Despite the title love does not come easily to Norma Hill. She has to work hard for everything in life. The play on words refers to the speakeasy she frequents in Chicago of the 1920s. LOVE EASY is mainly set in a newspaper office; the Chicago Daily News is struggling and a new managing editor has just been appointed. Henry Chapel speaks loudly and swaggers, having gained accolades at his last paper. He is here to turn this paper around, and no silly little weather reporter girl is going to slow him down.

Norma knows she could do better. The newsroom however is seen as a male environment and life outside the building is dirty and dangerous. Nobody would let a girl work the crime beat. While she mostly complies with the legal ban on alcohol, Norma does sometimes accompany a girl friend, Ingrid to the speakeasy and one night she witnesses a crime against a woman. Shocked and staggering, she runs headlong into her new boss. He wants to help her, but by now there's no sign of the crime, so does he even believe her? And nobody at the speakeasy wants the cops called. What can Norma do?

There's plenty of period slang and clothing to match so the 1920s feel comes across well. The newsroom equipment is large, loud and made of metal. Part of the times of course is sexist dismissive talk, and we get a real understanding of what women used to be up against in jobs. Norma has attended university and supports herself, but she has no hope of being treated as equivalent to a male colleague. Luckily, the boss decides he likes her after all, maybe even fancies her - but wouldn't that be an unequal relationship?

Norma's careful investigation of the crime walks her into danger as the city has no shortage of mob bosses trying to take over drink distribution territory. There's some violence and strong language in this historical romance by Roe Valentine, but nothing the determined heroine can't handle. LOVE EASY - a vivid romance best read with jazz playing.