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Calm, Cool & Adjusted, Spa Girls Series #3 By Kristin Billerbeck / Thomas Nelson Best friends since Johnny Depp wore scissors for hands, “The Spa Girls” live very separate lives, but stay in touch with routine visits to California’s Spa Del Mar. The third novel in the Spa Girls Series focuses on Silicon Valley chiropractor Poppy Clayton, who is as calm, cool and adjusted as they come. ..Or is she? Known for her bad fashion sense, a love for all things natural and the inability to get a second date, Poppy is beginning to wonder if she might be misaligned herself. Her route to self discovery will be an unnatural one–a plastic surgeon, a house in Santa Cruz and a wedding date from the dark side. It’s all enough to send a girland her gal palsrunning for the spa.

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Kelly’s Review

This is the third and final installment in Kristin Billerbeck’s Spa Girls series. I enjoyed the first two books in the series and looked forward to reading this one and getting to know more about Poppy, the lead character in this novel. Throughout the first two novels, I had become intrigued with Poppy’s character , but this novel came up short for me. I wanted to like it more than I did.

Cool, Calm and Adjusted felt rushed to me. It seemed to me that this was the last book in the series, so Poppy’s story was rushed. At least once in the novel I found editorial mistakes regarding the characters where one character was referred to, but it was supposed to have been another character that was named. Poppy’s character development was okay for me, but not superb. I would like to have known more. Towards the end of the novel she comes to terms with a deep-seeded family issue from her past and I would have liked to have seen her deal with that in more depth. I would have also like to have seen her love interests developed better. Like I said, it just all seemed rushed to me.

That being said, it was a decent read. Not as great as the first two, but I’d still rather read a piece of Christian fiction like this than most secular works any day. It wasn’t the best book of the series and I felt that quite a few details were left untold. It leaves me somewhat wishing that there will be a next installment in this series, but if there is I hope it steps back up to the original quality I found in the first two novels of the Spa Girls series.
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Spa Girls Series, Vols 1-3 By Kristin Billerbeck / Thomas Nelson

A Girl’s Best Friend, The Spa Girls Series #2 By Kristin Billerbeck / Thomas Nelson Morgan’s a girl who has it all, or so it seem. But even with diamonds at her disposal, a fabulous figure and a doting daddy, her well-sculpted life has left her without an identity to call her own. To add insult to injury, the Prince Charming she thought she’d found to rescue her proved to be a dud. So with all of that going on, a getaway with her best friends was in order. And it’s then that Morgan can rejuvenate, regroup and figure out with God’s help how to make a life she can live with. 1

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Kelly’s Review:

A Girl’s Best Friend is the second novel in Kirstin Billerbeck’s Spa Girls series. The Spa Girls are three friends in the San Francisco area - Lily, Morgan and Poppy. The Spa Girls met in college and have been friends ever since. They are all approaching 30 and are dealing with various phases in their lives. Dealing includes many trips to their favorite spa, of course.

This novel’s central character is Morgan. Morgan is one who seems to “have it all” from all outward appearances. Her father is in the diamond business and Morgan’s job has always been to showcase her father’s jewel collections and to just be on the fashion scene. Morgan is wealthy and has so much at her disposal, but she finds that material things don’t always add up to happiness and certainly don’t bring her love.

In this novel, Morgan begins to question her father’s motives and winds up on her own. She has to learn what she can live with and without. I felt that Morgan’s character was very superbly developed. Throughout the course of the novel, she was revealed to have her flaws just like everyone else. She was real and I felt that I could relate to her trials in the way that her actions and reactions were written.

This is a great read. There are many reminders throughout the book of putting our trust in God’s sovereignty. There are encouraging and uplifting examples of dealing with low times in the walk of faith. This book is more than “chick lit” , without a doubt. I recommend it whole-heartedly. In fact, I recommend this series. I’ve moved on now to the third and final book in the series and I can’t wait to review it here as well! Excellent book, great series!!

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The Spa Girl Series 3 volume pack By Kristin Billerbeck / Thomas Nelson