who enjoy character driven stories will love to dive deep into this infamous world.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a Wisconsin resident, I was interested in learning more about Lake Geneva Playboy Resort in the early 80's through a historical fiction lens.  I'd describe this book as a coming-of-age story with an introspective literary element. It's well-written with an intriguing storyline and believable characters. 

Our protagonist, Sherri is barely 20, and her journey of self-discovery is not smooth sailing. Her life is a product of her small town upbringing, loss of both parents and the culture of the Playboy Resort. Her naïve and careless approach to her decision making sometimes made it tough to root for her, but it certainly made for a compelling story. 

As a small town Midwesterner myself, I identified with her roots.  Especially the feelings that come with rectifying the community of your childhood as it evolves into something wholly different as an adult. 

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: Concurrently in print and on audio. 

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒: All the WI shout-outs. Brandy Old Fashioneds, IL tourists, concerts at Alpine Valley, East Troy. My only gripe is that they would have been drinking Miller not Budweiser :)

3.5 stars. I really did enjoy this book and it was very well-written. A very sweet coming-of-age story. However, I kind of started really disliking the protagonist during her younger years. The other characters in the novel kept telling her how smart she was but rarely did she exhibit any kind of good sense. It wasn't until we meet future Sherri (we get a brief glimpse of her in the beginning) that we see any kind of intelligence.
Sherri Taylor is a small-town girl in Wisconsin. She gets an opportunity to work at a Playboy resort in the area. She quickly becomes the quintessential "Playboy Bunny". Sex, drugs, parties, etc. Sherri abruptly leaves this life behind when tragedy strikes.
Again, a very enjoyable read; I just couldn't sympathize with the main character.

*Thanks to MacMillan and NetGalley for this e-arc.*

I never thought that a book about a Playboy Bunny could be so interesting. What I like about Shoulder Season is that is a nice Summer read - it's about a time when Sherry didn't know what to do with her life and decided to become a Bunny. It was a brief period of her life (a little bit over a Summer), but the experiences she had shaped who she became later on (even if years later some people of her life never even knew she was a Bunny before). Also, I didn't really know the details of the work of a Bunny and I found it interesting to read more about this different universe.

"If you want to know the truth, I'm here because I have nowhere else to go and I don't know what's supposed to happen next. I feel like, you know, the bus stopped."

Sherri Taylor is a small-town girl coming of age in a typical small-town setting. When tragedy strikes and her father dies, followed shortly by her mother, Sherri is so young to decide what to do with her life. Alone and untethered, Sherri joins her friend Roberta to an interview in the nearby Playboy resort. The girls interview as bunnies but only Sherri is taken on. In the controlled atmosphere of the famed resort, Sherri hangs onto the bunnies and the resort as her newfound family and home. She deludes herself into a false sense of contented belonging.

Christina Clancy makes a compelling case for the Playboy Bunnies. Through Sherri's eyes, we explore the microcosm of the Bunnies. With many characters buttressing the narrative, there is always a reaction to elicit towards each. Body image, acceptance, self-love, female relationships, bullying and harassment is at the core of the Bunnies life. The few seasons that Sherrii works as a bunny are the ones that will continue to impact her life forever.

"Life was easier for girls who could smile and giggle and get excited about something as simple as a bike."

I was a huge fan of Clancy's first book The Second Home. But I'm a bit wary when it comes to sophomore novels, mainly because most writers write those novels under the pressure of a two-book deal. The writing comes out as forced and not as neat as their debut. For the most part, that wasn't the case here. As in her first book, Clancy tells more than shows and I don't think that has affected her narrative negatively. She really knew what she was talking about and she knew how to deliver every piece of information without dumping it on you but with a delicate blanket of sensations and imagery (like when she describes East Troy or the housing projects around Lake Beulah or the power dynamics in the resort). I had minor qualms towards the end when everything wrapped up too neatly for my taste. From the very first page, we knew that Sherri had to head back to her old life (you know the trope: small-town kid lives big then for some reason heads back to his/her/their hometown for some unfinished business), but the way things unfolded was too good.

But then, yet again, this is a book about Home, when we are ready to accept it and when it is ready to accept us, and most importantly when do we decide to be finally at home with ourselves and not the image we are trying to project and export for others' approval.

"Home is a place best arrived at on your own terms."

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this enjoyable read.