Table for Six and a pitcher of margaritas

I usually don’t do EE posts for Lit Happens, a FB book club that I mostly participate in. I’ve only done three plus the very late one I recently revisited, The Farmer’s Wife (which was a Lit Happens feature a few years ago), so I decided to post about our current January read, Table for Six by Rosemary Willhide. Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting. You can read her review here.

“Sitting here comes at a price.” So does reading it.

About the book:

For authors, The Rock and Roll Romance book signing in Las Vegas is a coveted invite. Best sellers, wannabes, and writers needing a comeback, view this event as an exclusive seat at the popular table.

Gillian Stark used to be one of the cool kids. She had it all, and then lost it all after she made one fatal mistake on Facebook. One post on behalf of her author “friend,” Sydney Hart, turned her into the pariah of the romance book world.

With the help of TikTok influencer, Ava Winters, Gillian hopes to return to the top of the best sellers list after her three-year absence.

The book signing is two months away and Gillian’s interactions with the local Vegas authors have been anything but welcoming. Her old friend, Beth Darcy, is the only one willing to give her a chance.

Will the past be put to bed, or will old grudges and new rivalries have fatal consequences?

PUBLISHER NOTE: This is a thriller of betrayal and desperation, containing adult language, violence, and sexual themes. 62,200 words. There are multiple points of view depicted within this work of fiction.

About the author:

Rosemary is an actress, turned fitness instructor, turned author of romantic suspense.

She’s told stories and entertained people her entire life. Writing is her favorite because she doesn’t have to leave the house or put on pants! Plus, the voices in her head do what she says, for the most part!

She lives in Las Vegas with her husband, Bill and their adopted senior pooch, Brownie. She still teaches cycling classes. She claims they keep her sane-ish!

If you pick up one of her books you’re in for a ride full of suspense, humor and page turning drama. Also, there will be a rescue dog for some extra tail wagging fun.

What I thought…

 I don’t know where to begin.

I have to admit that I do sometimes read Colleen Hoover and Katherine Center. I enjoy Kristen Hannah’s early stuff (but I LOVE her historical fiction much better). Other than that, I haven’t been a romance fan since maybe my middle school days. I know that Table for Six is not a romance novel but is advertised as suspense. It is about romance writers so please forgive this segue.

When I was in Nashville visiting Ann Patchett’s Parnassus, my friends and I stuck around after closing hours for an author event. This was a totally spontaneous move on my part as I had never heard of the two authors: Alicia Thompson and KT Hoffman. They had both just written baseball romance novels.

Until that event, I had no idea there were sub-genres in the romance novel field: sports romance (like Thompson and Hoffman are writing) and motorcycle romance (like the characters Penny and Lainey are writing).

I totally enjoyed hearing these two authors and even picked up Thompson’s Love in the Time of Serial Killers (not a baseball romance). She created a real woman protagonist (not a blonde Barbie doll) that had real issues. I liked that she was an English doctoral candidate too. Worth a quick read.

Hearing Thompson and Hoffman introduced me to real people who just happened to be romance authors.

Most all the characters in Table for Six are just bimbo stereotypes playing at romance writing.

There’s lots of places I could start with my review of this novel. I will just jump in with the characters.

  • Sydney: what a bitch. She totally and unbelievably dismisses her best friend after said friend goes up and beyond defending her. An underlying reason she broke ties might have been that she was jealous of her friends’ sleazy husband.
  • Gillian: said friend from above. She’s loyal to a fault (except she did start an affair and leave her first husband and her daughter’s father). Her current sleazy husband Peter is a porn addict and, shall I just say, may like himself too much. But when her teenage daughter walks in on him and his addiction, Gillian doesn’t leave? Like immediately?!?! WTH?
  • Ava: a romance reviewer. She is enamored with this dysfunctional romance writing crew. She’s just young and dumb, especially when it comes to men.
  • Penny: part of the team Penny Laine that writes motorcycle romance. I would need a spoiler alert here so I won’t really talk about her too much except she unexpectedly and somewhat unbelievably morphs. She also cheats on her husband (but he’s kind of a cad, too).
  • Lainey: Penny’s writing partner. She did step up to being a good step-parent when forced into it so that’s redeeming I guess. She does help create a totally inappropriate fracas at a funeral though.
  • Beth: the only one with any redeeming qualities. Willhide slams her over and over again though. Beth has to deal with death and more death.
  • Camille: mostly a minor character. Camille plagiarizes, lies and kills.

I hated that some of the antagonism between these “friends” revolved around men—Peter (the sleaze ball porn addict) or Dillon (the Fabian look alike man-whore). It just cheapened the depiction of women and friendship. I also hated that the frumpy and reclusive Camille decides to rejoin the party for totally superficial reasons:

I don’t want to go back into hiding. Until Dillon showed up on my porch, I didn’t mind it, but now that I’ve lost weight and my son is a cover model, I’d like to rejoin the land of the living. I don’t want to be a recluse anymore.” (198)

At times I thought Willhide might be trying to keep the voices of the characters distinct from chapter to chapter like keeping Ava young and hip with her thoughts and dialogue. Ultimately, though, the characters all sounded alike and I had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was actually speaking. Her writing left me wanting: “He was like a lifeboat of hotness keeping me afloat” (146).

Egads!!!!

And I also hated that the group makes a huge and totally inappropriate scene at a funeral when they know that one of their friends is in indescribable pain.

Then there was the Rock and Roll Romance book signing. Is there a less inventive name? I cringed every time I read that. (Yet I googled it and there is something called the Rockin’ Romance Readers Event.)

There at least was not a “third-act breakup” in this book. It just all comes crashing down.

The food:

While there were a few scenes at restaurants, the food wasn’t focused upon. There was a lot of beer and wine and pitchers of margaritas. Overindulging was a theme. I decided to whip up a pitcher of margaritas. I used a lot of fresh citrus that needed juiced (oranges, clementines, grapefruit, limes, and lemons) along with a little bit of leftover margarita mix. I did add honey for sweetness. Along with the tequila, I added some Triple Sec.

Mixed Citrus Margaritas for Table for Six

I’m totally not posting a recipe (because there wasn’t one) but you can find my many other margarita variations here.

Pomegranate Margaritas
Blackberry-Lime Margarita Freezer Packs
Coconut-Mango and Mint Margaritas
Cherry Lemon Vanilla Margaritas
Homemade Sweet and Sour Mix (and some Spicy Margaritas)

Sweet and Sour Cherry Margaritas


This book was a quick read and this post is by no means meant to disparage Wendy. As she says in her post about the book, it did sound promising. It’s just not. 🙁

4 comments to Table for Six and a pitcher of margaritas

  • But how did you really feel? LOL….Sorry, I hated the book too. I had read a review by a fellow blogger and it sounded promising. I am going to host in March. I think you will like that choice much better….AND…I am absolutely LOVING Cam’s choice for Lit Happens and your choice for CTB this month.

    • I tried to dial down the snark as best I could. I felt bad. Haven’t started the new Lit Happens selection but have downloaded it. I started Ina’s book when it first came out but need to start from the beginning! Thanks for reading and understanding. No judgement. I’ve picked some lemons too!

  • Well thanks, I’ll give that one a miss! I love your Margarita glass though, just beautiful. I want one.

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