Chick Lit

One Plus One

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by Jojo Moyes

This is the story of a family who didn’t fit in. A little girl who was a bit geeky and liked maths more than makeup. And a boy who liked makeup and didn’t fit into any tribes.

“I worked it all out in the bath. I’ve been blathering to the kids all these years about how if you look out for people and do the right thing it will all be okay. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Do the right thing. Somehow the universe will see you right. Well, it’s all bullshit, isn’t it? Nobody else thinks that way.”

Needless to say, this was well-written. The plot was engaging and kept me in a state of suspense and anticipation. Truthfully, even dread at a few points. But that was because I really cared about the characters and I knew that all would not go smoothly for them before what I expected to be a happy ending, with good rewarded and bad punished. At a certain point, I thought the worst had happened, and I relaxed and just enjoyed the wonderful characters, the humor, and how they dealt with their challenges. And even though bad things kept happening (contemptible Marty! The Fishers!), I was OK with it, because everything else was so good, and sometimes it’s worse waiting for the bad than actually being in the middle of it. The story is told from the perspectives of the 4 protagonists.

Jess is a bravely optimistic single mother with a strong moral compass and who is always determined to do the right thing.

She seemed to bounce through life like Tigger; the things that would have felled most people didn’t seem to touch her. Or if she did fall, she bounced right back. She fell again, plastered on a smile, dusted herself down and kept going

She has been abandoned by her useless husband Marty who is living with his mother and dealing with depression. She is fine with that and doesn’t bother him for money or the support she is owed because she knows about depression and that he is jobless anyway. She is caring for Nicky, his 17-year-old son with a drug addict mother, and her own child with him, 10-year-old Tanzie. Nicky is somewhat of a misfit of the goth variety and doesn’t fit in at school, or anywhere really except perhaps in his online gaming community. Tanzie is fine socially and at school. We suspect that Nicky is pretty smart, but we know Tanzie is. She has just been offered a scholarship to an elite school in which she will thrive by virtue of her genius for Math. The scholarship will cover 90% of her tuition, and they really want her. Unfortunately, Jess, who works two jobs just to not keep up with basic expenses can’t even afford to pay the 10% difference. The family is desperate for Tanzie to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity both because of what it will mean for her future, and out of fear of the neighborhood school she will have to go to if she can’t get in. Nicky is being cruelly victimized by some of the locals who go there and they already have their eye on Tanzie. There is a lot at stake, but there is hope. Jess learns of a Math Olympiad with a prize of 15,000 pounds for the winner. It will cover Tanzie’s tuition for a year and Jess knows that if she can just get Tanzie to Aberdeen Scotland to compete, victory and the prize money are in the bag.

Meanwhile, we meet Ed, whom Jess cleans house for. He is a tech wizard who has made a fortune with his company. He is socially awkward and somewhat of a geek, although pretty good-looking now that he can afford to be. I love an unconventional hero. He has his own problems having inadvertently got caught up in an insider trading scheme. He is possibly facing prison and the bad publicity when it all comes out threatens to tank his company. He needs to get out of the public eye and get out of town. Through a series of unlikely events, the four join forces to get Tanzie to Scotland to win the 15,000 pound prize.

Their adventures on the road are by turns comical, heart-tugging, suspenseful, and even shocking. I was all in and loved Jess and her little family. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about my feelings for Ed, with whom the kids bond with and with whom Jess falls in love. It was a shame really because in many ways, he was a sympathetic, even admirable, and lovable character at times who grows quite a bit in the course of the novel. But I could not forgive his behavior towards his dying father, his mother, and his sister (another great character). He refuses to visit them, fighting his sister all the way, for over half the book. His excuse is that he is trying to protect them from the impending scandal of his trial. But I didn’t buy this seemingly reasonable excuse. He was just cowardly and embarrassed. It was a relief when he finally saw the light and made things right in that regard.

Because in that one moment, Ed Nicholls saw that he had been more like Marty than he was like Jess. He had been that coward who spent his life running from things rather than facing up to them. And that had to change.

But his mother’s and father’s hearts had already been broken again and again and his sister enraged by his selfishness.
All was forgiven, but for me, it was too little too late. Some things cannot be fixed by an apology. And no sooner than I get over that, he turns on Jess and the kids. Yes, Jess screws up and, for once, does something she knows is wrong. But in the same way that Jean Valjean was wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew and sister. Despite the fact that it all came right at the end, I just felt so much hostility towards Ed for his attitude and behavior that it almost ruined the book for me. But you know, if Jess is happy, then I’m happy.

Come to think of it, the same thing happened with a main character in the other Jojo Moyes book I read. She made me hate a character only to have a character I loved just forgive them. Does she do that with every book? No matter. The book was saved by the wonderfulness of all of the rest of the characters, the bravest and bestest dog in the world, and “the kindness of strangers.”

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sushi for Beginners

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by Marian Keyes

This is going to be a short review of a very long book because I listened to it on Audible. It was read by Caitriona Keyes who is the author’s sister and she did a fantastic job. I am still thinking in an Irish accent. I first read this book many years ago, but didn’t remember it at all.

