I simultaneously read this book while listening to it. The narrator was great and kept my attention.

What a fun, fast paced read! Historical fiction is usually not my cup of tea, but this one was brilliant. Christina Clancy is two for two!

SHOULDER SEASON was a definite cover sell to me - I know historical fiction often features women's backs, but there's just something about the bare shoulder, putting-my-hair-up pose that drew me in. I also think a Playboy Resort is an interesting setting.

About a fifth of the way into the book though, I felt a mismatch between what the book is and what I wanted it to be. The main character is a naive and sheltered teen, which felt odd for an orphan/someone who's been a primary caregiver. I guess it's because she had little experience with people her own age, but to me kept feeling like the book took place decades prior to its actual 1980s setting. The focus also felt like it was on that character's journey, and the Playboy Resort setting was incidental. I might give this one another try as a beach read, but DNF at 20% for now.

Narrator Karissa Vacker's performance is great as usual (you might recognize her voice from All Good People Here, The Golden Couple, or A Flicker in the Dark).

I think this book might be a good fit for historical fiction fans looking for non-war settings and those who love teenage coming of age stories.

A charming tale that will take you back in time to the days of Playboy Bunnies of yore — with a twist. The Midwest of it all was familiar to me, I love a setting I can relate to, and the coming of age in a time and place that seems to want to hold you back with all its might, well. It adds to the heartwrenching facade of glamour this book possesses!

I had high hopes for this book, playboy bunnies and all that jazz, but sadly I just was not able to get into and fall in love. The main character annoyed me and when you don't like the lead in a story it is hard to fall in love and enjoy the tale.

I’m not sure what took me so long to start this book, but I really did enjoy it. This is a very character driven book that I found fascinating.

In the 1980s, the Playboy clubs were a sign of elegance and sophistication. Bunny Sherri, like many of the other girls, was from a small town in Wisconsin and wanted nothing more than freedom after caring for her ailing mother. She worked her way through the club ranks until her party lifestyle catches up with her.

The bulk of the story happens over just one summer…but so much happens. In this book you will find love, friendship, loss, and forgiveness.

The audiobook was a great way to consume this book. The Narrator was fantastic.

4 Stars

I go back and forth with this book. While I do think it was well researched, and it told an honest story to match the time period, I just didn't connect with the characters, nor did I agree with a lot of their choices. These factors made this a difficult read for me, but ultimately I'm glad I finished.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I loved The Second Home by Christina Clancy, so I was looking forward to Shoulder Season. This book is a bit of a Bildungsroman about a girl who, in the aftermath of loss, changes her life in working at the Playboy resort. While I didn't love the character development of Sherri 100%, I did appreciate the mood and atmosphere crafted by Clancy.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and narrator, and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

I listened to this one on a long road trip: I loved the beginning, but then it bored me with the predictability of the tale.

I enjoyed this book. The Playboy Bunnies always fascinated me; they seem so glamorous.

Set in the early 80's young Sherri has just lost her mother leaving her to take care of herself. Her father had passed years earlier. A friend of her talks her into going for an interview as a Playboy Bunny. She can't see herself as one, she's not pretty, she's not interesting. Or at least that's what she thinks. Till she lands the job! Her who life changes.

I enjoyed this book, even as historical fiction you know there is truth in there somewhere.

I did this as an audiobook, the narrator kept you entertained and told the story wonderfully.

I just couldn't get through this one. I tried to read the eBook and listen to it, but I couldn't get more than halfway. I think for me it was the pace of the story rather than the plot. The actual storyline was intriguing.

It took me a long time to pick this one up but once I did, I really enjoyed it! The story flowed really well and I kept thinking about the characters when I wasn’t listening to it. I’m not sure if I would have loved it as much as I did on paper but the narration of the audiobook was excellent and made it so much more enjoyable. I’d say this is a character driven book but I found the story very fascinating.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the idea behind the shoulder season. It's a coming of age story of a woman whose never seen outside of her small town being thrown into the world of alcohol, drugs and men with money. The story follows a timeline of a summer but a lot happens to Sherri in that one summer. I was able to enjoy it in pieces though. I found it a bit slow when I would just try to listen to it in one sitting. When I broke it up over multiple days I really found the story interesting. It's a historical fiction with a contemporary feel in my opinion without really any humor. It felt like I was experiencing someone's life story as they were telling me memories of that time.

