The Stylist Takes Manhattan

July 1, 2019
Nixon’s amusing if clumsy sequel to 2018’s fashionista send-up The Stylist takes protagonist Amber Green across the ocean into the New York fashion scene with a mix of old and new characters. Amber follows her boyfriend Rob Walker, who has gotten a short-term job with lingerie maker Angel Wear in New York. A series of increasingly implausible opportunities propels Amber into Instagram stardom and a professional relationship with a disgraced designer ready to make his return to the scene. Nixon name-drops iconic N.Y.C. events and locations, such as the Meatpacking District and the Met Gala, but never really gets the city’s vibe right. The fashion drama moments have an episodic, appealing sitcom aesthetic, but the relationship dynamics between Rob and Amber feel forced and too grounded in petty insecurity, while the bad behavior of Amber’s best friend, Vicky, is caricaturish. Amber’s lack of agency leaves her bland against the dramatic personalities surrounding her. Readers may enjoy the zany humor of individual scenes (other than the clunky jokes about flamboyant people being gay) but will be hard-pressed to believe in Amber’s personal or professional growth. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency.

July 1, 2019
Plucky British stylist Amber Green takes her talents to Manhattan, where her drive to gain Instagram followers lands her in hot water. Fashionistas will delight in Nixon's sophomore novel, a sequel to The Stylist (2018), picking up Amber's story nine months later. Now rid of the eccentric, alcoholic Mona Armstrong, the stylist to the stars who set Amber on the map, Amber is happily dressing windows at the prestigious London department store Selfridges' and snuggling up with her boyfriend, Rob, a documentary film director. When Rob gets a chance to work on Angel Wings, an American reality series charting the daily lives of lingerie supermodels, Amber is relieved to be asked to go with him--she understandably sees a flock of gorgeous, scantily clad women as a threat to their fledgling love affair. Once in Manhattan, however, Amber realizes she can't get a paying job without a visa, so she sets about retooling her social media presence. Within days she's gained thousands of followers, but they may be following her for all the wrong reasons, since her first posts inadvertently shamed a prominent, balding fashion mogul and connected Amber to an alleged Nazi sympathizer. And when the stylist on Rob's series walks out Amber finds herself in competition with an angry Mona for the gig. A master of slapstick comedy, Nixon keeps the pace fast and the tone bubbly. From celebrities who don't actually like clothing to a clandestine fake-designer-bag scheme, the crises in each chapter ratchet up the tension between some disastrous, alcohol-fueled decisions and Amber's talent in seizing the unlikeliest opportunities to advance her career. Nixon deftly crafts a Cinderella story for the millennial age in which our heroine finds not only her prince, but also her true friends. Glossy and teeming with influencers and fashionistas, this is a charming novel.

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September 1, 2019

Amber Green returns in Nixon's second in the series (after The Stylist). This time she and her boyfriend Rob are headed from London to New York City, as Rob was asked to help with the filming of a reality TV series featuring the Angel Wear (think Victoria's Secret Angels) Icons. The two find an apartment (or sardine tin, as it is fondly referred to) in Brooklyn to live in for the next three months. Soon Amber learns that there's something harder than finding prime real estate in New York: making a name for herself as a stylist in the fashion mecca of the world. No sophomore slump for Nixon; the second in the series is just as good as the first, and readers who fell for the first installment will do the same with this one. Bringing back her beloved characters and introducing new ones, Nixon depicts the glamorous and sometimes not-so-glamorous behind-the-scenes workings of New York City's fashion industry, from botched baby photo shoots to secret "bag lady" drops. VERDICT An excellent addition to library collections, especially where the first book was popular.--Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

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