She's All That
Kristin Billerbeck
Integrity, Oct 2005, $13.99
ISBN: 1591453283

The trio met at Stanford about a decade ago, but remains close friends and supporters of one another meeting periodically at Spa Del Mar. The "Spa Girls" should never have become friends as they are so different in outlook. Still struggling fashion designer Lilly Jacobs, jewelry designer Morgan Malliard and chiropractor Dr. Poppy Clayton are best buddies though they only meet up on spa night.

Lilly is going through a bad stretch as she felt she earned a promotion at work, but her boss Sara Lang tells her that her designs lack distinction. She rushes over to her boyfriend's house to cry on his shoulders only Robert is with Katrina. Needing to reinvent her life, Lilly quits her job and dumps her cheating boyfriend. Encouraged by her pals that SHE'S ALL THAT and more, she opens up her own design company, but a chunk of her set aside start up money vanishes at the same time her biological mother shows up for the first time since Lilly was a baby and a Brit she met at church needed some money fast.

This inspirational chick lit tale is a fun read because the audience will feel the energy that the three friends bring to the story line though most of the plot centers on Lilly. Readers will believe that she and the support cast (especially Poppy and Morgan) are genuine individuals. Like Lilly, fans will wonder if her mom or her "new" beau stole her money. Leaving behind the highly regarded Ashley Stockingdale trilogy, Kristin Billerbeck provides a deep character study of a young lady in her late twenties trying to make it.

Harriet Klausner