Two Halves, One Brian

Just two besties pretending to be literary critics (AKA we like to rant)

Vicky’s Victory, by Nadine C. Keels

Book Stats

  • Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author 🩷
  • Series: The Malt Shop Milestones, book 1
  • Publication Date: 01/06/25
  • Format: ebook
  • Chapters: 8
  • Pages: 128
  • Narrator POV: Third person POV, focused on the main female character, Vicky

Book Rating

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Spice: 🌶️/5

Summary & Review

This story is a Young Adult (YA)/ coming-of-age novel focusing on Vicky, a brilliant straight-A high school student who dreams of becoming a journalist. She has to navigate high school, romantic interests, friendships, and societal pressures. She’s working on finding her place in this world, where stigmas and expectations make it difficult to be who SHE wants to be.

In this post WWII era, it is still not common place for a woman to want her own career. Throughout this story, Vicky struggles with wanting to pursue her dreams, while also being given specific assignments and opinions based on the fact that she’s a woman.

I had never heard of “malt shop” books before, but I loved the idea and am thankful that I got a chance to try it out. I love that this author made Vicky’s character self-aware enough to know what she wanted out of a romantic partner – someone who is intrigued by her and will support her career choices – as well as what she wanted out of her own life – her career and future as a whole. This book promoted healthy relationships and an appreciation for one’s own interests and goals.

This story was short, but powerful. It was beautifully written and the author did a wonderful job of expressing the hopes, dreams, and struggles that Vicky had to deal with. This story includes an adorable friends-to-lovers type of romance with no explicit content – perfect for younger readers!

I really enjoyed this light, happy read and assigned it 4 stars. I enjoyed the story immensely and felt like it was really well done. I did assign 1 chili pepper simply due to the fact that there was a kiss in the book. That’s the extent of the “spice”, though.

Thank you, Nadine, for reaching out and giving me the opportunity to read your book!!

Two Halves, One Brian

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One response to “Vicky’s Victory, by Nadine C. Keels”

  1. Praise for Nadine’s Books – Prismatic Prospects

    […] “An utter delight… Vicky’s Victory is a tender and beautifully human story.” ~Readers’ Favorite “Nadine C. Keels infuses the retro genre of Malt Shop fiction with a long-overdue representation of the well-lived lives of Black Americans…” ~Novels Alive “I’m so delighted that Keels is writing a series of these books where Black characters are prominent and not constricted by stereotypes… Vicky’s Victory by Nadine C. Keels gives us a delightful taste of a vintage genre that may not be familiar to most of us…” ~Reading Is My SuperPower “Such great characters! Whether the main character or the side characters, they were all written so well that I liked everyone and wanted to read more about them. It’s a nice break to have a wholesome YA story.” ~All the Right Reads “This book is definitely a YA/coming-of-age type novel, but it is one of the best YA novels I’ve read as far as promoting healthy relationships… If you enjoy stories with a homey, vintage feel, I’d recommend reading this book!” ~Pens Pages & Pulses “Nadine C. Keels has a way of writing that truly pulls you into the story and her characters’ lives… [She] just makes it so doggon difficult to put a book down.” ~Travelers Wife 4 Life “This book promoted healthy relationships and an appreciation for one’s own interests and goals. This story was short, but powerful. It was beautifully written…” ~Two Halves, One Brian […]

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