Confessions of An Ex Girlfriend by Lynda Curnyn

Hero: ???
Heroine: Emma
Category: Chick Lit
Grade: C-
Buy It: here, here or at an independant bookstore near you, to search your independant bookstores, click here.

Ex-Girlfriend Emma Carter has a lot on her mind. Her boyfriend got a life — in L.A. Her hairdresser found God. And that extra ten pounds of "relationship flab" she acquired while falling in love with a commitmentphobe has just put her out of the running for new romance — or so she thinks. But before Emma can get on with her life, she's got to face a few startling truths about being single in New York City . . .

Confession #5: Marriage suddenly seems like a social disease.
Even the latest bride in my family — my mother — has put me to work in the service of her wedding day. What about us non-bride-to-be's? I wonder now. Working in the warped little world of wedding planning has only led me to one conclusion: If you don't get married in this world, you get nothing. Once, in an editorial meeting, I jokingly suggested that a woman should get a bridal shower when she turns thirty, wedding or not. Everyone looked at me as if I were some kind of nut. I am 31 years old; am I not entitled to free Calphalon yet?

Whoever thought that baring your soul could be this good?

This book started off slow and then the more confessing Emma did, the more annoyed I got. This book didn't really pick up, I think the only reason I kept reading it was to find out what happened between Emma and Derrick. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens.

I can't say that I had that heady glow around me after I finished this book, there was a lot of whining, a lot of depressed feelings and it was just meh to me. Even Emma's friends, Jane (she got on my nerves a lot in this book) and Alyssa was meh to me too.

This book didn't really do much for me, it was not bad but it wasn't all that either. Do I recommend this book? Not really...find something else to read because this I didn't really like and couldn't really get into.

I guess I didn't like this, because Emma's character was just a little sad and pathetic for my tastes. When I found out my ex boyfriend cheated on me, I didn't go into a depression the way Emma did, I man bashed, I hated my ex boyfriend, but I didn't swear off of men, I didn't do a lot of the things that Emma did and yeah we all grieve in different ways, but Emma's way of whining and confessing, was all just too stupid for me and I just didn't really care much for her methods of dealing with the break up...I don't like reading about weak heroines and throughout most of the book, Emma was weak, so yeah I just couldn't get into this book.

This is a pass for me.

Bombshell by Lynda Curnyn

Hero: ??
Heroine: Grace Noonan
Grade: B-

She has more shoes than Sarah Jessica Parker and a skin-care system that could make Madonna swoon, but unlike her celebrity counterparts, Grace Noonan doesn't have it all. Her latest utterly-eligible-yet-maddeningly-unavailable boyfriend has revealed that having sex with her is one thing and having babies quite another, forcing Grace to move on — again. And now that her employer — a top cosmetics company once devoted to "beauty beyond thirty" — is pursuing a teenaged supermodel as its future face, this thirty-four-year-old marketing exec is starting to wonder if she is going to get it all before the closing credits. Could it be time for Grace to back out of the beauty race and trade the singles scene for the sperm bank? Or is there something even this savvy bombshell has yet to discover about life and love in New York City?

This book was cute.

It wasn't this I have to run out and get this no matter the cost kind of story, but it was a cute. I don't regret the purchase but you see, this is the book after, Engaging Men, and of the two I liked Engaging Men better but I didn't hate Grace's book, I think I liked Grace better than Angie, though I liked Angie better in her book and not so much in this one.

It was good to revisit the characters from Engaging Men, and it was also good to see them through Grace's eyes. I liked Grace in EM and I liked her in BS, I just wished that she wasn't so stubborn or so independant, because after a while the whole "I don't need anybody" attitude started to grate on my nerves.

I've got to admit that I was really intrigued by Michael and even cheered a bit for him (I don't know why, I just did), and I'm happy that nothing was left untied in this book, all the loose ends were tied, until I got to the very end and the way it ended, I wasn't very happy with that ending, I was just hoping for a bit more from Grace and the guy she ended up with, but then if you take into account that this is a chick lit book and they don't necessarily end in romance novel extraordinaire, but aside from the crappy ending, the book was cute.

Read it or not, it's up to you...but for me, it was just cute.

Engaging Men by Lynda Curnyn

Hero: Kirk
Heroine: Angela DiFranco
Grade: B-
Date: 1/11/06

A novel about men . . . and the woman who loves them!

When one ex-boyfriend gets married, a girl can laugh it off. With two, she begins to get nervous. But three? Three?

Angie DiFranco is starting to take it personally. What is it about her that doesn't incite men to plunk down large sums of money in the name of eternal love?

According to her one successfully married friend, men are like tight lids. One woman comes along, loosens him up, leaving him for the next woman to pop off the lid, no problem. After all, would Jennifer have landed Brad so easily without the Gwyneth factor?

Suddenly Angie looks at Kirk, her current boyfriend, with new eyes. Kirk, whose last girlfriend loosened his lid by giving him The Ultimatum. Kirk, who suddenly seems primed to be popped right open.

If the tight-lid theory is true, Angie could be married within a year -- with a little effort. And a little help from her friends . . .

The author of Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend will utterly engage you with her vibrant new novel chronicling Angie's angst and euphoria as she resolves to mate and make it in Manhattan.

What a great read this book was for me.

It was light and fluffy and not at all like the serious books that I've been reading for the past few months or so. Angela DiFranco was fun, witty and the perfect heroine for this goofy, sometimes silly but at times serious story. It's funny how the author tricks you into liking one character at the beginning of the book and then has you cheering for someone else entirely by the middle of the book. It was really great.

I have a serious mad crush on Justin I don't remember his last name in this book. He was delightful and lonely and needed love more than he let on from the beginning. He transformed before your eyes and made you yearn to be HIS room mate because he was perfect for YOU.

I loved the way this book ended, the way this book flowed, it was a bit cliched (the storyline) but it was a great read nonetheless. I thought about this book long after I finished the book, so much so that I'm STILL thinking of it and I've since started a new book. The characters grab you and reel you in, they become your friends and they have you wishing you were in the audience to support Justin on his big night. I highly recommend this book if you want a feel good, fun loving book to read on those nights when nothing seems to work for you.

A treat.