Despite Marian Keyes superb writing, wit, and comedy along with some great suspense and drama, I can’t really give this more than 3 stars. This is because the 3 main characters which we spend most of our time with I really didn’t like spending time with. Ashling was a good person you can’t help but root for but ultimately not very interesting. Lisa was unapologetically cold, hard, and ruthless but was very very interesting. And deliciously so. She was the best-drawn character in the book and very complex. I loved how we kept getting glimpses of her humanity beneath her bitchiness as the book goes on. She was a piece of work. By the end, she had found a happy ending and had changed for the better. Is it permanent? Mmmmmm. Not sure. I fear not if she goes back to London and gets swept up in her old life again. The 3rd woman was a nightmare. she was beautiful, selfish, spoiled, and foolish in the extreme. Although she loves her kids, she is not a good mother and ends up ruining her own life, her wonderful dream-man of a husband’s life, and probably her 2 children’s lives as well. She loses her best friend and even her parents can’t stand her. Her fall from grace is very very deserved, thorough, and satisfying. Although she claims she has learned and changed, we know she really hasn’t.

The book is set in Dublin and follows the launch of a new women’s magazine. Lisa has been transferred there from London and is in charge. She is shocked and horrified at her situation as she thought her next step would be a transfer to Manhattan which was her next career goal. The culture shock she suffers is the source of a lot of humor. Ashling is her newly hired assistant. She is a people-pleaser and “Little Miss Fix-It” as a response to her difficult childhood as the daughter of a clinically depressed mother. She suffers from boyfriend problems as many of Marian Keyes’ heroines do. Her happy ending did not happen in the way I thought it would though. And I didn’t buy the romance. At All. I also thought the resolution to Lisa’s romance seemed tacked on and out of nowhere. The previously mentioned Clodagh is Ashling’s best friend. I just couldn’t believe what she did. I honestly thought at first that there was going to be a twist and what we thought was happening at one point was a trick on the reader because even she couldn’t be that bad and stupid. Until it happened, I felt there was still hope for her, so I was very disappointed in how her story played out.

The best thing about the book, in addition to the humor, was the myriad of fascinating characters that surround the 3 women. They go from 0 to 100 on the hateable/lovable scale. Marian Keyes never disappoints in that regard. And exploring dark themes with humor is her superpower. The setting in offices of Colleen was vastly entertaining and seemed very authentic. The mean Lisa and nice Ashling dynamic reminded me of Miranda Priestly and Andrea Sachs of The Devil Wears Prada. This book came first.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Nora Goes Off Script

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By Annabel Monaghan

**spoilers**

“I’ve never met you,” he says. I remember this exactly, because it’s a weird sentence structure. The idea was that the two of us had never met, yet the way he says it puts the focus on him. You never forget your first red flag.

When our desserts come, he wants to play his new favorite game, Romance Movie. “Okay, here’s one. Male talk-show host from Akron, Ohio.” I stab a bite of chocolate cake as I think. “He goes out to the country to interview a reclusive movie star and falls for her caregiver, who probably dreams of opening a cupcake shop.” “They all do.” “An inordinate number of bakers in these movies,” I agree. “And no one’s overweight.”

This was an excellent romantic comedy in terms of the writing, the likability of the characters, and the humor. Unfortunately what happened (the crisis and drama in the book and the why of it), which stemmed from the characters’ choices and decisions was kind of a deal breaker and brought a maybe 5-star book down to 4 stars.

Nora is a script writer for The Romance Channel. In her afterward, the author, Annabel Monaghan, confesses that she got addicted to The Hallmark Channel while she was recovering from surgery.

In two-hour increments, I dwelled in the hardware stores and bakeries of adorable small towns, watching romances unfold with subtly different storylines. The idea for Nora Goes Off Script started to bubble as I found myself unable to look away from the very specific female fantasy that these movies were selling….After about a week, I became preoccupied by the people who wrote these movies….This is where Nora Hamilton came from, my imagined writer for my imagined Romance Channel who has spent a decade supporting her horrible husband by writing these movies.

Our heroine is a single mother of 2 and after her divorce from her awful husband, used her marriage to this loser to write a considerably darker script which (Oh Happy Day) was sold to a major studio and is being made, as the book opens, into a major motion picture. Part of the movie will be filmed in her cherished private Tea House in her backyard where she does all of her writing. The movie in fact is called The Teahouse.

It’s as if Dr. Faircloth reached over the pond and plucked it out of the English countryside. I distinctly remember hearing Ben use the word “shed” when we walked into it, and I ignored him the way you do when you’re trying to stay married.

The Oscar-winning handsome superstar Leo who is playing the part of her husband is going through a bad patch in his personal life and is drawn to down-to-earth Nora, her kids, her home, and the small-town life she lives. When the movie wraps, he stays on and romance ensues. Leo’s fish-out-of-water experiences are endearing.

He wants to know what the bags are for, and I just shake my head. I scan my Stop n’ Save card to use the self-checkout gun, and his mind is blown. “So, it just knows what you’re buying?” He’s turning the gun in his hands, peering into the reader as if he’ll be able to see the tiny men who are making it work.

We are already endeared to Nora given the first-person narrative, her attitude toward everything, and her wry commentary on her life. Leo falls head over heels for the whole package and the feeling is mutual. When Leo has to leave for Hollywood unexpectedly for an important meeting it is a return to reality but Leo assures Nora and the kids he will be back. But he doesn’t come back. He ghosts them. What? Why? This is where the story goes off the rails. Since the story is told from Nora’s point of view, we are as in the dark as she is. My feeling was that I didn’t care what the reason was. Barring death, a coma, or amnesia, there was absolutely no excuse for Leo’s behavior. Nora and her children are heartbroken but are trying to move forward in the second half of the book.

