Review: Speak Easy, Speak Love - McKelle George

Review: Speak Easy, Speak Love - McKelle George - September 2017

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George, all I knew was I had a cover crush on the book. It was also a reimagined version of Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. Speak Easy, Speak Love is set during the time of the prohibition and follows the lives of six teenagers during what they would view as possibly the best summer and times of their lives. We have Beatrice who has been kicked out of her high-school and shipped off to live with her Uncle at their Bed and Breakfast Hey Nonny which also doubles as a speakeasy. Beatrice dreams of one day becoming a female doctor. Hero, whose parents own Hey Nonny who is the type of Diva who dreams of a better life. Benedict, who is a rich preppy boy who would instead trade in his silver spoon for this life and wants to be the next F. Scott Fitzgerald or Charles Dickens. Claude - one of his schoolmates whose along for the ride and enjoying how the other half lives and falls head over heels for Hero. Maggie - she dreams of becoming a famous singer and bides her time waiting to be discovered by singing at the speakeasy. Prince who has grown up with Hero and helps her dad get the booze he needs for the speakeasy and is her dad's, right-hand man and last but not least John - John is Prince's half-brother and his a mobster who is trying to protect Prince by keeping him out of the family business,  Speak Easy, Speak Love was more of a character development story and followed each of the main characters through their issues of romance and families and more importantly, what they wish to be when they are older.  Speak Easy, Speak Love is definitely what I would call a 1920's coming of age romance tale.