'Round Midnight by Laura McBride

Everybody loves the glitz and bright lights of Vegas, especially vintage Vegas and Laura McBride's 'Round Midnight did not disappoint! I love when an author creates a setting that makes you really feel as if you're there with the characters, feeling the heat and dry desert sand under your feet but also visually aware of the lights, glamour and noise of a certain place. From the beginning, the setting and time period of 'Round Midnight had me hooked.

The other thing that was great about this book was how McBride intertwined four different women and their own unique stories into this setting and specifically The Midnight Room in Las Vegas. Spanning decades, this room and these women somehow found themselves connected to each other in ways that gave them the strength and courage to be what they weren't sure they could.

My favorite character was Honorata, who was sent to America as a bride purchased by a man from her uncle. Under such dismal and terrible circumstances she is able to take hold of her life, with the help of The Midnight Room and June and rise above her situation. June is another character that I felt deeply for and while her story was not as rewarding or uplifting, she brought about the necessary change in the other women's lives.

I think, overall, this story was incredibly well written and the four women were depicted in such a way that you wanted to keep reading and see them succeed. For me personally, I enjoyed the first half of the book (vintage Vegas!) and June's character as she navigates her newly married status and the heat (literal and figurative) of the desert climate.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a well thought out character based story that moves slowly but with a rewarding finish for the characters involved. I think you'll be rooting for all of them by the end.

I gave this book 3.5 stars on Goodreads!

Thank you Touchstone books for the opportunity to review this book.

'Round Midnight by Laura McBride 
372 pages
Published by Touchstone Books