Book Review: AFTER I DO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid is part of the BookSparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge. To see the complete list of books, click here.

In the immortal words of one of the characters in the Tom Cruise classic, Cocktail: "Everything ends badly. Otherwise, it wouldn't end."



After I Do kicks off with a scene that is going to be painfully familiar to many couples: Fighting over the fact that someone has forgotten where they parked the car, which is really about so much more than just the car. As someone who has lost the car in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the argument in the book takes place,  it made me cringe.

Lauren and Ryan met in college at UCLA and have been married for many years, but (cue Earth, Wind, and Fire's "After the Love is Gone") something has gone very, very wrong in their relationship. As we take a quick tour through their early years, it is not obvious right away what that something might be. They certainly have the typical issues when it comes to talk about money and kids, but there comes a point when they both realize that they cannot stay in the marriage they have created. But, neither one is quite ready to utter the word "divorce." So, what do you do?


Lauren and Ryan explore options to try to find a way to stay together (open marriage being one of them), but finally settle on taking a year apart to try to save their relationship. What comes next, I think, will really connect with anyone who has had that moment where they realized that they wish they loved their spouse they way they loved their dog (or cat). I believe this idea of taking time apart has a name; is it controlled separation? I just remember hearing about some nonfiction books that have been written on the subject, so it is an actual thing.

After I Do is full of searing, brutal honesty as Lauren and Ryan try to unravel where things went off the rails. What happens when the things you once loved about someone start to drive you crazy? (One friend of mine loved that her boyfriend was so outgoing. After they got married, she was always accusing him of flirting with the waitress.) What do you do when the future, which was always "out there," arrives and does not turn out the way you envisioned it? And do love and happiness actually have anything to do with a solid marriage?




This book should be a hit with book clubs, as there are so many things that are just ripe for discussion, and there were even some book club questions in the back of my paper copy. SPOILER ALERT: Do NOT read the questions before you have finished the book, as they will give some surprises away. I wish I could invite Taylor the author to a book club meeting and ask her how much of her real life was in After I Do, as she is young, super cute, and lives in Los Angeles with her hubby, just like Lauren. Maybe I will run into her at a baseball game? For more on Taylor Jenkins Reid, click here.

You will definitely go on a journey when you read this book, and you might even be a little shocked at how ugly marriage can become when two people lose sight of who they are, yet find that they are still tied to each other (unless you are already married). Rather than making me look at marriage as a failed institution, though, After I Do reminded me of the beauty in having a shared history, favorite pasta dishes, and building a home together. This is a fantastic read, and I recommend it to everyone!

Book Review: MY LAST KISS by Bethany Neal

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal is part of the BooksSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2014. 


Immediately, Bethany Neal's YA novel, My Last Kiss, took me back to reading The Lovely Bones over a decade ago. The book opens with a dead teenage narrator, Cassidy, who died three days after her seventeenth birthday. She cannot remember what happened to her, and cannot understand why she is still tied to the earth. Only one human can see her, and no one from "the other side" shows up to guide her entry into the spirit world, so Cassidy is basically left alone to unravel the mystery of her death. Was it suicide; could she have actually jumped from an icy bridge to the rocks and river below at her birthday party? But wait--who was the person on the bridge with her in her last moments? Did someone close to her betray her? What is she not remembering?

The story in My Last Kiss jumps between the present and some pivotal moments over Cassidy's last few days; as she says, it is not so much that she is recalling what happened but that she is actually reliving things like the afternoon spent in a basement with someone who is not her boyfriend, or chatting with her closest friends. Cassidy, trying to understand what is happening, mentions how spirits that do not leave right away usually have some unfinished business to take care of, related to the day they died, and that is certainly true here. 

There are some heartbreaking scenes as Cassidy witness her dad identify her body at the morgue, and her little sister refuse to leave Cassidy's room. In some parts, My Last Kiss is like the movie Ghost, as Cassidy tries to move physical matter and connect with those she loves. If you have ever thought you would love to be the proverbial fly on the wall and overhear conversations, this book might make you think twice about that, as what Cassidy learns about the people closest to her makes her wonder if she ever really knew them at all, and if anyone can be trusted.

My Last Kiss is Bethany Neal's debut novel, and you can find out more about her here. She has worked as an interior designer, photographer, and teacher's assistant, but something tells me that "author" will be her final career.

One final note: When you get to the final 100 pages of My Last Kiss, you are not going to want to put it down. Clear your schedule, make some coffee, and enjoy solving the mystery of Cassidy's last kiss. 

