This chick lit has many homages to Jane Austen: the sisters worrying about their marriage prospects after their father died, the family friend besotted with one of the daughters, a sister named Lydia who married a rogue. However, this is not your dignified Austen!

The Hasty name can be traced back into history. However, time has not been kind to the family, and they struggle to make ends meet. The four sisters, Rufa, Nancy, Lydia, and Selena, are still reeling after the unexpected death of their vibrant father, Rufus, also known as "The Zed." His absence from the story makes him no less a major part of it: his hippie-like stances on marriage and infidelity have set up his daughters for romance problems. Whereas the Zed was content to move his mistresses in despite his long-suffering yet patient wife Rose (who later got to install her own lover in the household), the Hasty girls try to define what they want in life and love.
Rufa, the eldest and most sensible, decides she and flirtatious Nancy will participate in "The Marrying Game," that is, snare rich husbands in order to preserve the family home.
Lydia is still coming to terms with her divorce from her daughter's father, an adulterous Zed-like man whom she still loves.
The youngest, Selena, is on the cusp of womanhood and trying to find her identity.
The events plays themselves out predictably, but with enough humor to keep things fresh. Notions of infidelity and the Hastys' unique family life may not be palatable to some, but these themes add to the singularity of the novel. Some parts go a little oer the top, like how the author is constantly reminding us how hot the protagonists are (Yes, we get it, Nancy has big breasts!) but the novel has a good flow otherwise. Side characters are fun to read about, if a bit one-dimentional and stereotypical. The author's strength is the depicting the family moments, how the Hastys care for one another. Perhaps that's why we fogive The Zed's philosophy on fidelity, because it's the family moments that count for the Hastys. ( )

Impoverished, beautiful blueblood sisters Rufa and Nancy Hardy decide it's their duty to marry money to save their mother, sisters, and estate from ruin after the suicide of their wastrel father. The text references both Little Women and Jane Austen, and the book has a definite Austen vibe to it -- if Austen had written explicitly about sex, drugs, and gay best friends. Still, even with all that, the story is never predictable: everybody gets their happy ending, but not without effort or learning something along the way. ( )