Sherri is an older woman reminiscing on her youth. She had a plain up bringing and all of a sudden is staying at the bunny hutch. She is introduced to a life of glamour, intrigue, drama and love. She finds herself in a life changing love triangle. I am all about books that allow me to escape life right now and Shoulder Season helped with that. Love this book, it is one for the ages.

Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley for a chance to enjoy this book.

Great writing, sucks you right in. Loved Sherri, the bunnies, the sense of place.

I've always been interested in the culture surrounding Playboy. How it came into fruition and whatnot. This book examines some of that culture.

Shoulder Season follows a small-town girl named Sherri who becomes a Bunny. Sherri finds herself playing front and center in a love triangle that will bring about life-altering ramifications.

Highly Recommended!

This was a wonderful and intriguing story. In one respect it was a coming of age story about a girl who became a Playboy bunny. I enjoyed the journey and reading of Sherri’s adventures.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my y.

I enjoyed Christina Clancy’s “Second Home,” so looked forward to a chance to read her second novel, “Shoulder Season.”

I began reading the novel without even reviewing the synopsis, and had I known the story’s focus was on a Playboy bunny, I might have hesitated. Yet, once I was introduced to Sherri and understood her loneliness, I could not put this book down. From a small down in Wisconsin, Sherri loses her family and as a result, seeks to find her place in the world, which turns out to be as a “Playboy bunny” at nearby resort located in Lake Geneva.

I found the process of learning to become a bunny as well as the camaraderie Sherri develops with the other bunnies intriguing. Like all us, Sherri struggles to find out who she is; while the setting is new, the threads behind it are not.

Sherri’s character pulls you in and does not let you go until the novel’s final page. She does not always make the right choices and parts of the novel do drag on, especially as you dive into the Playboy culture (which explains my rating), but overall, this is a gripping coming of age story. Do not expect to always like Sherri or even agree with her actions, but you’ll still want to see how her plight will be resolved. I will continue reading Christina Clancy’s books because of innovative stories like this.

Three and a half stars

Thank you to Net Galley, Christina Clancy and St. Martin's for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Shoulder Season by Christina Clancy is a look at one girl's life as a Playboy Bunny and what happened after she left the hutch.

Sherri is at loose ends when her friend Roberta mentions she has an interview to be a bunny at the Playboy resort, so Sherri tags along and is hired. She navigates life as a bunny with all its ups and downs, the men, the drinks and the drugs until she no longer is wanted there. From there life is not what she expected and the novel follows her decisions, good and bad to her late life.

I had a hard time feeling empathy for Sherri, I felt she created a lot of her own issues. The author was very descriptive in her narrative and you could see the scenery clearly, putting you right in place with the characters. However, many times I didn't want to be with them. I struggled through much of this.

I was actually very surprised how much I enjoyed this book! I have read the previous book written by this author and think she is a great storyteller. The subject of this book is not something that I ever wondered about, or actually had an interest in discovering information about it. I was hesitant to read this book because of that. I am so glad that I did!

The story does focus quite a bit on being a Bunny in a Playboy club in the 1980’s, but it is so much more than that. It is the story of a young woman, after her mother’s death. Sherri had taken care of her mother for many years in failing health, her father had previously died years prior, and for the first time in her life, the world is open to her to make her own decisions. She wants to create a new personality for herself and leave the old one behind in the small town where she grew up. This is an amazing story that drew me in from the very beginning and kept my interest throughout. It was definitely a page-turner for me.

A book cover is important to me and I love this one! It definitely goes with the story perfectly!

While I disagreed with so many decisions that Sherri made, that is what made the story so intriguing to me. I think the author did an amazing job creating the characters. The book is written so well; I felt at times, that I was reading a true story. Everything was believable to me! I look forward to more books in the future by Christina Clancy.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read the advance reader copy, with no obligation to write a review. My review is written freely as a hobby, and is totally my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

This books is ultimately about the decisions that we make based on our perspectives and how they can alter the path our lives take.

I initially really enjoyed the premise, but towards the middle got a bit annoyed with Sherri and her immature behavior. However, I also get that it was probably the path that her character needed to take. This was probably 3.5 stars, rounded up due to Roberta's character.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to officially welcome Christina Clancy to my auto-buy authors club. This very exclusive club has only a handful of members and I know she will fit right in. It’s hard to know where to start when writing down your thoughts on a historical fiction novel that centres around a Playboy Bunny resort. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I read the synopsis but after the first couple of chapters it was clear that this wasn’t going to be the type of trashy scandalous story you might associate with Playboy. Some of the characters in the book even read the magazine for the articles!

