Nookietown by V.C. Chickering

• Title:  Nookietown: A Novel
• Author:  V.C. Chickering
• Genre:  Women’s Fiction
• Pages:  368
• Pub. Date:  February 23, 2016 – St. Martin’s Griffin
• Source:  Publisher

My take:  When 40-something, divorced, mom-of-one Lucy meets with a group of friends for their regular dinner out she finds that she’s not the only one frustrated with her (lack of) sex life. The women come up with a possible plan that eventually is put into practice.

I’m not going to reveal any more of the plot. Check out Goodreads for more information. At first I thought it was ridiculous (in this age of STDs, etc) and was ready to DNF but I decided to keep going because I’d agreed to feature it here on the blog. Honestly, Chickering’s writing is engaging and her characters’ actions had me equally cringing and laughing. Issues addressed include friendship, married/divorced sex, desire, infidelity – just to list a few.

Nookietown has been optioned for television and I could envision it playing out on-screen. That said, it would have to be on cable unless it goes through extreme editing. There are explicit scenes. There are also some deeply emotional scenes that would make for great book club discussion if members felt comfortable discussing very personal details.

I’m glad I finished reading the book and would read more from Chickering. I’ll be interested in what she comes up with next. Recommended to fans of entertaining and steamy beach reads.

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About the author:  V.C. Chickering has written for Comedy Central, MTV, Lifetime, TLC, Discovery, NickMom and Oxygen television networks as well as for BUST, Cosmo, and The Washington Post magazines. She’s written screenplays; has a local newspaper column entitled Pith Monger; and random other gigs, which can be found on vcchickering.com

She lives in New Jersey with her family where she also writes and performs witty, original songs for the alt-bluegrass/indi-jazz band, Tori Erstwhile & The Montys. This is her first novel.