The movie is nominated for several academy awards including best screenplay, and this was one of the several fun parts of the novel. Talk about a fairytale wish-fulfillment fantasy! Naturally, Leo and Nora meet and the truth comes out. Turns out it was all caused by a lie that Leo was told which he unquestionably believed. And there was no excuse for that. It was a little bit Nora’s fault for not being more persistent in trying to get a hold of Leo to find out what was wrong, but it was 95% Leo’s fault for being an idiot. What he believed about Nora was not only incredible but was an insult to her. And not only that, but he really didn’t take responsibility and even seemed to blame Nora and the liar at first.
The whole mess was smoothed over and a very happy ending followed. At least Nora and the kids thought so. I wasn’t so sure. I hope Leo grows up.

In addition to Nora and Leo, there are several other characters, particularly Nora’s family and friends and Leo’s P.A., Weezie, who are well drawn, lovable, and add to the enjoyment of the book. Another very well-drawn character is the ex-husband, Ben, who is disgusting, contemptible, and we hate him. But we never see him or meet him in person and that is a problem. So much time is spent telling about Ben, that I wanted him on the scene to experience Nora’s triumph personally and professionally. It would have been well within his character to have him show up and threaten to fight for custody of the kids or demand alimony. I would have loved to see him vanquished and beaten.
Near the end of the book, When everything is getting sorted out, Nora’s 11-year-old son Arthur confides,

“When Leo came, I thought how awesome it would be for Dad to show up and find Leo there instead. I liked to think of Dad driving up to our house and finding you and Leo on the porch, like all happy.”…I just liked the idea that he’d leave again knowing we didn’t want him.

Me too Dude, me too. And I might add, it would have been cool if Leo punched him in the nose in front of the whole town. And all kinds of stuff like that.

This unfulfilled potential of these imagined but nonexistent scenes, which honestly, I felt the reader had been set up for, dropped the book from 4 stars down to 3 star territory. But like I said, I loved the writing and would definitely try another book by this author. I’m adding half a star for the meatloaf recipe at the end.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Between Us

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by Mhairi McFarlane

**3 1/2 stars** The curse of high expectations from one of my favorite authors who I mostly rate 5 stars, or, less often, 4 stars.

In some ways, this was a typical Mhairi McFarlane novel. Our heroine, surrounded, supported by, and supportive of a group of close and quirky friends, dumps or is dumped by a guy that is clearly not worthy of her after their long-standing relationship goes to pot. Roisin (Ro-sheen for us Americans) is also a typical McFarlane heroine: Gorgeous but doesn’t know it, good-hearted, intelligent, and funny as hell. They usually have had some difficulties in their youth, often with their families, that have caused hurdles and challenges to overcome before they can find their happy endings. Oh gosh. I’m sure I could compare and contrast this story with her other stories until the cows come home, but I’ll leave it there. I love her heroines, and I mostly loved Roisin even though she did things I didn’t always approve of or understand. The one thing that I love about her leading ladies is that once they understand that the relationship is over (usually because the guy is a real baddie) the guy stays dumped despite the fact that he will usually be desperate to get back with her, because she is so awesome. (Like I said, intelligence is a trait of MM’s typical heroine)

This one starts out with the group of 7 friends (they call themselves The Brian Club-I won’t explain) coming together at a rented country estate to celebrate a birthday, an engagement, and the fact that Roisin’s boyfriend Joe, has just had his script made into a highly touted Hollywood miniseries. Their relationship has been foundering for some time, as the more successful he has become professionally, the more cold and dismissive he has become to down-to-earth schoolteacher Roisin. Roisin has been starting to see Joe in a new and not pleasant light and that there is much in Joe’s character and ways that she doesn’t like at all. It is only a matter of time for her. On the last day of the party, time becomes up. Joe screens the first part of his new 3 part series for the group and to her horror, Joe has incorporated a traumatic and painful incident from her childhood into his plot that she shared with him in the strictest confidence. Without permission, warning, or, initially, remorse.

She’d known this day was coming now for a long time, but it was no less weird. Like the shock of a death after a protracted illness. It was slow, but fast at the end.

There are other similarities between real life and what happens in the film. Roisin starts to wonder if Joe is a serial cheater and liar like the hero of his piece. Who is Joe, really? Has her 10-year relationship been a lie? Has she been a blind fool all these years?

‘I always assumed you liked that.’‘What?’‘That he’s a Mean Boy.’ He looked at her with an awkward expression….Joe was mean – and Roisin ‘liked it’? She supposed she had. She thought he was clever. What did it say about Roisin, that she had chosen mean? How did you explain having fallen in love with someone who wasn’t nice?

Roisin must know the truth and knows she will never get it from Joe.

Most of the book is Roisin investigating, learning things, pondering, and dissecting Joe and their relationship. There is not a lot of action. Thankfully, we are not taken back into the past for a painful play-by-play of their past doomed relationship. The break up after 10 years together is not easy and Joe tries to get her back. But we know there is no danger of that happening. Roisin has moved on and eventually starts to see one of The Brian Club in a new light, someone that has been at odds with Joe for years. A good guy, who is even better than she thought he was when he turns up in her old hometown where she has been dragooned into helping her eccentric and troublesome mother at her pub.

