The California Club

This is a perfect holiday read, or an excellent substitute if you can't manage a trip abroad this summer. In it Brighton-based interior designer Lara and her closest friends Zoe, Sasha and Elliot go on a visit to California to see their old friend Helen. When Helen greets them at the airport they hardly recognize her. Gone is the conservatively dressed, highly organized business manager, replaced by a surfing pastry chef who glows with happiness. Helen claims she owes her transformation to the secretive California Club, and offers her friends the chance to join and have their secret desires come true. Is this the opportunity they have all been waiting for? Can Lara finally make Elliot realize that they are really meant for each other? Will ex-model Sasha snap out of her depression and find a new lease on life now that she has left the hated catwalk? Can Zoe overcome her empty dreams of fame for fame's sake and learn to appreciate her true worth? Will Elliot put down all his distracting gadgets long enough to really think about what he wants from life? The tasks that the California Club sets them are certainly a shock to the system for all of them. But will they find what they are looking for? The narrative takes off at a brisk pace and never lets up. It is sunny and funny, as the characters wade through completely implausible circumstances and scenes that are like gags from a Laurel and Hardy movie. This is a novel that deserves to be labelled as escapism. However, author Belinda Jones also creates a heavier undercurrent, and despite all the flippancy and froth deals with real emotions. The novel has a good-hearted centre which shines through all the girly glitter and sparkly bits, and makes it a very satisfactory read. (Kirkus UK)