Monday, April 16, 2007

Chick Lit with a Punch....Literally!

This is another book that was sent to me from Harper Collins. I Take This Man by Valerie Frankel (296 pgs) is an Avon Trade book and is definitely "Chick Lit". I have read a few books by Valerie Frankel and usually find them light and funny. This one was no exception.

Penny's wedding day is supposed to be the best day of her life. But instead of walking down the aisle with the man of her dreams, she finds herself deserted at the altar! Five minutes before the ceremony is supposed to start, she gets a note from Bram, her fiancee, that says he is sorry and couldn't go through with it. Penny's mother Ester is usually calm, cold and collected. But even though she never approved of Bram, she is seeing red when he dumps her daughter. So she heads up to his suite to find out what is going on. In an uncharacteristic moment of spontaneity, Ester hits Bram over the head with a bottle of champagne! She throws his body into a housekeeping cart and secrets him back to her mansion. There, she and Natasha, the ex-Russian Mail-order-Bride turned housekeeper, hide him in the old "playroom". This room just happens to be sound-proof, has an intercom system, and a two-way mirror used for observation.

There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments in this one. The idea of Ester keeping Bram locked up until he eats 200 servings of prime rib and salmon, 28 lbs of shrimp cocktail, and a 4-tiered wedding cake that was SUPPOSED to be served at his wedding reception still makes me laugh! But the characters all start out a little flat, and it takes a long time for me to actually CARE what happens in the end. There is some mystery behind the death of Penny's father that is finally explained. I did like the dialog between Ester and Keith Shiratz, the would-be father of the groom. But I found the mother/daughter relationship between Ester and Penny to be a little too textbook. And the relationship between Penny and Bram just didn't work for me. Neither before the break-up or after. Not enough real life in this book.....but then again, I think that's the point. Chick Lit is escapism at best. And if that's all Frankel was aiming at, then she accomplished it. It was a cute book. 3.5/5

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of interest how do you manage to get books sent to you from the publishers I assume for free? Lucky you :p

kookie said...

Feeling better, Stephanie?

Shelly Kneupper Tucker said...

What are you doing at your computer? You are supposed to be taking care of yourself! Do I sound like my mother? This is a good review...and I wanna know how you manage to get free books, too. Is it because your reviews are so well written?
Shelly

[when you get better, I'd love it if you would change your comments to allow me to sign in with my real blog...you don't have to, but I'll beg if you want:-)]

Stephanie said...

Well....these books are from the Harper Collins First Look Program. It's offered on their website, http://www.harpercollins.com/. You can sign up for the program. They offer 8 - 15 books per month that are coming out soon in new release. It's kind of lottery thing. You sign up for whatever books you like....then if you get chosen, they send you an ARC and you submit a review. I'm not really sure how it all works. I just know, I didn't get a book for probably the first 3 months I tried. Now, I tend to get 1 - 2 a month!

Yes...I'm feeling better. Not great. Not 100%, but a LOT better than before!! I'm probably going to head back to work tomorrow, so this is my last day to lounge!! Wish it weren't so...but I'd hate to lose my job!

Shelly....I'll see what I can do without you having to beg!

Kailana said...

Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better. :)

Andi said...

Who are some of your favorite chick lit authors? I fancy Jennifer Weiner and Jennifer Crusie but I haven't read much beyond their stuff.

Unknown said...

I hope u feel better now, I am new to the classics club, and thanks for dropping by my blog, I like some books you've featured here, i'll check it out...have a good day and, hope u feel much better. :)

Bookfool said...

I've yet to read Valerie Frankel, but I'm glad to see you've enjoyed her books and thanks for a great review. This one sounds pretty fun.

Glad you're feeling better!