Narration review
This story is told really well through this narrator. I feel like I may have been more likely to give up on this story if I had read it versus the amount I was actually able to enjoy it as an audiobook. The narration really brought it to life for me and I highly recommend it in this format.

I loved this audiobook. The story felt unique and original while still fulfilling my desire for a historical fiction novel combined with women's fiction and a few surprises. The narrator was fantastic. Highly recommend! Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this audiobook.

This story revolves around Sherri, an ordinary girl who decides to audition to be a playboy bunny at the Playboy Resort in Wisconsin.

I was expecting a fun, light read, but instead, I was a jumble of nerves as I watched Sherri lose herself and then figure out who she really is.

When Sherri hit rock bottom, I called Jackie asking if it would all turn out ok. It does but in a real-life kind of way.

{Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my gifted review copy. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.}

Shoulder Season is the second book I have read by author Christina Clancy. The Second Home sold me on her writing style and I was excited by the premise of her newest release. I love a novel that takes you into a very specific time and place, especially one that you didn't anticipate...like the Playboy Resort in small town Wisconsin.

Main character, Sherri, is not your typical Bunny, and this storyline empcompasses so much more than you might first expect. Shoulder Season is a coming of age story (one of my favorite fiction sub-genres!) mixed with the a behind the scenes look at this risqué resort , and of course the required sex, drugs and rock and roll of the time period.

Sherri's naiveté definitely shows at time but she also became quite endearing to me as she matured and grew into the woman she is today. I really enjoyed that this story took us through a 40 year time period, and Clancy's detailed and fluid writing style made me almost feel like I was along for the ride as well.

I alternated reading and listening to this novel on audio and highly recommend it on the audiobook format. The narration and pacing for this character driven novel was wonderfully done.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my gifted review copy.

It's 1981 (yay 80s) and 19 year old Sherri has lost every thing, and finds herself working at The Playboy Resort in small town Wisconsin. Innocent Sherri is exposed to sex and drugs, and a little Rock and Roll. Sherri loses her way for a while, making some terrible decisions along the way which had me yelling at her and shaking my head.

The book starts and ends in 2019, and I thought the author did a great job filling in the nearly 40 year gap, hitting the high points, but giving enough detail that I felt I wasn't missing out.

This book is excellent, I truly felt transported to the time period. It actually reads like a biography and I can't quite believe these people don't exist.

I was lucky enough to read and listen to the audiobook, and the audio was so well done.

“What have you got to lose?“

Christina Clancy’s Shoulder Season is the tale of how one young, morally adrift young woman overcomes tragedy and evolves into a mature, successful woman. Shoulder Season opens in 2019 with Sherri, a special events manager at the Palm Springs Art Museum who lives an organized life “with everything she’s ever wanted.” At almost 60, she’s beautifully, tastefully dressed, her make-up is “perfect” and her nails “gleam.” To Sherri, it’s a perfect life, a life she’s worked hard to achieve, with weekly dates with friends for pinochle, golf and tennis. There’s a boyfriend too, an affluent widower. Looking at Sherri, who knows just how to smooth over egos and deftly handle wrinkles in events, you would never guess that almost forty years earlier, Sherri began her career as a playboy bunny. An email from her hometown of Troy, Wisconsin, calls her back to make a visit, and the novel slides back into the past.

Sherri, the child of a quiet watchmaker who died years before, nurses her mother through a long terminal illness. And at 18, Sherri is at loose ends in the small town of Troy, when her bolder friend, Roberta, suggests that they try out as playboy bunnies at the fairly new Lake Geneva resort. A very nervous Sherri applies, and while she needs persuading to try out for the job, Sherri is surprised to find that she really does want the job. Sherri, who’s desperate for change, gets the job while Roberta does not. Many of the bunnies live in the dorm, the work is hard, and the rules are strict, but that doesn’t stop most of the bunnies from partying hard, and Sherri joins in. She becomes the life of the party, dancing on bars, drinking heavily, experimenting with drugs, and experimenting with sex. It’s a giddying world in a way: men want to have sex with Sherri but they never see beyond the trophy aspect. And Sherri, who’s a virgin when she becomes a bunny, has no moral compass to guide her through the temptations she faces.


