When Annie Baker, a research chemist, went to her first meeting of the La Jolla Ladies' Book Club, she suspected that the stylish women assembled in the all-white, designer-decorated living room would only pretend to discuss the book, preferring to dish on the absent members of their circle. She had hoped to find a congenial group, but these ladies were not it and they certainly did not want to hear her worries about her son diagnosed with spectrum disorder and requiring expensive therapies. Meanwhile, Annie's college BFF, Sarah Sloane, a high-powered Los Angeles attorney, receives word that her latest round of IVF has failed again and quits her job. While Sarah and Annie are strolling through a department store, marveling at the prices some women will pay for face cream, Annie gets an idea for each of them to get the funds they need to nurture their families. Annie concocts a face cream with a secret ingredient, and Sarah sells it to the book-club ladies, then their friends. Use of the outrageously priced cream changes all of them. The theme of this first novel is the importance of family, and the main plot is the scam, but the fun is the developing characters, each empowered by the mysterious face cream.--Muller, Karen Copyright 2017 Booklist

Two friends create a scheme to take advantage of rich California women in Cooperman's debut.Best friends Annie and Sarah couldn't be more different. Annie is a harried mom of three, while Sarah is a glamorous, high-powered lawyer. The one thing they have in common is that they need money. Annie can't afford the expensive therapy for her autistic son, while Sarah is trying to finance in vitro fertilization treatment. Luckily, they know people who have more money than they know what to do withthe rich women in Annie's book club. Annie, a former chemist, can create a face cream. Sarah, with her youthful beauty, can peddle the cream to women who want to look like her. If they can sell each container of face cream for $2,000, they'll be swimming in cash in no time. The only problem? The "secret ingredient" Annie adds is actually cocaine. Their face cream grows in popularity, but what happens when someone finds out what makes it so special? Cooperman is at her best when she focuses on the friendship between Annie and Sarahtheir bond is genuinely touching, and their struggles are easy to relate to. However, there are far too many characters and points of view to keep straight, and readers may find themselves getting confused as to which aging socialite they're reading about now. A funny story about what two women will do to make a quick buck. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Cooperman's debut novel is a lighthearted look at the evolution of a female friendship through entrepreneurial success and strife. When best friends Annie and Sarah find themselves broke with growing medical bills, the women decide to go into business selling a homemade face cream to the wealthy wives of La Jolla, San Diego. With meticulous Annie's chemistry background and beautiful Sarah's charisma, the business takes off-and Sarah soon finds herself learning more than she ever hoped for about the unfulfilled women of La Jolla. It is a whiplash-inducing rise to success, but when their secret ingredient comes to light, Annie and Sarah find themselves in the middle of a high-society scandal. Using a clever heist plot as her vehicle, Cooperman introduces the reader to a variety of characters trying to figure out how to age gracefully in a milieu dominated by the young and beautiful. While Cooperman's characters are always intriguing and their personalities clear, their resolutions often feel like an afterthought to the main story. Cooperman's debut is a light, engrossing novel with two bold protagonists that won't quickly be forgotten. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.