Reading: SEX AND VANITY - Kevin Kwan

Prose (Story): Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan once again oozes money and name-dropping onto every page in his new novel, that opens when young, beautiful and rich Lucie Churchill, visiting Capri for the insanely extravagant wedding of her cousin, meets and instantly falls in hate with the handsome, rich, seemingly full-of-himself George Zao - a man whose very presence seems to turn her head, heart and life upside-down ... even years later, when they meet again after she's become engaged to another man.

Don's (Thoughts): You have to give Kwan credit for covering much of the same territory of his breakthrough bestseller, while still telling a fresh story. Lucie is a mixed-race (Asian/Caucasian) beauty who has always been reserved and in control of her life ... until she comes across the most annoying (even if incredibly sexy), laidback, free-thinking Chinese-with-an-Aussie accent boy she's ever met, and is as immediately annoyed by his personality as she almost is (when she admits it) by her bizarre attraction to him. Not a lot of substance or depth here, but there's not supposed to be; the designer name-dropping, almost too-detailed descriptions of the decadence of everything from Capri to various characters's multi-million-dollar homes and yachts or jewelry - this is still very much the world that is Kwan's brand, and once you stop looking for a deep story (or surprise ending) and just enjoy the ride, Sex and Vanity is a fun getaway, a peek into the lives of the obscenely rich and famous that writers like what Sidney Sheldon or Judith Krantz once did so well. This one also felt more streamlined than Crazy Rich Asians, without some of the filler that (to me) weighed down that novel (much of which, thankfully, was jettisoned for the terrific film version). Light, fun, fluffy, similar to maybe a binge-watch of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" - and if that's your thing, this is a fun read you should enjoy.  3.5/5 stars