Review: Girl Meets Class by Karin Gillespie

Girl Meets Class
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: Henery Press (September 8, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1941962855
E-Book ASIN: B00ZD1VIXO

Synopsis:
The unspooling of Toni Lee Wells’ Tiffany and Wild Turkey lifestyle begins with a trip to the Luckett County Jail drunk tank. An earlier wrist injury sidelined her pro tennis career, and now she’s trading her tennis whites for wild nights roaming the streets of Rose Hill, Georgia.

Her wealthy family finally gets fed up with her shenanigans. They cut off her monthly allowance but also make her a sweetheart deal: Get a job, keep it for a year, and you’ll receive an early inheritance. Act the fool or get fired, and you’ll lose it for good.

Toni Lee signs up for a fast-track Teacher Corps program. She hopes for an easy teaching gig, but what she gets is an assignment to Harriet Hall, a high school that churns out more thugs than scholars.

What’s a spoiled Southern belle to do when confronted with a bunch of street smart students who are determined to make her life as difficult as possible? Luckily, Carl, a handsome colleague, is willing to help her negotiate the rough teaching waters and keep her bed warm at night. But when Toni Lee gets involved with some dark dealings in the school system, she fears she might lose her new beau as well as her inheritance.

My Review:

As soon as I started reading this one, I could not put it down. Strong plot, a funny and realistic heroine, a lovable setting make this book a wonderful reading.
Toni Lee has dedicated her adolescence to tennis, has trained hard, has made so many sacrifices but a wrist injury has struck down what looked like a promising career. She lost her mother when she was very little. She grew up in luxury, she had everything she wanted materially but had very little affection and a father and an aunt little present: she taken by her work and he unable to react his pain. Now she doesn't know what to do with her life. When one evening she is arrested drunk, her aunt decides to intervene. She cuts all her financial aid but provides her a very convenient way out: if Toni can keep a job for a year will have her inheritance (well five million ...) but if she fails will lose all her money forever. The work that she finds will be very difficult to maintain but will help her a lot to grow and to become a better person.
I really like the evolution of Toni Lee. In the first pages she seems only a spoiled and bored rich girl, later instead proves to be a headstrong and generous girl, and learn what is really important in life.
This is an amazing and funny story that is very well written with a great pace, I like the style of this author, it is so easy to read and humorous.
It is the fourth in this series but really does work well as a standalone - I hadn't read the earlier books and still thoroughly enjoyed this one.
I received an advanced reader copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author –

Karin Gillespie is national bestselling author of five novels and a humor columnist for Augusta Magazine. Her nonfiction writing had been in the New York Times, The Writer Magazine and Romantic Times. She maintains a website and blog at Karingillespie.net. Sign up for her newsletter on her website, follow her on Twitter or connect with her on Facebook.

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