Florida Girls

Loved this book! The characters and story line were enchanting and intriguing, and it kept me hooked throughout. Transported to a world of gangsters, showgirls and the end of war, I was swept up in the story!

This was a sharp novel with characters that were quick thinking, humorous. There was plenty of clever dialogue in this fast paced book to keep you entertained. A good book, I would definitely recommend. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Florida Girls has everything but an alien invasion. Kirchner gives us bathing beauties, warring mobsters, intricate family connections, a phenomenally successful snake oil salesman, and a plot that keeps you guessing. For added spice, we have a young woman dying from a botched abortion, several murders, an inept OSS agent trying to impress his superiors, and gambling havens in Cuba.
Set in sunny Florida during World War II, the snake oil salesman, who could “…sell sawdust to a sawmill” hits on a plan to promote the city of St. Petersburg. His plan: a nationwide war bonds tour by his Florida Girls, twelve beautiful young women in swimsuits. Of course, he plans to profit from the tour and whatever tourists he draws to St. Pete. He and his wife and partner, Kathleen, also hope to use the tour to get out of debt to the head of the local mafia don. Only to find out that their son is more deeply in debt to the mafioso than his parents.
The Florida Girls are mostly drawn from the powerful families of St. Petersburg, ensuring financial support for the tour, but two, Thelma and Peggy, have far less impressive pedigrees. After a huge send-off, well supported by the first families—and the mobster—the tour rolls out of town in an aging Crosley bus equipped with stacks of gasoline ration cards supplied by an unknown benefactor. Since the impresario is taken ill, Kathleen takes over the road management of the tour.
As complications build during the tour, Thelma emerges as a powerful managing force. As she says, “…I can’t dance or sing well, but I can get things done.” Between stops at Army bases and theaters, Thelma and Kathleen vie for control of the group.
The mob is never far from the tour pressuring both Kathleen for her debts and Thelma to join the gambling program planned for the nascent Las Vegas. Although the mob has declared a truce during the war—no killing, but assault is allowable—mobsters keep getting shot to death.
An incapacitated Don, a deserter, affairs, and a purse with a .38 in it, round out the story. I needed to hustle to keep up, but I loved it.