Pamela Shrewsbury

4 de julio de 2026

Great Beach Read

📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚THE SHAMPOO EFFECTJenny Jackson⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The Shampoo Effect follows Caroline Lash as she moves to the close-knit seaside town of Greenhead, Massachusetts, looking for a fresh start. She quickly falls for local favorite Van Whittaker, but his lifelong group of friends has years of history, unspoken loyalties, and plenty of baggage. When an unexpected pregnancy changes everything, old secrets resurface and friendships begin to unravel.———If you’re looking for an entertaining beach read this summer, this is an easy one to recommend. It’s packed with friendship drama, complicated relationships, and the kind of small-town gossip that keeps the pages turning.With four POVs and a large cast, it took me a few chapters to figure out who everyone was. Once everything clicked, though, I was hooked. My favorite part was the characters. They’re all in their thirties but still holding on to the carefree, messy energy of their younger years. Watching them navigate friendships, relationships, and adulthood felt honest and relatable.I also loved the coastal setting—it made the perfect backdrop for all the drama. My only complaint is that I wanted the story to push things just a little further. I wanted Caroline’s storyline to have a little more impact, and I found myself waiting for one last big reveal or unexpected twist before the ending. Even so, this was a fun, addictive read I’d happily toss in my beach bag this summer.———✅ WHAT WORKED• Complex friendships• Coastal setting• Smart dialogue• Relationship drama• Morally gray characters• Humor with heart❌ WHAT DIDN’T WORK• Large cast takes time to learn• Wanted a bigger payoff for Caroline’s storyline• Could’ve used one more memorable twistVer más

10 personas la encontraron útil

KayLu

2 de julio de 2026

A perfect summer read

I knew when I read Pineapple Street I had become a fan of Jenny Jackson and I ordered The Shampoo Effect months ago, so excited when it arrived this week. And I was so glad that it was just as good as PS. Characters written in a way you feel you know them, dialogue that is authentic, and storylines around relationships that seem so true to real life. I loved it, and again, look forward to her next book.Ver más

25 personas la encontraron útil

Stacy S

16 de julio de 2026

Good summer read

I would give this a 3.5 stars. It was an easy, light summer read. Not a "must read" but was entertaining

1 persona la encontró útil

Blake Chapman

27 de julio de 2026

being human is so messy

I really liked the storyline of following this messy friend group. Midway through the book, I thought it might end up not tying together but it ended up being a real story about the struggles of relationships + friendships. Most don’t have a happy ending in real life.Ver más

1 persona la encontró útil

Katydid

7 de julio de 2026

Such an incredible story about lifelong friendships

Caroline has worked her way up to the assistant of the editor at her company but it’s no secret she was originally hired due to who her mother is. The international best selling author who’s sold millions of books in several languages and has had many turned into movies and television shows. She has begun feeling tired of being unsure if her success is from nepotism or if she is as talented as she feels deep down she is. After getting her short story published in the New Yorker she promptly quits her job and accepts the residency writing post she applied to for an 18month position at an award winning and renowned author in his time who’s tions and it’s in the very place that’s on the beach where one of her favorite writers had written all his books and she is so excited to start her life far from NY where she’d been used horribly by an agent named Ned, who she had been required to take to lunch and discuss potential new authors. CHe ultimately uses her, has sex with her slips out of her apartment in cloak of darkness. She learns a few days later that her mother has dropped her publishing company and agent and has chosen to hire Ned Larsen who was very much the new direction she has wanted to get in. When her mom asks id Caroline was familiar with him due to their mutual employer, she says she vaguely is. She is humiliated and enraged she was used so badly and has no intention of hanging around to be subjected to seeing that man again and now is as good of a time as any to prove she is talented and can succeed on her own without nepotistic hires. This is all the push she needs to remove herself from the nepotistic clutches from which she will never know if her rise to the top in her company was through her own hard work and merit or because of who her mother is. For her own validation, once she is told her story has been bought by the New Yorker she quits her job immediately, applies to every writing residency she can and is thrilled to be invited to an18 month seaside Massachusetts writers position that will give her the time to write, to establish her own success if she has the talent she’d like to believe she does and heads to the cottage where one of her biggest inspirations and admired award wining novelists had owned and written at when writing his books. Her arrival to Massachusetts coastal community is frenzied but she’s excited.She meets this floppy haired kayak riding looking guy from the train and then again she sees him a few times in town sightseeing or shopping.The next time they bump into one another she is on a tour visiting the enormous homes of a wealthy man from mid 1800s. The historic home is one of the largest and oldest in town. She’s surprised when she looks around while she waits for the tour to begin that next to her is the floppy haired kayak stranger who’s taller and more handsome than she initially realized. When she finds out he actually works on the 3rd floor of the mansion where offices are and where he as an engineer and environmentalist who works with conservationists to protect the native plovers all other native birds that make their nests in the sand dunes and are protected by the state to keep from extinction. Soon, they are officially dating. They become so close and adore being together. He introduces her to his close group of friends who’ve been tight as a group can possibly be since grammar school and worse they’re impossible to penetrate. She also learns shortly after they are in a relationship that one of the women in that tight exclusive friend group, Bailey, is pregnant with Vans baby. He swears they’re just friends who sometimes hook up when drunk and he loves Caroline. Yet.when the baby is born a whole lot of things transpire and Caroline is no longer the priority or even a part of Van’s life. She writes another story about this clique but changes their names. Except she reveals some very damaging details about some of the paired couples who have kids and are married that reveal some secrets that weren’t revealed to who they’d hurt the most. She creates an avalanche of chaos and blows up their group and flees town with a book offer and an agent. A year later, her book is well received a best seller and she’s back in the area for a reading and signing. Will any of the group show? Does she find herself? Her talent? Does she get her love back?Such a beautiful well written book about suck complex but such amazing friends who have the best kinds of groups where they all have known one another for so long their love and loyalty is that of family and unbreakable. Their banter is hilarious and the all know nearly every single thing there is worth knowing about one another. Three couples of the group are still together and share kids as well. These are the kinds of friends I wish I could pull out of the book and immerse into my life.

Jennifer Jenson

28 de julio de 2026

Easy, fun Summer read

This is a really fun summer read. I enjoyed the characters and their development through the book. I thought the characters were fun and believable, facing real life challenges, and I enjoyed the small town setting. There were a few twists and turns that made for a few fun surprises, and I thought the book wrapped up nicely. Everything wasn’t tied up with the perfect bow, but there was follow up to the each of the storylines. It was a quick easy read and I enjoyed it.Ver más