You’re the Cream in My Coffee by Jennifer Lamont Leo, published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas in 2017 is an award winner, and I could see why. Set during the roaring twenties, I was anxious to read this book largely because of my own series of books set during the same period. So, you know. Comparables. What I found in Ms. Leo’s story was a delightful cast of characters and a great writing style. Ms. Leo has a compelling story-telling voice that swings you along like jazz. The main character, Marjorie Corrigan, gets herself in some hot water, first with her family and fiancé, and then with her new friends in Chicago and the mob. All in the name of love, of course. All in the name of trying to move on past the death of her true love, killed somewhere “over there” during WWI. Or was he…? If you enjoy reading this period, you’ll find Ms. Leo’s novel a frolic to read. You will love this story. I hear she has a book two coming out soon. ( )

Small-town girl Marjorie is visiting Chicago in 1928, away from her family and her fiancé, when she runs into the love of her life from ten years ago, a man presumed dead since he fought in the First World War. Though the man now denies knowing Marjorie, she stays on in Chicago to find out more about him. But she may have more to find out about herself in You're the Cream in My Coffee by author Jennifer Lamont Leo.

Ah! The Roaring Twenties so wonderfully depicted by this fun, glamorous, and vibrant cover art. It's rather intriguing, a woman holding a steaming cup of coffee (instead of a glass of something...else) during the era of Prohibition and speakeasies in the U.S. After reading the novel, I felt that the book blurb incorporated the title more meaningfully than the story itself did, but as Marjorie would say, "That's beside the point."

The point, here, is that this is quite a charming novel that kept me engrossed from start to finish. Marjorie's department store job in Chicago had me thinking so much about Selfridge's department store in London, so imagine my delight when Harry Selfridge's name popped up! (I did wonder, though, why he isn't mentioned in the Author's Note as a real historical figure, along with the real Marshall Field & Co. folks.) With all the various moving parts to Marjorie's journey, there was never a dull moment in the reading for me.

However, I did find the plot development odd in places. It seems that Marjorie comes to certain conclusions or resolutions, and then she resumes thinking or behaving as if she hasn't decided anything. I didn't quite buy into the central romance because I didn't see anything compelling that the (sudden, or present) feelings there were based on, didn't quite see what the attraction was. Also, the pacing of the last quarter or so of the novel is awkward, as if it's rushing to go here, there, and back again, trying to cram in all the final events.

Still, anyone who enjoys Christian historical and women's fiction should appreciate taking this spin back to the twenties. I'd definitely read this author again. ( )