Shoulder Season centres around Sherri, a young woman from a small town in Wisconsin. Sherri is a lot of things but likable is not one of them. Anyone who is themselves from a small town can probably relate to the way Sherri conducts herself when she finally steps out on her own after taking care of her mom. You can probably chalk everything she does up to her being naive and impressionable. But deep down in her core Sherri is your typical basic bitch mean girl. She is completely self involved and at no point in the book was she ever truly there for her friends. Friends who were always stepping up to lend her a hand. If I had to pick one character that took the lions share of crap from Sherri, I would have to say it was her childhood friend Roberta. We don’t get to read a lot about Roberta which is a shame because compared to Sherri she is by far the more interesting. Near the end of the book it felt like attempts were made to have Sherri act grown up and mature but for me she was an anti-shero until the very end. Please don’t let my dislike for Sherri prevent you from reading this book because it’s brimming with other characters that make up for all of Sherri’s flaws.

Christina Clancy’s books are very character driven but she still manages to create warm, inviting, vintage atmospheres that pull me into the story. Her writing is begging to be made into a limited series (a movie wouldn’t do it justice). When I finished the book I wondered what took Christina so long to get her books published. I wish her career had started earlier so I had more of her books to enjoy. Any fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Steven Rowley will no doubt love Shoulder Season and The Second Home.

To quote Bon Jovi's song, "Who says you can't go home?" Sherri Taylor just wants to get out of East Troy and she'll do anything to get out and leave her home and memories to find a better life. From becoming a Playboy Bunny to moving to California she keeps getting "called" back home. This book is a feel good book with rich characters. I'm a new fan of Christina Clancy. Thanks for a GREAT book!

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

After the death of her parents, Sherri decides to take charge of her life and interview for a job at a nearby Playboy Resort as a Bunny. When she is given the job, Sherri takes on the role and begins to live the life of a Bunny even though it does against who Sherri was previously. I throuroughly enjoyed this historical fiction novel .

Should Season is a difficult read because our main character is so unlikable. At the 60% mark she is still so selfish and self-involved that I simply stopped caring about her or wanting to finish the read at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC an honest. review.

I was a big fan of Clancy’s debut novel THE SECOND HOME and her sophomore novel did not disappoint.

After losing her parents, Sherri Taylor makes a very out of character decision to become a bunny at The Playboy Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Young and impressionable, Sherri is pulled into a world that is far outside her comfort zone and is forced to make decisions and choices that have lasting ripple effects.

SHOULDER SEASON is ultimately a coming of age story about a young woman trying to learn how to love herself without needing the approval and acceptance of anyone else.

It is clear the author did a lot of research into the lives of the bunnies and I appreciated all of the details. It was also interesting to get the juxtaposition of the small town, mid-West mentality and the glitz and glam of the Playboy empire in the 80s.

SHOULDER SEASON features a large cast of supporting characters so there is always someone to love and someone to hate. With crisp writing and great pacing, Clancy pulls you so fully into a scene that it’s easy to imagine you are there with the characters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance reading copy.

I really enjoyed this book way more than I expected. I chose it because I was in the mood for something different than my usual read, and something not depressing in this time of coronavirus. Well, i got what I hoped for.

The writing was excellent and I felt transported into the story. I loved learning how the original Playboy Bunnies were trained, and what their job was. I was fascinated. I loved the story and how it evolved. I loved seeing how this shy, small town girl was able to grow.

However, weirdly enough, although I loved her story, I didnt love her. I thought the main character was a selfish and uncaring. I think it was part of the story to show how she was sucked into this new world, but I never could relate to her, or like her.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the advance copy, which did not impact my review, I loved escaping into this new world.

#shoulderseason #christinaclancy #netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview When we start this book we meet Sheri. She’s an older woman whose been called home to small town in Wisconsin. We then explore a year with Sheri that defined her life. After her mother passes she isn’t sure about life. Her best friend has an interview to be a Bunny and has Sheri come with her to also get a job. We take a wild ride through life to see what defines this character and makes her who she is. Everything isn’t always as it seems. #bookstagram #bookaddict #booklover #bookstagrammer #booksbooksbooks📚

I am literally just going to get into it. And ripping a new one is going to be incredibly topical for this review.

Let me first start by saying, coming of age stories are cool in my book. Historical fiction is amazing in my book. Learning about Playboy Bunny culture is so fucking cool in my book. Yet, I found this story to quickly fall and tumble at the hands of a shitty, terrible, no good, rotten ass “protagonist”. Yes, I went there. I can’t even really call Sherri a “protagonist” without disdain because the prefix pro- indicates movement, advancement, and forward momentum. And Sherri simply showed none of those qualities. In fact, she completely did a 180 with little to no redemption until she was a grown ass, old woman. Okay, cool….

Let’s discuss the monster that is Sherri. She is initially presented as this young woman who has had a heavy load placed on her shoulders. First chapters or so, she wasn’t so bad. You could feel for her and the situation she was in. But she quickly shows what I can only assume are her true colors. That was pretty much one of the last times I liked Sherri. From there, it kind of snowballs out of control. As does my patience and understanding with her.

So why do I hate this woman so passionately?

