A unique story told in first person that certainly will keep you as busy trying to figure out the mystery as the main character. The one hang up is that the main character is presented as ADHD which means that her thoughts are continuously changing a jumping from one thing to the next. This at times means a repeat of thought over and over which can seem a little over kill at times and drag the story down a little. It can also be a little overwhelming for a person not used to dealing with people like this. Unfortunate for the main character this also may lead the reader to believe that the main character is not a solid character.

I found the over all story to be delightfully cute and interesting. I had never really thought about what it must have been like to be a phone operator in this era - or how strange it would be to hear snippits of conversations all day long. Nor had I ever contemplated the strangeness of having to connect all those calls to the correct number or person. As always SIri Mitchell does an excellent job of exploring the historical context of her books and helping the reader to feel as if they have been transported back in time.

I truly enjoyed unraveling mystery of a menacing call centered around the man that Ellis loves. Ellis is a sweet and likeable main character with flighty personality and sweet heart. The reader can not help but feel a little sorry for her as she feels she is always the disappointment and at the heart of this novel it is revealed that her motivation is to prove her worth to those around her.

In the end will she discover that true value is in the eye of the beholder and based in the heart of the individual? Will she come to understand that love is worth it even when we don't think we deserve it? Will she discover the truth about the menacing call? And, finally, will Ellis discover and become comfortable with who she is and who God created her to be?

Thanks to the publisher for this review copy. ( )

This is the first book I have read by Siri Mitchell. I really enjoyed her characters and the story kept me interested until the end. It was a little hard to believe that one young lady could get into so much trouble, but I found it very entertaining. Can't wait to read another book by this author.

I received a free copy through Goodreads.
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Let me start off by saying that Ellis annoyed and irritated me so much that I was eager (aka desperate) enough to finish this book in a hurry!

I did not like Ellis at all. She is so scattered brained for the majority of the book, there were times I wanted to reach in and shake her and tell her to focus! She's not exactly selfish in a way, but she is a bit self centered in only thinking about herself and how things would work out for her if she only want to Hollywood. And quite honestly, since Ellis is supposed to be portrayed as having ADHD, she really wasn't endearing at all and her lack of concentration took away a lot from the potential this book had. While it was amusing to read her account of her short 2 week period as a "Hello Girl", it was funny to read how she quickly jumped to certain conclusions from overhearing a certain conversation.

I haven't read a lot of books based upon this era but it was fun and exciting to read up on the prohibition, speakeasies and other underground stuff that was going on.

I liked Griffin, there was decent amount of character development of him, making him seem more defined, less prince like and more determined/solid character.

The ending...it's good to see that Ellis has matured a tiny bit but would have liked it better if more was done to develop the ending instead of her happily ever after with Griffin and the establishment of the scholarship program. Also would have been nice if we found out for sure what happened with Janie, besides her returning to school.

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Ellis Eaton is a hoot! A society gal, she fears she is a disappointment to her family, especially to her mother. She studies hard at college, but hardly remembers studying. She is easily distracted, and her attention wanders endlessly. Yes, she has an attention deficiency problem long before such things were diagnosed. But she is a kind and caring person as well as intelligent, even if she doesn’t realize it. She has big plans to go to Hollywood to be an actress, even though she has no steps to carry it out. She agrees to do a big favor for a friend, even though she has no idea what she has agreed to do! Poor Ellis! But her heart is in the right place; she just has to realize for herself what a wonderful girl she really is. A delightful tale with likable characters, this novel has achieved the right balance of seriousness, with the inclusion of speakeasies and prohibition, and lightheartedness, with the somewhat spacy heroine. It has enough romance in it to be interesting without overpowering the plot and enough humor to entertaining. The audio version just adds to the enjoyment. ( )

This book is a full submersion into the roaring twenties- the language, attitudes and history is all there. As a reader, you feel transported back in time, which is why I love historical fiction. I love learning about the way daily life was in any given period of time that is far enough removed from the one I live in. The Author's notes show just how much she prepared for this novel and shows you how much truth was weaved into the fiction- I loved it!

Ellis took some getting used to for me. Initially, though I found her insecurities annoying, I appreciated that Ms. Mitchell was consistent in her characterization and I respected her uniqueness as a heroine. For a while, every time Ellis despaired of not measuring up, I felt more and more irritated... until I met her family. While I didn't understand why they treated her the way they did, I (finally) did understand how Ellis got it into her head that she was a disappointment, a failure, and a constant source of exasperation.

After I warmed to her, I really enjoyed the humor she brought to most situations and appreciated her honesty. I liked that she didn't always have an answer, that she sometimes felt confused, and that not everyone liked her (and that they, in turn, weren't written off as evil or useless for not being TeamEllis). Even when I found her reasoning flawed, I still could see how she got there and I appreciated such an authentic point of view. Reading the Author's note on how ADHD played a role in this was fascinating to me and, while it made total sense, it made me want to go back and read it again with that in mind. So well done.

There were only two things that kept this book from perfection for me.

The first and most important thing: I never bought into Ellis' refusal/avoidance of Griff's affections; it just did not seem natural at all to me. I have never known someone to reject love because they thought they didn't deserve the person. I've seen such insecurities manifest themselves in jealousy, fear of losing the other person, clinginess, trust issues, etc., inevitably destroying the relationship, but I have never seen them stop the relationship -before- it starts. It's human nature to dream of the fairy tale ending (getting more than we deserve) so I just didn't buy it.

Secondly, Jack Feeney was a little (sometimes a lot) too naive/trusting. Bless her, but Ellis did not do a very good job of fishing information from him subtly, so how did he not suspect anything? Or if he did, then why didn't he do anything about it? It seemed to me that someone who was so afraid of crossing those he "owed favors to" wouldn't risk incurring their wrath by overlooking her rather obvious display of memory, interest, and connection. And what was with his somewhat random spilling of his past? I felt like they hardly knew each other and these weren't the things you confided in someone you've only hung out with/talked to a couple of times.

On the whole though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction, particularly set in the twenties and anyone who is itching for a fresh, strong female lead. ( )