Such close contact was a strange mixture of fireworks and security. That was it – that was what Roisin had noticed during the handholding. It was completely natural, and yet wildly exotic at the same time. Exhilaratingly new and already familiar. He was a safe place, full of danger…Her feelings for [him] had arrived in two ways: gradually, then suddenly . Slow, but fast at the end.

Gradually Roisin uncovers all kinds of truths including the truth about Joe. It is pretty surprising and bad, and the book concludes in a hail of drama and confrontation: romantic, family, and adversarial. Unfortunately, that all happens in the last 15%. All the rest is prelude, hence my lower-than-usual rating for a Mhairi McFarlane novel. As entertaining, interesting, and insightful as most of the book was, it was a little slow and lackluster in too many parts. “Slow, but fast at the end?” On a good note, I loved that The Brian Club remained steadfast and stable throughout (barring one incident that is mostly played for laughs.)

I have noted in the past that this author really knows how to end a book and this one is no exception. On the last page, Roisin, in the middle of teaching her English class, looks down and sees an envelope with her name on it peeking out of her bag.
It is a short (and fast?) conclusion but very very sweet and says everything that needs to be said.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Someone Else’s Shoes

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By Jojo Moyes

She steps forward and makes to touch Nisha’s arm. Nisha immediately snaps it away. She does not like to be touched at the best of times, least of all by someone showing visible sympathy.

Nisha nods, dumbly. Jasmine stops and reaches into her bag. Nisha stares at her. She does not want to take money from this woman, with her catalog-quality jacket and cheap trainers. She does not want to think of herself as poorer than this.

Sam knows that if she stays at home she will either have to sit with Phil in the dead-aired, enervating living room, or start one of the 148 tasks that need doing in the house that everyone else seems to believe are her responsibility. If she does this, she will be seething, her rage barely suppressed, within minutes. And then she will hate herself for it, because depression is no one’s fault.

I’ve been curious to read a “#1 New York Times best-selling author of Me Before You Jojo Moyes,” novel as her women’s fiction is so popular and lauded. But none of the descriptions of her books appealed to me until this one, In Someone Else’s Shoes. Certainly not Me Before You where the hero (spoiler alert LOL) commits suicide in the end. Nope, not for me. Anyway, This one seemed right up my alley.

The book concerns two women whose personalities and lives are as different as night and day but whose fates collide when their two gym bags are exchanged by accident. Nisha, an American, has lived a life of wealth and privilege married to Carl for the last 18 years. It all comes to an abrupt halt on the day she loses her gym bag containing her custom-made Christian Louboutin shoes. On that same day, she suddenly learns her husband is divorcing her. He has ruthlessly locked her out of her penthouse, cut off her credit cards, and basically leaves her to fend for herself on the streets of London with no money, friends, or any other resources other than her wits. The Louboutin shoes are now in the hands of Sam, a low-level account manager for a marketing firm. She is basically a willing drudge and doormat whose boss bullies her unmercifully. Her husband Phil suffers from clinical depression brought on by the death of his father and subsequent job loss. He is totally useless and I unsympathetically hated him almost to the end. Sorry. These are two very unhappy women. And no, neither one of them is very likable at the beginning of their stories. But I’m used to reading about the hard journeys of women who start out as one thing and end up as another. And I had read enough about this book to know they both triumph in the end, become better people and all of their enemies get their comeuppances. But boy, those journeys were hard indeed. Even though it is funny and fascinating and we eventually can’t help but root for them, there was very little light to be had at the end of the tunnel. At times, there wasn’t even a tunnel. But friends (a new concept for Nisha) start appearing and much of the joy and reward of this book comes when the two women and their loyal entourages meet and start to work together to get Nisha her “settlement” and reunite her with her beloved but fragile son stuck in a boarding school in New York. Their mission strangely rests on those red Christian Louboutins. Of course, along the way, Sam also finds her power (sometimes in spite of herself, frustratingly). Will justice be had as well?

It would have been fine with me if some of the sufferings, which got to be a little old and repetitive, would have been cut down a bit. And yes there is at least one big and baffling lapse in the plot. But I can’t be too hard on Nisha for forgetting about that certain something when I forgot about it right with her. And I’m glad Sam was happy at the end but I don’t think I could have gotten over such struggles so quickly. I thought I was looking at a 4-star book all things considered (No surprise, it is very well written). Until the end. The resolution was so twisty, so clever, so satisfying, so complete, and so intricately and perfectly done that I have to give the book 5 stars. I was also moved to tears at Nisha’s reunion with her son. I will take another look at some of Moyes’s books because of this one. Not Me Before You though. No Way.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

