James Marie York: Tuesday Author Spotlight

This book was out of my normal realm of paranormal and sci-fi, but it was enjoyable none the less.

From the author "As a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get.

Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that was not meant to be."

This story explores the wonderful age of the 70's, when women were still working on coming into their own and how one woman could move forward after heartbreak and divorce. The obstacles that women still faced were there as well as new opportunities and the competitiveness of the time for all women to show that they could make it on their own. The main character, Dana, walks the fine line of making her mark in business and her personal life - which is something so many women, even in todays world, can relate to.

The characters do a fantastic job of pulling you into this era and making you like them, even with their faults. They were well developed and came alive to perfectly represented the era they were set in. I really enjoyed watching them evolve through-out the book and can easily see them rolling over to yet another book that continues with the life of Dana.

If you are looking for an easy read that is enjoyable and "real", then you should pick up this book. It is well written and well developed will not disappoint.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Steward, a veteran of the New York fashion industry and a buyer on the team that started the women’s department at Brooks Brothers, created the Dana McGarry series, set at a transformational time in the 1970s world of fashion and in the lives of multigenerational women.

What Might Have Been is the second volume in the series. A Very Good Life, Steward’s debut novel, was published in March 2014.