Author: Molly Harper
Graded: B+
What a fantastic read! This was my first from Molly Harper and I look forward to reading more of her brand of humour.
I've never minded first-person POV and in this book thought it was vital to my enjoyment of the story. This is Lacey's story first and foremost, after all.
The humour is an integral part of her personality and how she sees the world. It is through this the reader gets to experience her circumstances vicariously. Lacey's character is easy to identify with. I'm sure I know at least three versions of Lacey in Real Life. She's had family that love her, a mother that coddles her, a brother that supports her with his own brand of crazy humour and a husband that has provided for her very well. Add to this that she has always felt sick when people are angry or disappointed in her and it's easy to see why she's always taken the easy way. It's easier not to argue. It's easier to go along. Sure. Until she discovers her husband's affair with his secretary. Cue shenanigans.
The consequences of her reaction, the newsletter and the move to the cabin for isolation were very well written. You can sympathise with Lacey, hate the husband and his secretary for what and how they've treated her and all the while be laughing at Lacey's quirky observations and Harper's funny descriptions.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
As a sort of therapy (and to help the legal case against her) Lacey begins writing her thoughts on her marriage and it's conclusion. She is approached by an entrepreneurial fan who wants to hire her to write more "woman scorned" newsletters for women in similar situations. Lacey is interested and tempted, and initially it is only thoughts of how it could further damage her reputation and annoy her lawyer that stop her from taking it up. When she sparks up a friendship with the sexy author next door, Monroe, she tries her hand at writing fiction.
It is through the writing of her novel, and the interactions with Monroe, that Lacey really grows. The romance, though funny and hot, seemed to me to be secondary to the plot, but symbiotic to Lacey's journey. Monroe helps her writing, gives her pointers but more importantly a new direction. They develop a comfortable friends-with-benefits relationship, and he listens to her when she lets him know what she wants sexually, a first for her.
*** END SPOILER ***
I respected and understood Lacey's reticence to jump into a new "relationship" and her need to stand on her own two feet. The temptation of the easy money that would also allow her to perpetuate her revenge on cheating husbands everywhere was likewise understandable. My problem with this story, even while realising it may have been intentional for the humour factor, was how two dimensional the secondary characters felt. Emmet is the gay brother with fantastic fashion sense who also gives great haircuts. Her husband is the selfish, remorseless cheater. The mum is the consumate nurterer who expresses love through food and her father is the stoic older gentleman whose reaction to his children's disappointments is to ignore them.
The humour and dialogue offer laugh-out-loud moments. And the subplots of Lacey's novel offer an extra dimension to the story. But ultimately Lacey's growth, her journey, (though rushed at the end) was believable and entertaining.
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