What I Did for Love

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by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This was a re-read on audible of a book that I had read at least twice, the last time probably around 10 years ago. I was led to this one by the last Susan Elizabeth Phillips book I read, Call Me Irresistible. Georgie York, the heroine of this one, is mentioned there, and the heroine, Meg Koranda of CMI, plays a bit part in this one. It also has a little tie to Natural Born Charmer as April Robillard an important secondary character in that one also has a bit part as Georgie’s stylist. The first part of this book is a thinly disguised re-imagining of the Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Anniston triangle. Georgie has been divorced from Lance for a year or so as the book opens. He left her for glamourous do-gooder, Jade whom he met on a movie set. Georgie, a former child star, now a romantic comedy actress is popular and beloved by virtue of her long-running sitcom, Skip and Scooter, where she grew up on camera in front of the American public. Her co-star was Bramwell Shepherd who took advantage of her schoolgirl crush by nailing her at a party on her 18th birthday. She has hated him ever since for that reason, and the fact that his bad boy behavior (drugs, alcohol, sex tape, bad posse, etc., etc.) finally resulted in the show being canceled. They meet unexpectedly in Las Vegas and thanks to drugged drinks, end up married to their mutual horror. They quickly decide to stay married and act the part of a deliriously happy couple. Georgie, because she can’t stand the thought of being subject to even more pity and compassion for losing a second high-profile husband, and Bram because he’s been persona non grata for years due to his reputation. Being married to America’s sweetheart can’t help but revive his flagging career.

So that’s the setup. Along the way, Lance and Jade make an appearance, and boy, we have no doubt that SEP was definitely Team Jennifer. They are skewered quite thoroughly and hilariously without making them thoroughly despicable. We meet Georgie’s cold controlling father, Bram’s surly but loyal young punk of a housekeeper and cook, Georgie’s nerdy overweight P.A. (also loyal), Georgie’s agent who is under the thumb of her father, and a powerful female head of a major studio who loves Georgie and hates Bram, both for good reason. The reader starts to get hints early on that Bram is a reformed character, but it takes Georgie ( and everyone else) a good bit longer to figure it all out while falling back in love with him for real this time. Bram learns to like and respect Georgie (plus great sex) but doesn’t realize how deep in he really is until it is too late (almost).

I loved the Hollywood setting and the dramatic growth of all the main characters. I loved SEP’s sometimes surprising choices for them. The book did not always take a predictable path. As always, there was plenty of snarky banter, wit, comedy, and some serious issues addressed as well. Georgie was a lovable and admirable heroine, and while Bram was a bit of a mystery and while not exactly a knight in shining armor, we didn’t blame Georgie a bit for falling for him in spite of herself. Originally 4 stars, but I’m bumping it up to 4 1/2. This was a lot of fun and I really liked the Hollywood angle and the high concept.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

A Little Ray of Sunshine

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by Kristan Higgins

The familiar surge of anger and love for her teenage son stabbed at her. Her boy, her beautiful, precious son, had not included her in one of the most important moments of his life. The little shit.

“Thank God for you, Harlow,” Mom would sigh once in a while. “I never have to spare you a thought.” It might have been a compliment.

In this, her 23rd book, Kristan returns to Wellfleet, Massachusetts (a real place) the setting of Out of The Clear Blue Sky. This is not the first time that she has set more than one book in the same town and consequently, we have had the pleasure of catching up with some old acquaintances.

This book was terrific and, In my opinion, even better than OOTCBS. The romance took more center stage in this one, though the book is not a romance book. I liked the guy better. It seemed like there was more to him and he seemed more important to the story. With its many strands, this one dug deeper, had many more layers, and though funny, not so comical (not that the former book did not have its serious side.) We are treated to one of the hilariously disastrous blind dates that Kristan seems to include in most of her books. Poor Harlow.

“How about you?” I asked. “What do you like to read?” “I’m not much of a reader,” he said. So he was dead inside. Got it.

No, not a reader, but he is a talented poet. On his ex-wife:

Pete cleared his throat. “ ‘You ruined my life. I thought you’d be my forever wife.’ ” Definitely should’ve asked to record it. “ ‘But you brought me strife. Like a sharp and hacking knife. Cutting through my heart. Instead of cherishing it like a piece of art. And pierced it with a dart.’ ” He glanced at me to see if I was paying attention. I was. “ ‘You are still in my head. But now I dream of you dead.’ ” I almost cracked on the last line, but kept my expression neutral. After all, the serial killer odds had skyrocketed.

Lately, Kristan has been centering her books around big dramatic topics including morbid obesity and body dysmorphia, terminal illness, infidelity, and dissolution of long-term happy marriages. Toxic, or at least, troublesome parenting has always been a mainstay. In this, she tackles adoption. It was an education. I never really gave a lot of thought to how giving up a child for adoption could be so emotionally devastating for such a long time. Even if it is the best and wisest decision for the good of all concerned, as it usually is. And how the love and connection between birth-parent and child can endure. The challenges of being an adopted child are explored as well, though not in the depth that the mothers’ are explored. If the adoptive parents are wonderful and loving and in an optimal financial situation, there can still be troubles. At first, all of the feelings seemed a little over the top, but Kristan did her research.

The primary voice in this novel is that of Harlow, a 35-year-old single bookstore owner who gave her baby up for adoption when she was 17. Her dream comes true when he finds her and wants to get to know her. She is ecstatic. Not so ecstatic are his adoptive parents, Monica and Sanjay Patel. Although they have always been open and supportive of their son one day finding his birth mother (with whom they once had a mutually loving relationship), they are blindsided by the situation, thanks to their son Matthew’s typically teenage thoughtlessness in how he goes about reconnecting. But as the Patels and Harlow and her family get to know each other everything goes fairly smoothly. After all, everyone involved is civilized, educated, and goodhearted. Of course, there are hiccups and stormy waters. Harlow’s parents are angry and hurt that she has kept her son a secret all these years.

