Brilliant - a proper multi-layered saga; filled with interesting characters and believable events. The parallels drawn between different story arcs show an amazing understanding of the human condition and gives great depth to the cast- I found myself with goosebumps on a couple of occasions. I dare you not to care about Bianca and her friends, family and colleagues. I will be raving about this book to all my customers and friends :-)

"Herança Perfeita" foi, ao mesmo tempo, uma bela surpresa e uma desilusão. Comecei a ler este livro super empolgada, mas ao fim de alguns capítulos comecei a ficar entediada e um pouco cansada de algumas personagens. Cansada, principalmente, de Bianca Bailey. No principio adorei-a! Super inteligente e muito dada. Mas não à medida que a história ia avançando Bianca começou a mostrar a verdadeira mulher que era. Egoísta e única e exclusivamente focada no trabalho. Então quando o marido mudou de emprego é que a sua verdadeira faceta veio ao de cima...
Athina pelo contrário mostrou-se uma mulher de força, mesmo para a sua idade. Nunca baixou os braços, nem alterou os seus ideias. Fiquei triste com o seu fim porque ela merecia mais.

"Herança Perfeita" é um livro que mistura o passado com o presente. E, à medida, que se vai avançando na história vamos conhecendo melhor as personagens mais antigas e o seu percurso ao longo da vida. Athina e Florence são as personagens mais fascinantes neste livro.

Recomendo.

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads contest.

I tried to read this book but it did not suit my tastes. So, I am passing it on to another reader who lives this author.

As to be expected from Penny Vincenzi, hundreds of pages of perfect escapist fiction. The House of Farrell, a cosmetic company, is about to go bankrupt until Bianca Bailey is hired by venture capitalists to turn it all around. The story of Cornelius and Athlna Farrell, their marriage, his affair, as well as the Bailey family's story, contribute to this family saga.

O livro poderia ser dividido em 2 ou 3.
Muitas personagens, muitas histórias. Inicialmente é difícil entrar no enredo porque tem muitas historias paralelas, na minha opinião demasiadas. Neste caso, menos seria mais. Tornou o livro inicialmente difícil de acompanhar e depois muito maçudo.
Contudo, aborda um ou dois temas importantes como o bullying na adolescência ou o desgaste do casamento, que me fez ler o livro até ao fim.

A Perfect Heritage is a story that envelops readers like an alluring movie, with powerful and world-changing secrets. There is a past hidden within the characters and story that entwines with the present with consequences that play out fascinatingly.
Passionate about their careers, Bianca and Athina are at a standstill from each others egos, with neither of them on the same page for the future of The House of Farrell. The events that followed were overall a whirlwind of amazement and a story that even though it is a long page-turner, it's quite worth it for fans of Penny Vincenzi and others who are a fan of ambitious characters and dazzling outcomes. Would highly recommend to anyone that likes long reads with a story that keeps surprising you until the very last words.

Reviewed thanks to Lovereading.co.uk!

Yesss! Finished it! This book was a little too long for my liking. I think several parts could have been left out, especially the mushy mushy parts, when they talk about how someone loves someone else soooo much and they are thinking of the other one bla bla, and then there is a part written about the other person, exactly in the same way, those parts were in my eyes completely unnecessary, predictable, and frankly, quite annoying.
Nevertheless I loved the book, especially since I was following a change management course at university as well and the book completely went along with what I was learning there, which made the book, as well as the course, more interesting. The whole Farrel story is what I loved most about the book, what would happen with it, etc. As well as some storylines, and the fact that there were so many. So manu characters, storylines and that it kept changing to other persons, that's why I would've given this book 4,5 stars if I could.

So I can’t fully remember each of her books as they were sort of a phase for me, but I LOVE them. They’re very rich, desperate housewives gossip vibes and I can’t get enough. I wanna re-read them some day.
I do remember enjoying the business aspect of this one, I was really rooting for their success.

I always look forward to the publication of a new Penny Vincenzi book and this one was no different (though it did take me awhile to get around to reading it this time)! She's wonderful at writing the family saga and detailing the escapades of a large cast of interconnected characters. I was so happy to have the list of characters and who they were at the beginning of the novel - I found myself referring to it quite a bit when I first jumped in.

A few frustrating characters but for the most part, they all get a satisfying ending in my opinion. Vincenzi does a great job creating suspense and worry with the various misunderstandings between characters and the threat of secrets being revealed. Overall, an interesting and engaging read once you get it sorted out who everyone is and what their relations to one another are!

Its my first time to read a Penny Vicenzi book.

A Perfect Heritage is a nice story but it was just absurdly long (753 pages in paperback!). I feel that it was very winding and it has a lot of unnecessary pages. There were a lot of family dramas as were romances and failed romances.

The center of the book were 3 women: Athina, Bianca, and Florence. They were all interconnected because of the Farrell brand of cosmetics (and they battle within it and the Lauders and L'oreals of the world). The book revolved around them and their private lives. Funny though - and I hated - that all three of them had affairs. I loved Bianca, a tycoon, who loved her career so much; and classy Florence became everyone’s favorite mistress. You cannot help but root for her.

This is certainly a good read since you'll fall in love (or in hate) with the characters because of the lengthy read. I also like the sub-plots for Susie & Jonjo and the school struggles of Milly.

This is a good summer/beach read.