Beyond the Blonde

Beyond the Blonde is about Georgia Watkins, a colorist from a small-town who makes it big in the Big Apple. She was brought up by a single mom who ran a hair salon, Doreen's, in Weekeepeemie, New Hampshire. Georgia's sister, Melodie, is a genius and aspires to great things, but all Georgia wants to do is work with her mom.

Doreen gives Georgia the birthday gift of a trip to New York. There she attends the Wilfred Academy of Beauty, where she meets her new best friend, Patrick. He steers Georgia to a job at Jean Luc's, a famous Fifth Avenue New York City salon. Starting from the bottom, she manages to work her way up, make new friends, and enjoy her new and exciting New York life.

Georgia even manages to fall in love with a coworker, the handsome stylist, Massimo. But as in typical chick-lit fashion, good things change or come to an end. When the salon is bought out by another company, Georgia, Massimo and Patrick know that it's time to take a huge chance: They want to open their own salon. But Jean Luc has been known in the past to completely destroy the competition, or anyone who goes against him. Georgia must choose between love, her job, and her future.

Will she make the right choice?

I really enjoyed this book. It is one of those books that have glamourous settings and characters, but manages to stay down-to-earth. The story had a lot of details about the goings-on at a famous salon, which was really interesting. Foe example, I loved reading about Georgia's social commentary on the lifestyles of the salon's privileged clientele, whom she categorizes into types like "The Manhattan," "The Five Towns," and "The Beverly Hills."

I recommend this novel as a fun and interesting read - especially for those who enjoy both glamour and books that revolve around a character making a successful career for herself out of nothing.