“Mom. Dad. I did what I thought was right for my baby. If you can’t respect that, well, maybe you’re not who I thought you were. Addison and Nicole, if all you care about is Esme being the oldest, you won’t lay eyes on my boy. Grandpop, Robbie and Winnie . . . you’ve been great.”
“Maybe you’re not who we thought you were, either, Harlow,” Dad said. “And who did you think I was, Dad? Huh?” My voice was loud, and I felt hot all over. “Mom? Who was I in this family? Your unpaid nanny? Aside from me being the helpful one, I was . . . nothing. I was barely there….
Grandpop stood up, his knees popping. “Harlow is a wonderful person,” he said. “She did her best under very difficult circumstances. If she chose not to take her problems to us, well, maybe we need to do some soul-searching.

Indeed some soul-searching is called for on their part, which they do. One of the almost too many themes is how one’s place and role in the family affects your life and decisions. Grandpop is a delight and the source of much of the humor in this book. And I love how his incipient dementia is handled by his family and friends. There are many side characters, each deftly drawn, including Harlow’s siblings, her loyal best friend Rosie, Grandpop’s girlfriend Frances, and Grady and his daughter Luna. And not to mention the dog. Yes, all goes pretty well as Matthew, his Mom and Dad, and his precocious sister Meena spend the summer in Wellfleet. Until Matthew drops a bomb on his family and Harlow too this time, towards the end of vacation when it’s time to go home to California.

Harlow’s perspective is alternated with Monica’s point of view and also a 50-something distant cousin, Cynthia, who is part owner of the bookstore and was also adopted.
Cynthia gives an alternate perspective on adoption. Although she loved her adoptive mother and father and they loved her, she would have been a happier and better person had she been able to be raised by her birth parents. I hated going to her viewpoint because she was just so nasty and unpleasant until about the halfway point when some interesting changes started to happen in her life. Every time it came to Cynthia’s part in the tale, It made me tense up. Could Cynthia’s section have been left out of this 500+ page novel? Maybe. But her story provided a good bit of good tension and suspense. And ultimately her character arc was heartwarming as well as providing another thought-provoking adoption experience.

Monica is in the high-tension Internet Security field and the main breadwinner of the two-income Patel family allowing them to have a very affluent lifestyle. But it has resulted in an imbalance in their marriage and a lot of stress and pressure on Monica. She and Sanjay are very happily married, but Sanjay is the laid-back “fun parent” and Monica is the enforcer. I love how things are finally righted, both in her marriage and her career. Female empowerment is alive and well. It is through Monica that we gain most of the insight into Matthew’s character. Although he is mostly a good kid and will turn out fine, we know early on he is not exactly “ a Ray of Sunshine”.

Of course, I have some quibbles. **a little spoilery** Although it did move the story and the drama forward, I was very disappointed in how Harlow handled the crisis at the end of the book. I felt it was out of character for her to go against Monica and Sanjay’s wishes no matter how much she yearned to be Mommy. I didn’t like how she shut down part of her life to provide Matthew a perfect little cocoon while he was staying with her. It wasn’t real and it wasn’t wise. A dose of reality would have been good for him. I didn’t understand what was behind her thinking that she couldn’t be with Grady long term because she would somehow harm his child just because she chose adoption for Matthew. Rosie’s alcoholism side story seemed needless in an already long book. I’m just speaking objectively because, bottom line, If the book had been twice as long, I still would have enjoyed every page. I just love her stories and her writing.

Perhaps addiction will be her next big topic and the previously mentioned character will feature in that one. Pure speculation, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. I would return to Wellfleet in a heartbeat.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Call Me Irresistible

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by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Not sure what book I was thinking of when I gave this Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel only 3 stars on Goodreads. Must have been another book. It is not only a 5, but one of my favorites. I listened to this on Audible this time, and it is at least my 3rd go-round with this one. I’ll have to rely on my memory for this review.

Besides being very very funny, I loved the characters. Both the two main characters and the hilarious, maddening, and crazy residents of Wynette Texas. The two main characters are Ted and Meg. Ted is Ted Beaudine, the only son of Francesca and Dallas Beaudine first introduced in Fancy Pants, one of SEP’s first books, and the one that started the Chronicles of Wynette. Meg is Meg Koranda, daughter of Fleur Savagar and Jake Koranda of her third novel and first contemporary, Glitter Baby. If I started talking about Meg and Ted’s parents it would go on and on but suffice it to say that all 4 of them are forces of nature and legendary in the SEP universe. Francesca and Dallie have significant roles in this novel, and the Korandas make a brief but spectacular and welcome cameo appearance. When they appeared on the scene I actually whooped.

Meg is funny, smart, good-hearted, brave, and something of a screw-up in her own eyes. She has always struggled to measure up to her fabulous parents and her brothers, knew she never could, so has never tried. She spends her glamorous life traveling around the world on her parents’ money, having daring adventures and lots of fun, but she feels like she doesn’t really fit in anywhere. Ted is just the opposite. He is a paragon of perfection. Birds start singing when he appears on the scene, and rays of light seem to follow him around. I have to say that this whimsical trait S.E.P. gives him was genius on her part. (Meg finds it “creepy”.)He is adored and worshipped in Wynette where he solves everyone’s problems and never fails at anything he does.
“He sounds like Jesus. Except rich and sexy.”
“Watch it, Meg. In this town joking about Jesus could get you shot. You’ve never seen so many of the faithful who’re armed.”

