Laurel Osterkamp has another winner with the novella, Campaign Promises. Lucy Jones’ life is defined by significant moments in politics, from her first crush to her high school reunion, and a few more big events in between. Everything relates back to  particular politicians and how their stories shape Lucy’s own perspective.

I’m a bit of a political junkie, and I couldn’t get enough of this book. I had never thought about significant events from my own life against the backdrop of the hot political story of the day, but really, the relationship is there if you just take a moment to think about it.

This is such an interesting premise for a book. Osterkamp uses third party candidate John Bayard Anderson to talk about Lucy’ lessons in integrity. Gary Hart’s mistakes when it came to romance- and being overconfident are a part of some risk taking Lucy enjoys. And a certain (two shots of crazy) congresswoman-as-mean-girl is there to show how some people just never change.

I found myself looking forward to seeing how Laurel would relate political figures to the events in Lucy’s life. I liked the reminder that Pat Schroeder blazed a trail in her run for presidency (and the reminder that because of her, we have the Family and Medical Leave Act. Thank you, Pat). I don’t want to give away Lucy’s life lesson from Pat, but I found myself going  “Yep, uh-huh, I sometimes do that, too.”

The last chapter had me laughing. This is the one with the (two shots of crazy) mean girl-congresswoman reference.  It relays an encounter Lucy has at her high school reunion, and I found myself playing out the scene in my head. I really appreciated the references Laurel made here and found myself just wanting more stories from Lucy’s life.

So, really, if you’re looking for a light (and sometimes a little sad) chick lit piece with some intellect behind it, go out to Smashwords and download Campaign Promises. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Oh, and as a bonus, you can get the first four chapters of Starring In The Movie of My Life as part of the download.  I loved that one, too, and you can read why here.