The Smart One by Jennifer Close, 2013

Real characters.  Weezy (nickname for Louis) is a stay-at-home mother whose children are having trouble starting their own lives.

Paragraphs that ring so true, like when she picks up glasses and dishes left behind by her family around the house like they expect a magic fairy to clean up after them.  They don't consider that that magic fairy is her...!

Very readable, but did not enjoy as much as Girl in White Dresses or The Hopefuls. The Hopeful definitely felt like a very mature novel. 

Girls in White Dresses seemed like short stories strewn together, with The Smart One a more integrated narrative, but not as good as The Hopefuls.

No Angel by Penny Vincenzi, 2003

First of a trilogy.  Very easy reading.  British publishing house Lytton struggles to survive during World War I.  Lytton brother moves to New York City and starts a building empire.

The most eye-opening of this story for me is how horrendous World War I was.  How many men died.  How many men were stuck in trenches and sent to their deaths while armchair generals did not seem to know what they were doing.

Heroine is Celia Lytton, married to Oliver Lytton.  Oliver's siblings include LM (Little Margaret), Robert (emigrates to America), and Jack.

After-post:
Tried reading the sequel (2nd in the trilogy) and could not get through...  Characters felt too contrived and the Lytton world felt suffocatingly predictable.

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close, 2011

After reading The Hopefuls, knew I wanted to read Girls in White Dresses.  Had taken it out before but ended up not reading.  Perhaps too close to home - girls at the age mid-to-late 20s when friends are starting to get married and you wonder what if you never meet someone...spend the rest of your life single...

Engaging characters with mannerisms & stories that capture the little moments & memories that are so easily overlooked & forgotten.

Isabella in New York City would never dream of moving Chicago (despite all the space you can get...!) or Boston (dulls-ville). 

Mary who marries Ken, the ultimate Mama's boy.  Lauren, the wild one who ends up with the mysterious Mark.

Very much privileged liberal arts college point of view.  Colgate is even mentioned!