The Overnight Socialite Book

3 1/2 to 4 stars - The Overnight Socialite is about Wyatt, a New York blueblood who's realized his reputation as an up and coming biological anthropologist has kind of fizzled out; in large part because he's done little to nothing, other than yearly "research" safaris and socializing, to further his career. Lucy Jo Ellis is a struggling, wannabe designer from Minnesota. Immediately following a break-up, Wyatt and his best friend Trip are discussing the state of Wyatt's life when Wyatt proclaims that, as an anthropological experiment, he could take any regular girl and turn her into a socialite in a matter of months. Enter Lucy Jo, who's just had the most disastrous night of her professional life. Wyatt offers her a chance to become a socialite and help her with her dream of becoming a designer. Thinking he might be proposing something less than gentlemanly, she turns him down. However, after a couple of desperate weeks, Lucy Jo decides she has two options: return to Minnesota or take Wyatt up on his offer. Unbeknownst to her, Wyatt plans on writing a book about her transformation from nobody to It girl.

I occasionally like a good chick lit book, but typically don't read the ones about the fur wearing, champagne swilling, useless rich who think anyone making six figures or less is impoverished and who consider shopping a full-time job. The Overnight Socialite does have all of that, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that, overall, it was a good read. Aside from Wyatt and Lucy, there is a small cast of characters who also have storylines; something I wasn't expecting, but liked, nonetheless. The book jumps around between Lucy, Wyatt and the people they interact with (just a couple pages at a time for the secondary characters). Mostly, though, it's about Wyatt and Lucy and how, during Lucy's transformation, Wyatt learns not to judge people simply on their pedigree, or lack of it, while Lucy finds herself as a designer and becomes more confident in her own abilities. Of course, not everything is smooth sailing thanks to Wyatt's ex, his secret book and Lucy's made up past.

My biggest complaint with this book was the ending. The book itself gets three and half to four stars, the ending gets about two and a half. I think at least one other reviewer mentioned it as well; it seemed like there was a chapter to wrap things up that was missing. The author gave us some idea of how it was going to end, but I would've liked to have seen how it all played out. After all, I'm paying for the book, I don't want to have to finish off the ending in my head. Despite the abrupt ending and some predictability, the book was better than I thought it would be. If you're looking for a good, light, beach read type book, I'd recommend picking up The Overnight Socialite.