Plus he’s a genius and uses his powers for good. And he’s humble. And he’s marrying the perfect woman, Lucy Jorik, of First Lady and daughter of Cornelia Jorik, ex-president of the United States. She’s perfect but we still like her. SEP’s next book, The Great Escape, is Lucy’s story and runs concurrently with this one. Meg, her best friend and maid of honor, senses there is something very wrong behind all this perfection. And when good-girl Lucy ditches Ted at the altar, all eyes turn to Meg. She is blamed by everybody, even Ted and Lucy’s parents. To make matters worse, Meg’s loving parents in a burst of tough love have finally cut her off and she has no money with which to skedaddle out of Wynette and all of the torches and pitchforks gathering at the Wynette Country Inn. The story of how Meg not only survives being destitute, hated, and treated like dirt, but finally starts to fit in, thrive, and find her self-esteem is as entertaining as hell. But strangely, I found Ted’s journey even more fascinating and well-crafted. Meg sees through him almost immediately and understands that behind all that goodness lies a lot of fear. Is there anything behind that emotionally controlled mask?
The answer is yes.
3 stars (???) bumped up to 5.

Rating: 10 out of 5.

Manhunting

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by Jennifer Crusie

Most of the books I read aren’t exactly mentally or emotionally taxing, however well written and enjoyable most of them are. But I was in the mood for something even less challenging than usual. I picked up this one by the lauded award-winning Jennifer Crusie knowing that this one was one of her early “category” romances re-marketed as a mainstream if short novel. Its first iteration was as Harlequin Temptation # 463 way back in 1993. Digression Warning! So many best-selling novelists first got their start writing old Harlequins and Silhouettes, Candlelights, or Loveswepts. I am sure they must be gratified when their publishers bring back their old very lightly regarded series or category books as “legitimate” novels. Pro tip: if you are a former reader of these “catagories” be sure to do your research before purchasing an unfamiliar-looking book by Debbie Macomber, Jayne Ann Krentz (or her many pen names), Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, or many others. You may have already read it. In fact, I probably had read this particular book 30 years ago, but of course, I didn’t remember any of it this go-round, so it didn’t matter.

He shuddered. Kate reminded him of Valerie and his ex-wife, Tiffany. Women like that always got what they wanted no matter what it took, not caring who they trampled on to get their way. Efficient. Calculating. Manipulative. Most likely she’d come to the resort to sharpen her golf game, get a tan, snare a husband, and improve her stock portfolio. God preserve me from a woman like that, he thought, and grinned again. God wouldn’t have to preserve him from a woman like Kate Svenson. She’d made it very clear that she wasn’t interested.

Kate has a high-powered career as a business consultant to multinational corporations at her father’s firm. She specializes in businesses that are in trouble and she is very very good at it. But she is a little sick and tired of the people she has to deal with and feels like her life is slipping away. She wants marriage and a family along with her career. She has been engaged three times to suitable men (successful and ambitious, handsome, and good guys) but all three times she broke it off. Something wasn’t right. Encouraged by her best friend Jessie, she decides to apply her business acumen to getting a husband. She determines that a resort catering to her type of man in Tobey’s Corners, Kentucky is just the ticket and books a 2-week vacation there. Unfortunately, every time she goes on a date with a man there that fits her profile, he ends up badly injured or almost dying. This is much to the amusement of the resort owner’s laconic and very attractive brother who is the groundskeeper.

“We gave him CPR. He’s going to be all right,” Kate said. “The doctor said so.” “Dating you is like dating death,” Jake said. Kate looked exasperated. “Nobody has died.” “Not yet.”


Later, she couldn’t remember whether she had tried to stop or Donald’s trying to ruin her potatoes the way he’d ruined everything else had made her temporarily insane. Whatever the reason, she stabbed him with the sharp, narrow, old-fashioned fork and hit a vein in the back of his hand. Donald screamed, and she shoved his hand away so he wouldn’t get blood on her potatoes. “I’m so sorry, Donald,” she said and took another bite…
“What’d you do, bite him?” “He should be so lucky,” Kate said. “I stabbed him.” Jake handed her a drink. “Try not to injure anybody else, okay?” “He deserved it,” Kate said. “I’m sure he did. But if you go around wounding every guy who deserves it, you’ll be taking out most of the hotel.”

They actually hit it off and become friends because they are as far away from each other’s romantic types as can be. He is a lazy and unambitious underachiever, and she is the type of woman who will try to change him and make him move to the big bad city.

It pretty much plays out romantically as you think it will but with some interesting side trips. Kate decides to help a local country bar owner increase her profits and ends up bartending there which she is excellent at, thank you very much. She unexpectedly makes friends with a young Barbie Doll-like fellow vacationer who is there to sow her wild oats before settling down with her rich much older fiance. Things don’t go according to plan. Of course, we have an antagonist, Valerie, who is sleeping with Will, Jake’s brother. She is the ambitious social director who has a much-inflated opinion of herself and her future both with Will and the resort.

