Julie's Review: Tiny Little Thing

Author: Beatriz Williams
Series: Schuyler Sisters #2
Publication Date: June 23, 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Pages: 368
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.75/5.0
Bottom Line: Good girls can have a reckless side too
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: In the summer of 1966, Christina Hardcastle—“Tiny” to her illustrious family—stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, shes the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and hes got his sights set on a senate seat in November. But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tinys perfect life: her volatile sister Pepper, an envelope containing incriminating photograph, and the intimidating figure of Franks cousin Vietnam-war hero Caspian, who knows more about Tinys rich inner life than anyone else. As she struggles to maintain the glossy façade on which the Hardcastle familys ambitions are built, Tiny begins to suspect that Frank is hiding a reckless entanglement of his own…one that may unravel both her own ordered life and her husbands promising career. ~powells.com

 Review: Tiny Little Thing is about the oldest Schuyler sister, Tiny, who has always been the one destined for greatness. Her mother pinned her success on Tiny. Except Tiny isn't so good and is hiding a secret. Also, just when her husband's career is starting to heat up, her past is coming back to haunt her. Some one has some delicate pictures of Tiny and is blackmailing her to keep quiet.

Tiny is an interesting but timid character in the beginning of the novel. It isn't until she finally figures out what she wants that she becomes a woman of her own mind. It also doesn't hurt that her husband also pushed her easily to the decision. Although unraveling herself from the Hardcastle family won't be easy. It is really unreal what her father in law will go to to keep Tiny on the path that they need her on. Once again it proves to me that money and power make people crazy.

I love how we get to see the other two Schuyler sisters through Tiny's eyes. It's always interesting to see a character that you got attached to through other characters that were on the peripheral. It also nicely sets up the next book in the trilogy focusing on Pepper.

Unlike A Hundred Summers or The Secret Life of Violet Grant, this is one doesn't have a lot of action. It's more about Tiny's self-discovery than a big storm or mystery. Tiny does transform and it's fun to see her become more bold in how she deals with situations involving her husband, her family and her in laws. 

While it might not be my favorite of Ms. Williams' books, she still has a gift for creating endearing and spunky female characters. It is also evident that she loves the time periods she writes about as well. This one she had to have done some research on politics and the effects of war.

I hope that Tiny surfaces in her next Schuyler sister novel because it's always interesting to see if the characters are as happy as you hope they are.  Along The Infinite Sea, the third novel in the trilogy, will be out on 11/3/2015.



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