Book Review: Rich Again

Rich Again: A Novel
by Anna Maxted
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312570286
Audience: Adult
Rating: 1 of 5 stars

Synopsis:
Walk-in closet full of designer everything? Check. Private Caribbean island? Check. Connection to the aristocracy? Working on it. Cunning, malicious stalker? Double check.

Welcome to the world of the Kents, a charismatic, ambitious, and fabulously wealthy English family with two sisters – one as strong and sparkling as the other is delicate and wounded – who must somehow put their differences aside to keep an unknown enemy from bringing them down. Wild and beautiful Emily Kent has had the world laid at her feet by her ruthless mother and billionaire father – but it's not enough. Gifted with her mother's to-die-for looks, her father's hard-scrabble business sense, and both of her parents' lust for control, Emily is determined to make her own luck by seducing the only man she’s ever wanted, a man who can make her dreams of attaining the heights of old-money English society come true. By contrast, Emily's step-sister, Claudia, is a fragile soul—her mother died when she was five, leaving her to the unkind reign of step-mother Innocence. In an uncharacteristic burst of rebellion, Claudia trades her gilded lifestyle for an ordinary flat and daytime job where she meets the man of her dreams… or so she imagines.

But, Emily and Claudia are caught up in a desperate situation that may be beyond their control. As for their father, disgraced tycoon Jack Kent, and his wife Innocence, they are too obsessed with the fight for supremacy over their vast empire to see that a mighty and sinister opponent is plotting to ruin them all.

To say this book was a terrible disappointment is a huge understatement. I had high hopes to sit down and read a novel about the cut-throat big business world of the rich and powerful with some family scandal thrown in. Instead, it was nothing more than a trashy novel. The first chapter alone contained underage drinking, drug usage, sex, partying all centered around a 15 year old. I had hoped the book would get better and there was a reason for such a distasteful beginning. Sadly, that never happened. The story line was predictable and not very interesting. The characters were shallow and not well developed or believable. I felt like I was reading a book written by someone who was bitter towards those more fortunate than she is. Some scenes were distasteful enough that I felt like I had to wash out my eyeballs after reading them. I certainly won't be buying any of Anna Maxted's books. To me, they're not worth the paper they're printed on.

This book was a First Reads win and was sent to me to review.