Sherri accepted every invitation to go out–it didn’t matter how tired she was after her shift, Now she had a reputation to manage, a persona to craft that would be different from the one she was saddled with in high school. She wanted to be not just fun but reliably fun. She was the first to shoot back a shot of Rumple Minze or Jim Beam, and the last person to step down from dancing on the bar until closing time.

As Sherri becomes swept up in being a Bunny, she forgets who she was before she put those fluffy ears on her head, but it’s easy to understand, after years of nursing her mother, why Sherri wants to become another person and lose herself in this new “tribe.” Unfortunately, Sherri is naïve and she’s also susceptible to pressure from the other bunnies. This leads to trouble, but even more it leads to tragedy.

Shoulder Season takes us on the entertaining journey that is Sherri’s life, and along the way she meets many people she’ll never forget and someone who surprises her with his kindness. People who need to ‘find themselves’ are often troubled and trouble; this is true of Sherri. Living in a world full of temptations, she makes a lot of mistakes–mostly with men. Too much too soon. As a reader, I frequently became annoyed with Sherri, and I had to remind myself she was only 19 and adrift in the world. Lots of teenagers go astray, but the Bunny aspect adds dimension to the book (as well as a lot more problems for Sherri). Many of the locals are appalled at Sherri’s decision to become a bunny, but Sherri defends her choices even though she has yet to grasp the far-reaching consequences. She doesn’t see the job as having a short shelf life or a dead end and there’s the shimmering mention of Hugh Hefner who might swoop in, or the magazines who might court bunnies for soft porn spreads.

“Stand there, against the wall, so your knees and ankles touch.” Gloria said without looking up. Gloria got up and shut the door so it was just the two of them in the room. She bent down and inspected Sherri’s kegs; Sherri realized that she was counting to see if she could see three triangles of light shining between her feet and ankles, between her ankles and knees, and between her thighs.

I listened to the audible version which was read by Karissa Vacker. The reader’s voice and style were perfect for this book.

review copy

I really couldn’t stand this book. The pacing was insane. The flashbacks and pointless scenes at the resort dragged on and on, while the actual character and relationship development scenes are unbelievably fast-moving. The twists make everything feel more pointless. There are triggering scenes involving body shaming and SA that could be used to actually say something, and vague statements are made, but it never goes further than that. The Playboy concept honestly feels like bait and doesn’t have much to do with what the characters actually go through and learn. It all boiled down to essentially propaganda for small town life.

I didn't know quite what to expect from this one - my first experience with this author, but it looked like a summery read (well, in my case listen since I have this on audio) and the setting being mainly in Wisconsin really appealed to me. Sherri, narrator and main character, grew up in Easy Troy (where they have a lovely bookstore that I toured last year for Indie Bookstore Day). Orphaned at 18 in the early 1980s, Sherri feels completely alone. While never popular, her closest and really only friend, urges her to join her at a job interview at the nearby Playboy resort at Lake Geneva.

It's an interesting look at the problems and issues facing the bunnies during this time period. And it's a story that deeply looks at her eight months there, but also spans the decades afterwards. As expected, there's sex, romance, drugs and even a few cameos from famous faces - including Gregg Allman. This is a summery listen that is well-performed. I always looked forward to listening to it and while I didn't always agree with Sherri's choices - or her actions - it was still hard not to root for her.

The storyline holds some surprises - and plenty to talk about. I knew absolutely nothing about this Playboy resort so close to my own home (only to later find out that one of my friends' grandfather was a key holder!). And I also liked that the author included a shout-out to the bookstore that really exists in downtown East Troy, InkLink Books. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but I think that's probably because I just wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to Sherri. I may not have always liked her, but she definitely came fully to life. I think that this would be a great discussion starter for sure - plus the time period and setting really added to the fun!