It’s Not Your Mother’s Bridge Club

by: Michele Van Ort Cozzens

Published by: McKenna Publishing Group

Reviewed by Beth Cummings

It’s Not Your Mother’s Bridge Club, – instead it’s Snake Eyes Dice Club. That’s what the eight women of Rattlesnake Valley, Arizona call their monthly bunko (bunco) night out. Bunko is a popular, easy dice game that even has The World Bunco Association. Author Michele Van Ort Cozzens belongs to such a group, and from its members she got inspiration for the characters in the book.

The women in this story come from a variety of backgrounds: Canadian Chloe, Hispanic Blanca, artist/alcoholic Tara, sophisticated boss’s wife Sylvia, her oldest friend Brandy, Sylvia’s husband’s assistant Amanda, former model Tootsie, and writer Shonah. Most of them do have a connection to Sylvia, who started the group. It seems they are friends, but a year’s worth of gossip and unfortunate circumstances cause them to doubt their loyalty to each other and then to prove it. The women pick on each other behind their backs, but when the chips are really down, they also come through for the others in a major way.

Cozzens has put together a fun novel. Yet it isn’t simply humor. There are real problems discussed and dealt with–particularly alcoholism, but also infertility, job loss and personal insecurity. She deals with the problems in a manner that feels quite realistic, like these women could be anyone’s neighbors.

Cozzens is also donating proceeds from this novel to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and that plus a good story, is why I recommend it.

Armchair Interviews agrees.