“…I’m indispensable.” “Lucky you,” Kate said uneasily. She felt a sudden need to get far away from Valerie, as if she had something contagious that she might catch. Like maybe ruthless ambition and a total lack of humanity. 

Times have changed a lot since 1993. Some aspects of Jake and Kate’s relationship are dated and will not sit well with modern sensibilities. Some are quite ahead of their time and would warm the hearts of progressive feminist-leaning type readers. I was really surprised when Kate takes up for Valerie when her “just deserts” time arrives near the end. She is a bitch and Kate very much dislikes and disapproves of her and her schtick but it didn’t negate the fact that she was treated shabbily by nice Will. When she delivers some home truths to the brothers, it leads to some drama and complications which weren’t easily or totally predictably resolved. But Kate always has the high road and doesn’t back down.

It met all my expectations. It was very funny with a hero and heroine who were well-developed and somewhat unusual. It wasn’t what I would call “gripping” or a page-turner by any means. You pretty much know how it will play out, with some surprises and tensions here and there in the journey to the happy ending. Leisurely read in between other activities, it took me 2 1/2 weeks to finish it. And the book was an enjoyable pressure-free 2 1/2 week “something to read” which really hit the spot.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romantic Comedy

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by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is a quite sophisticated Romance. I generally like books that primarily center around family dynamics, conflict, developing friendships, intrigue, conquering adversity, etc. etc., with romance included as icing on the cake. This one brought enough to the table, despite being firmly in the Romance category, that it kept my interest and I really liked it.

The story is divided into 3 parts. In the first, we meet Sally, a writer for The Night Owls, which is a fictional version of Saturday Night Live. The reader is immersed in the culture and process of bringing a cutting-edge live comedy sketch show to the air every week, and our heroine’s part in that. We can assume that Sally’s friends and colleagues are pretty accurate representations of real people. It was fascinating and educational. The plot launches when Sally learns that her good friend and fellow writer, funny and intelligent but not at all physically attractive, and a dweeb, is the latest of a long line of fellow SNL (oops TNO) male cast members who have hooked up with beautiful and talented women. The Danny Horst Rule stipulates that men can and do all of the time “date above their station” but women can’t and don’t ever. Witty and sharp but average-looking women are never the romantic target of handsome, successful and talented men their same age.  Annoyed, she writes a satirical sketch about it and it is chosen to air. How ironic that the musical guest host is a singer/songwriter lauded for his sexy looks as much as his considerable talent. And though he is known for dating only beautiful models and such, he seems curiously interested and attracted to Sally! Sally really likes Noah and develops a crush on the darling of millions who is as nice and down to earth as he is handsome and popular. But she cannot accept that he could possibly be interested in her, so she self-protectively sabotages the relationship just when it is starting to get interesting.

Two years later, the country is in the middle of the panic over Covid, and business and society are at a standstill. Sally is back in her hometown of Kansas City sheltering with her beloved 81-year-old stepfather. She gets an email from Noah out of the blue. In the next chapter (part two), they get to know each other and fall in love over the internet. By the time this part comes to an end, we know both Noah and Sally, with their histories, quirks, foibles, and strengths very well. Noah invites Sally to Los Angeles for a visit.

Although in Chapter 3, the course of true love doesn’t always run smooth, it is very romantic. I even loved the way Curtis Sittenfeld stretched out the anticipation of their finally meeting in person again by devoting quite a few pages to her drive to L.A.  When Sally finally arrives at Noah’s beautiful gated mansion off of Topanga Canyon Drive (yes, I Google Earthed it), they are both awkward and unsure despite their intimate emails. Their riding of the ups and downs of getting to know and love each other before the “consummation devoutly to be wished” is not tedious, as it can be with many romantic comedies sometimes. And it is not tedious after either while we read along wondering when and why the big bust-up is going to occur. Of course, Sally does her best to screw it up, but refreshingly, Noah doesn’t let her. He gives her a good talking to which was epic and the highlight of the book, for me. And she listens and believes him, much to my relief and wonderment. What finally threatens to part them was a real-life dilemma I understood and related to. It was not a silly misunderstanding, stupidity, or failure to communicate. What brings them back together is touching and utterly believable, given their well-established characters.

I requested this book because I really loved her Eligible, a reworking of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Cincinnati. While the main appeal to that one was my attraction to Jane Austen homages, it was clever, insightful, and entertaining. It wasn’t perfect plot-wise, but the characters and writing were engaging. This one reaffirmed Curtis Sittenfeld’s talents to me. I was intrigued by the concept and it was as juicy, amusing, and as authentic as I had hoped. Both Noah and Sally’s characters were drawn in depth and were both lovable in their own ways, even though I got mad at Sally a few times.  My only quibble with this book is that Sittenfeld’s politics were just a bit too on display and kind of smug. It is a very very small quibble and probably very true to what the attitudes of a New York comedy writer and a successful Hollywood celebrity would really be. So I can’t really complain, I just wish it had been left out completely or balanced up a bit. Also, could we have had a bit less neurotic engagement with pooping and peeing? Pretend I didn’t say that but I had to.   

Like all Romantic Comedies this one starts with a meet-cute and ends with a happily ever after, but in between there is a lot of good stuff both expected and unexpected in addition to the romance. But the romance is the thing, make no mistake about that.

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a free copy of this novel in return for an unbiased review. The book will be published on April 4, 2023.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.