1. She isn’t smart. I don’t know why Clancy would continuously tell us Sherri was intelligent when she did literally little to nothing to prove Sherri’s intelligence. I can think of one single instance when Sherri indicated any sort of cerebral life in that dome of hers. Just saying, J.K. Rowling didn’t have to continuously tell us how smart Hermione was. It was evident in the characters actions. Clancy needs to spend a little time working that out. Or stop fucking saying it. It is okay to be an idiot. I’d also like to express that we aren’t talking stupid like I didn’t like her. I am legitimately claiming that her intelligence level was not even average. Reading her thoughts and understanding on things in this book is like mind boggling.
2. Sherri is immature, which doesn’t make a poor character. But she literally can’t even say the word condom out loud because that is embarrassing. Honey, if you can’t say condom out loud, you aren’t mature enough to be having sex. Furthermore, she bangs a guy and suddenly thinks they are something. And goes on and on about it even claiming he is her boyfriend. I don’t care how young or naïve you are. It was delusional at best. A “smart individual” would not have carried on like she did. I still read YA and enjoy it. So this isn’t a preference thing. This was a whole other level of infuriating immature ignorance.
3. Sherri is also a judgmental little bitch. This whole story she is passing judgement on Carmen for stripping to support a brother who was physically hurt. Sherri you accepted a prostitute position basically for no monetary value. Just the hopes of a cool gift. Are you fucking joking me right now? You’ve fucked for less than Carmen shows her titties for. It was hard to swallow the absurd “I’m better than you” attitude from Sherri. And she keeps this mantra through out the book like she doesn’t wear a skimpy/basically stripper outfit for a living too.
4. Sherri is a shitty person to those she loves. <spoiler> I don’t care what anyone told Sherri years later that bitch killed Aaron. You don’t invite people to a party at a house that isn’t yours especially when you haven’t seen this man for months. Who the fuck do you think you are? She pushed him so her dumbass friends would be impressed. Also, fuck Christina Clancy for making Aaron seem like the bad guy in the end. Sherri was shitty little bitch, she deserved no reprieve. That actually also infuriated me because it was totally unnecessary in my opinion. </spoiler>
5. There really is no redemption or glow up. Sherri does her shitty routine and all of sudden its decades later and I have to take Clancy’s word that she isn’t a shitty bitch anymore. And I already don’t trust Clancy because she keeps telling me how smart Sherri is and yet she isn’t at all. So cool follow-up, but I ain’t buying it.

Overall, I thought this was a god awful story. Usually, I am not so aggressive with books and reviewing the bad. But this was a punishment to finish reading. I will not be suggesting anyone check this out. There are many coming of age stories out there that do the theme much more justice. I would love to try another story surrounding the Bunny culture and lifestyle though. That was probably the best part of this story.

Also, I think Clancy wrote about the wrong character. Sherri was weak and stupid. Roberta wasn’t. I think this review would have been entirely different if we saw Roberta take over the Playboy Bunny culture and lifestyle.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the read. St. Martin’s Press don’t be angry with me and please keep approving my NetGalley requests.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Shoulder Season.

I was intrigued by the premise so I was excited when my request was approved.

Sherri Taylor is from a small town and has spent most of her life caring for her sick mother. When she passes, Sherri desperately wants to leave her provincial hometown and do something with her life. Live it.

When she is offered a fantastic opportunity to become a Playboy Bunny, she jumps at the chance. But her dreams of being independent and free comes at a cost when her superficial ways derail her path in life and force her to regain control, but not without suffering a devastating personal loss.

In the beginning, I sympathized and related to Sherri's hopes and dreams for a bigger, more interesting life. There's nothing wrong with wanting more out of life, but as the narrative progressed, it began to read like those 80s movies my sister and I enjoyed watching when we were young.

You know the plot; a naive country girl comes to the big city with dreams of stardom and becoming a model but ends up in the porn business and/or becoming a sex worker. She ends up as a drug addict, and if she's lucky, not dead by 30.

I quickly lost sympathy for Sherri as her self respect and dignity eroded and her partying and selfish ways wrecked her life, and ruined personal and professional relationships before she hit rock bottom.

I understand Shoulder Season is a coming of age story, except I didn't like Sherri and I felt the narrative went on too long. It became tedious, the parties, Sherri's repetitive utterances that she wanted to be loved and desired, her dalliances with Mitch and Arthur, followed by more parties.

What I did find fascinating was the culture of the Playboy Bunnies; their routines, rules and hierarchy. That was so interesting! The fact that the resorts were touted as 'family friendly' was so bizarre I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Shoulder Season offered insight behind the Playboy Bunnies when Playboy was at the height of its power and fame, but as a coming-of-age story, I wasn't as interested as I hoped I would be.

I hoped for a nice escape with this book, a way to transport away from current events into something 'glamorous' and alluring. This book swerved and surpassed my expectations. It has that 'can't out it down' vibe, but I found myself wanting to take a breath with it, absorb some more of it. This may be timed as a beach read, but I found it to have the perfect amount of sun-kissed freedom and thoughts about identity and connection in this start of fall. I can definitely see myself reading this again for some new views and some more delight in Clancy's stellar wordcrafting.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is not normally the type of genre in books that I read but honestly I was very impressed with the writing and the plot. The main character really pulls you into the story and you feel as if you know her! I would definitely read another book by Christina Clancy, she did a fantastic job!