Four of a Kind

Four of a Kind

Valerie Frankel

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Besides the fact that their kids all attend the same fashionable Brooklyn Heights private school, Bess, Robin, Carla, and Alicia have little in common. Thrown together on the tony school’s Diversity Committee, the women impulsively turn their awkward first meeting into a boisterous game of poker. Instead of betting with chips or pocket change, however, they play for intimate secrets about their lives.

As the Diversity Commitee meetings become a highly anticipated monthly ritual, the new friends reveal more with each game. Picture-perfect housewife Bess struggles to relate to her surly teenage daughter and judgmental mother. Robin, a single mom, grapples with the truth concerning her child’s real father. Carla, an ambitious doctor, attempts to balance the colossal demands of her family with her dream of owning her own private practice. And to distract herself from her troubled marriage, shy copywriter Alicia fantasizes about an attractive younger colleague.

Putting all their cards on the table, the four women grow to rely on one another, bracing for one final showdown.
 
Review:  This book was an entertaining piece of escapist women's friendship fiction (which I am a sucker for), but I found it unrealistic that these four completely different women would become fast friends over monthly Texas Hold'em nights.  Although I enjoyed reading about adult women forging unusual friendships, I struggled with the sex-obsession and immorality that was prevalent throughout the story.  And the front cover is deceptive - it should have pictured bottles of liquor or shot glasses instead of dainty flowery tea cups. 

Rating: 3 stars