Naughtier than Nice

August 31, 2015
Dickey’s excellent second novel of the McBroom sisters (after 2003’s Naughty or Nice) spans a year from one Christmas to the next, delivering family drama, romantic angst, and sexual gymnastics by the boatload. When eldest sister Frankie McBroom is betrayed in love, her sisters, Livvy and Tommie, come immediately to her defense. But soon the rest of the McBrooms are struggling to conceal the flaws in their own relationships, and their secrets and lies endanger them all. Everyone in the book seems simultaneously focused on love, honesty, chaos, and self-destruction. Dickey has deft control of each voice, and the Los Angeles backdrop is so well drawn that it becomes a character in its own right. The resolution is messy, terrifying, and satisfying all at once, with fresh blooms of hope for all concerned. Agent: Sara Camilli, Sara Camilli Agency.

August 15, 2015
The McBroom sisters return in this steamy tale of lustful women troubled in love. Oldest sister Frankie is eagerly planning not only an extravagant wedding, but also a baby with Franklin Carruthers, a wealthy renovator of classic cars. After yet another night of mind-blowing sexual acrobatics, however, Frankie receives a call that demolishes the whole house of cards: Franklin is already married. Meanwhile, middle sister Livvy is trying to make sense of her life following her husband's infidelity and her own retaliation with a menage a trois. Youngest sister Tommie has man troubles of a different kind: she can't decide whether to stay with her longtime fiance, Blue. She loves his daughter, Monica, who's come to see Tommie as her mommy, despite having had enough of his ex-wife's interference in their lives. But Blue has had a vasectomy without even consulting her. She's tempted to return to Beale Street, her former boss, her former lover, and a globally worshiped writer. Things begin to turn even messier for the McBroom sisters when Frankie realizes she has a stalker whose pranks escalate from moving the furniture in her house to life-threatening high jinks. Erotic, salacious, yet often simply crude, Dickey's (One Night, 2015, etc.) tale develops through sexual encounters: every bedroom romp ratchets up the levels of guilt or desire motivating the sisters. Although Dickey sets his characters in a world rich with material possessions, several oddly placed items create discord; for example, Frankie and Franklin's erotic play requires wine, candles, the Kama Sutra, and, weirdly, blue Gatorade. Despite some grisly plot twists, everything is tied up neatly in the end, with the wicked soundly punished and the McBroom family triumphant. Dickey's fans will rejoice.

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September 15, 2015
Best-selling Dickey revisits sisters Frankie, Tommie, and Livvy, from Naughty or Nice (2003), in this dramatic adventure. Frankie breaks off her engagement after her fiance's wife calls her but then is harassed with e-mails and vandalism, which force her to move. Tommie can't get past the fact that Blue had a vasectomy while they were engaged. His ex-wife continues to make trouble with the couple over Blue's daughter, Monica. Tommie gets deeper into an affair with a charismatic young author and has to make a choice. Livvy introduced her husband, Tony, to swinging after she took part in a three-person affair that she can't forget. That the three sisters are able to move past outrageous situations to a satisfying future is true Dickey style, along with plenty of humor. Dickey's characters are always surprising, and the warmth among the sisters is a strong, upbeat theme, even if the end stretches belief in soap-opera fashion. An absorbing read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)