A special thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Single girl, Alice Weiss, leaves her small Midwestern town for the glitz and glamour of New York City. She lands a job with Cosmopolitan Magazine as the assistant to their bold and sassy new Editor-in-Chief, Helen Gurley Brown.

Editors and writers resigning on the spot. They are refusing to work for such a shocking woman (she wrote the scandalous bestseller Sex and the Single Girl) who dares to talk to women about taboo topics that should be off limits, not headlines on a magazine cover.

Alice's loyalty is tested when she is propositioned to sabotage her new boss. Instead, she remains steadfast and loyal, and becomes even more determined to help Helen succeed in her position at the helm. Alice is learning how to make her own way in New York City and that the modern Cosmopolitan woman can have it all.

When a book is pitched as Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada, you read it!

Rosen's writing was whip-smart and elegant. Alice was the perfect vehicle, not only was she the target audience of the magazine, but she was the perfect match to balance out Gurley Brown's impulsive and flighty whims. Both women have aspirations—Alice wants to be a photographer and Helen wants to make her mark in the male-dominated publishing industry—and Rosen shows how it is possible for women to support one another without sacrificing themselves.

Pour yourself a cosmopolitan and enjoy!

Leeba lived in the Jewish section of Chicago, had an ear for music, and worked in a music store.

Outside the music store Leeba heard Red Dupree playing his guitar and became fascinated with him.  Many musicians played on the streets of Chicago trying to be discovered, but Red was different, and Leeba couldn't stop thinking about him.

WINDY CITY BLUES is set in Chicago during the coming of the Blues Era.

I really have no knowledge of music, but Ms. Rosen's marvelous research definitely got me acquainted with the Blues Era and brought up some names I have heard of.  I enjoyed learning how records were made and how the "sellers" of the records had to hand sell them at the beginning of this era.

​Following the characters through their days and music careers was very entertaining and interesting.  WINDY CITY BLUES was a pleasurable read.​​  

The characters were fun.
    
Leeba's mother was my favorite character because she ​was ​always trying to find a Jewish boy for Leeba.  Leeba was sweet and talented.  Leonard the owner of Chess Records was high energy.

WINDY CITY BLUES is a marvelous read and a treasure for music fans and historical fiction fans.  The multiple love stories also add to the book's interest.​  

WINDY CITY BLUES is a memorable read with characters that will be missed when you turn the last page. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest re​view.

Windy City Blues by Renée Rosen takes us to the birth of the Chicago Blues to during the 1940s through the 1960s . This story follows the history of Chess Records. The premise of the book and the historical background setup for a fascinating story. The book, however, scatters its focus with too many characters and too much name dropping. I keep reading it as an interesting historical narration, but the main characters get a little lost.

Read my complete review at Memories From Books - Windy City Blues

Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.

Once again, I let a pretty cover sucker me in.

This book just didn't work for me on any level. It somewhat reminded me of a chocolate Easter bunny: it looks delicious and filling on the outside, but once you bite into it, you find out it's hollow.

The characterization was flat and relied on cliches and tropes, and the writing went from flat to melodramatic and back again. It never really felt like I was reading a book set in 1920's Prohibition Era Chicago, despite the presence of flappers, gangsters, and bootleggers.

I found the main character to be extremely insufferable. I couldn't bring myself to care about what happened to her or any of the other characters, because I could not connect to any of the characters. The main character made bad choice after bad choice and never really seemed to learn much from her mistakes.

I could go on, but I'm not going to.

She's torn between two lovers, and I'm feeling like a fool for continuing to read this.