Book Club Reporter Book Reviews

The Political Assistant - Election Year - Women’s Contemporary Fiction

January 09, 2022 Laura Jay Season 4 Episode 1
Book Club Reporter Book Reviews
The Political Assistant - Election Year - Women’s Contemporary Fiction
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Book Club Reporter, Laura Jay book review of the Political Assistant - Election Year - a Women’s Contemporary Fiction Novel written by author, Nancy O’Brien.

The Political Assistant is an engaging story every woman should read. The sheer energy of this story quickly drew me in.

Read book reviews by Laura Jay at:  BookClubReporter.com

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Book Club Reporter Podcast Book Review – Season 4 Episode 1

 The Political Assistant – Women’s Contemporary Fiction Novel  

  

00:01

 Music Intro - Greeting

 Hello gentle readers. Welcome to Book Club Reporter Book Reviews Podcast. I’m your host and Book Club Reporter, Laura Jay.  

 

00:12

This is Season 4 - Episode 1                                                       

 

00:17

 Today I am sharing with you my Book Club Reporter book review of the women’s contemporary fiction novel The Political Assistant – Election Year. The Political Assistant is a women’s contemporary fiction book series. And this is Book 1 in the series.

 

00:36

Oh listeners, I am excited to tell you that Nancy O’Brien, the author of The Political Assistant has a message for us today. So stay tuned because Nancy is coming in up in just a few minutes.

00:49

 For new visitors listening here today, I want to invite you to visit my BookClubReporter website. So be sure to read all my book reviews, book news, book club reading lists and more at bookclubreporter.com and now you can find some additional reviews by me on BookPraises.com. And I would love for you to come follow me over on Twitter where you can find me as: @jay_reporter and on Instagram where you can find me as: bookclubreporter_laura_jay

  01:26

 Now, before I share my book review of The Political Assistant with you, please let me provide you with the publisher’s book description of this book. As you may know, the publisher’s book description is the first thing most of us read when we are deciding whether or not to purchase a book.

  01:45

 Okay, so here is The Publisher Book Description of The Political Assistant – Election Year:


It’s January 2010 and Calista Caldwell, a recent journalism graduate, is new to Capital City. With her credit card maxed out and no money to her name she lands what seems like a dream job as a political assistant to veteran municipal Councilor, Ralph Mastronzo. Cal falls in love with the community but is overcome by the politics. Is her passion for helping people and working with residents enough to outweigh the toll on her personal life and toxic office environment with a misogynist man-child for a boss? Follow her journey during a grueling municipal election year where she is challenged to her absolute limits.

*Inspired by 5+ years working in municipal politics.

Okay, that concludes the Publisher Book Description of The Political Assistant – Election Year:

  02:52

Now, here is my book review of The Political Assistant – Election Year:

  Book Review 

 The Political Assistant is an engaging story every woman should read. The sheer energy of this story quickly drew me in.

 I couldn’t help but be swept up into this quick-paced story of Calista, in The Political Assistant – Election Year!  I was hooked as soon as I began reading the story of the young college graduate, Calista “Cal.” As the story begins, Cal finds herself out of work and short on savings. She needs a job and a paycheck, and she needs them now!

 Although Cal graduated with a journalism degree, she has no previous experience in politics. Cal honestly doesn’t have a clue what she is in for when she hurriedly accepts the position of political assistant to local municipal councilor, Ralph Mastronzo. The starting date is immediate and Cal finds herself instantaneously at the beck of call of her new and exceptionally demanding boss.

 Remarkably Cal, rises to the occasion as she propels all her energy into keeping up with her new job and with Ralph’s never-ending demands. Have you have ever wondered about what it would be like working on a local political campaign? Well…

The Political Assistant – Election Year is a thought-provoking example of just that. Cal works hard to get her job done regardless of some of the excessive and unrelenting demands put upon her. Cal’s lack of free time has damaged her social life. Her personal relationships have suffered, and for all intents and purpose have disappeared.

 But, Cal is a go-getter and completely dedicated to her job, so it seems aggravatingly unfair that she should also have to experience the unseemly side of politics. Unfortunately, Cal has to wrangle her way around wealthy and powerful men, who might be very much deserving of a thrashing for how the political assistant is treated. So yeah! Laura Jay is ticked off. 

 Now as for the writing, this contemporary women’s fiction novel is a fast-paced, satisfying read and one I will always remember. I highly recommend The Political Assistant – Election Year. This book is a great choice for a women’s book club selection and discussion group.  Also, there will be more books in The Political Assistant Book Series!

Now I did mention to you all that the author had a message for us and so Nancy O’Brien the author of The Political Assistant, is coming right up.

05:48

So here readers is Nancy O’Brien message to you all:

“Hi! I’m Nancy O’Brien. I am the author of The Political Assistant – Election Year. I wrote that novel as part of kind of a healing journey, after leaving politics. I was inspired by my time working in municipal politics and planned out this book. And I’ve actually planned out a series, so Election Year is the first of three novels that I am working on. I’m currently writing the second novel, The Political Assistant – Corruption. And that is due out in October of 2022. 

This has been a very cathartic experience for me. I have always loved writing. I went to school for journalism, so much like Cal, who is the main character in The Political Assistant also went to school for journalism. But, yeah, I’ve always loved writing I had never ventured into creative writing, writing something fictional and it was a lot of fun. Planning out the book and the different chapters and making it all come to life. When I go on walks, walk my puff ‘n stuff, I end up going into the world of Capital City and thinking about the plot points and how I can move the story along. It’s been a great and healthy escape for me.

I really hope that you pick up the book. It’s free, the Amazon Prime (Amazon Kindle), you can download it for free. So I hope that you take a look. And I hope that you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you so much. And thank you to Laura for her awesome feedback and for having me on her podcast. Thank you.“

I thank Nancy much for taking the time to talk to us today about her book series. That was really wonderful, thank you, Nancy.

 08:26

 More Information

 Thank you all for joining me today for this Book Club Reporter book review. If you would like more information about today’s book review, or a copy of the book, check the show notes for this podcast episode, or simply visit BookClubReporter.com. 

 08:42

 Appreciation and Donation Information

 As always, I very much appreciate you all stopping by and listening to my feelings about the books I read.  I hope you have enjoyed this book review podcast episode and my book club reporter podcast show. And if you did, feel free to buy me a cup of coffee. Just click the Buy Me a Coffee link in the show notes of this podcast.

 And I want to be sure to let my listeners know, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

 In plain English, that means if you click on a product link in my podcast show notes, and purchase a product via that product link, I may earn a small fee. For example: If you click the product link, and make a purchase, whether you purchase the book or another product, such as a new comfy bed for your precious pet, or some other product, I may still earn a small fee. And, you all would have the painless pleasure of supporting this podcast and me as your podcaster. So, thank you. 

 09:56

Thank You/Music Outro

And I certainly want to mention, I created this podcast so I could tell everyone about the books I loved reading. I am always working toward being able to afford better equipment to improve the quality of this podcast show for my podcast listeners. So, whether you decide to buy me a cup of coffee, via the link in the podcast notes, or by clicking one of my affiliate product links. I thank you so much in advance for your kindness, you are very much appreciated. 

 10:26

Sign off

 See you all next time.

Tempo: 120.0