Book Review and Giveaway: Shoulder Season

By Sara Steven

The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she’s ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history. In the winter of 1981, in a costume two sizes too small, her toes pinched by towering stilettos, Sherri joins the daughters of dairy farmers and factory workers for the defining experience of her life.

Living in the “bunny hutch”—Playboy’s version of a college dorm, surrounded by a twelve-foot high barbed-wire fence (to keep the men out, and the girls in)—Sherri gets her education in the joys of sisterhood, the thrill of financial independence, the magic of first love, and the heady effects of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But as spring gives way to summer, Sherri finds herself caught up in a romantic triangle––and the tragedy that ensues will haunt her for the next forty years of her life.

Shoulder Season follows Sherri from her fledgling days as a bunny, when she tries to reinvent herself before she even knows who she is, to the woman she becomes years later. From the Midwestern prairie to the California desert, from Wisconsin lakes to the Pacific Ocean, this is a story of what happens when small town life is sprinkled with stardust, and what we lose—and gain—when we leave home. It’s about the brief but intoxicating experiences of our youth, and how they have the power to shape the rest of our lives. With a heroine to root for and a narrative to get lost in, Shoulder Season is a sexy, evocative tale, drenched in longing and desire, that captures a fleeting moment in American history with nostalgia and heart. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)

Shoulder Season made a big impression on me. So much so, that I felt the need to have a conversation with my husband about the book, and Sherri’s story. Not knowing much about Playboy’s background, when I told him how the story takes place at a Playboy resort in Wisconsin, I relayed the information not knowing that the resort actually existed, once upon a time. His family used to take trips to the Lake Geneva area, and he remembers seeing the signage for the resort. I love that real-life events and places played such a huge role in this book!

Fictional character or not, Sherri’s recollection of what it’s like to be a Playboy bunny, and live within the “bunny hutch,” was told with such precise precision. I walked a mile within her towering stilettos, and when she describes the famous “bunny dip,” I felt equal parts elation over learning the innermost secrets of what went on behind coveted closed doors, as well as torment when it comes to perfecting the art of being someone else, of inventing a caricature that only drove a wedge between who Sherri used to be, and who she is when she wears the famous bunny suit.

There was a lot of character evolution for Sherri; the innocence of youth, the eye-opening awareness that could only come from the type of job she’s involved in, and the hard-knock life lessons that were cruel and heartbreaking at times. But I wanted to see her endure, to get past it. To keep going right alongside her, so I could discover where she would end up, and what all of it meant, if it meant anything at all. Shoulder Season was definitely an experience I won’t ever forget, a worthy five-star read!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They also have one copy for a lucky reader!

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Giveaway ends August 1st at midnight EST.

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