Book Review: IN BLOOM by Katie Delahanty

In Bloom, by Katie Delahanty, is part of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2014. 


Olivia (Liv) Bloom, the heroine of Katie Delahanty's debut novel In Bloom, gets to experience a Cinderella story, Hollywood-style. In this version, local hipsters Blair and Parker take Liv (who has recently moved to Tinseltown from Pittsburgh) under their wing and act as her fairy godmother/godfather, putting her through "Babe Boot Camp" and teaching her the rules of encountering a celebrity, like not acting like you know who they are (this is good advice for real life). The ball that Liv attends is not at a castle, but Elton John's Oscar bash at the Pacific Design Center, and her Prince Charming carries a guitar and has a microphone. She does not have an evil stepmother and stepsisters to contend with, but she does learn about haters on Twitter, the tabloid press, and publicity-obsessed starlets.

In Bloom is a really fun and light novel about Hollywood that just gets this city. After being cheated on, Liv moves to the West Coast, gets an apartment at a Melrose Place-sounding complex (complete with impromptu cocktail parties by the pool), and goes from watching Project Runway on tv one week to being at  the Sports Ilustrated Swimsuit Fashion Show the next. While at the fashion show, she has a run-in with Berkeley Dalton, the lead singer of her favorite band, and she tells him he is taller than she expected (a huge no-no, even though most celebs are tinier in person, except David Hasselhoff and John Taylor of Duran Duran.). It is an awkward first meeting, followed by more awkward encounters, but something sparks between the two, and Liv is so charming that I (cheesy as it sounds) found myself rooting for her to snag her dream guy.

You can find out more about Katie Delahanty here, and her story of going from working in the fashion industry to becoming a writer is very inspiring; most likely, if she had not lost her job, this book (and the ones in the The Brightside series that are to come) would not exist. Liv, btw, works on the design team at a lingerie company.  :-)

I just adored In Bloom. Whether you live in Los Angeles or hope to at some point, I think you will like it, too, and there are lots of insider tidbits, like getting a discounted wax at Queen Bee Salon with an apprentice (I have done this!), hiking in Runyon Canyon and passing women who are pushing tiny dogs in strollers, and shopping at Wasteland thrift store. Plus, as Liv transforms from unknown to It Girl, she gets some surprisingly refreshing advice that applies to all of us (like, find what makes you stand out and work it), whether we are in L.A. or LA (Louisiana).

 In Bloom pulls back the curtain on fame and what goes into crafting/maintaining a celebrity image, and it might make you think twice about any dreams you have of dating Harry Styles of One Direction. The book also offers some astute observations on our celeb, self, and media-obsessed culture, and each chapter has some tweets from various characters' feeds. And guess what? You can follow them on Twitter in real life--check out @BloomOlivia, for starters.

Even though, in many ways, Olivia's life is a total fairy tale, it could also actually happen. Lives in Los Angeles can change so quickly, because you never know who you are going to meet standing in line at Coffee Bean or what opportunities might come your way. It is exciting, and is one reason why so many pack up their dreams and move here with everything they own in a suitcase, ready to go for it. As one character in In Bloom says: "You can't leave things to chance in this city. Sometimes you have to make your dreams come true."

P.S. I also loved the relationship Olivia had with her psychic mom: "...no [Olivia], I'm not inserting myself into your dreams. Maybe it's your True Self trying to tell you something by taking the form of me. Maybe you should listen to your mother!"

Book Review: THE REVEALED by Jessica Hickam

 The Revealed, by Jessica Hickam, is part of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2014. Click here for the full list of this summer's reads! 

The Revealed is a nice addition to the current crop of dystopian young adult novels, like Divergent and The Hunger Games. Like both of those series, I could absolutely picture this one being turned into a film, with maybe Lily Collins or Emma Watson as Lily Atwood, the main character. One thing that I really appreciated about The Revealed is that it was full of suspense, action, and some dark themes, but did not have the graphic violence of, say, Mockingjay.

One reason this book is so chilling is that we live in a world where it seems like complete and utter destruction is just a button push away; it is not that hard to imagine ourselves rebuilding from devastation after a worldwide conflict, which is where The Revealed picks up. The middle class has disappeared, and most of the population is now working 12-hour days in factories and living in studio apartments. All that is left of the United States is the East Coast, with everything else a wasteland.

 Lily lives in Capitol City, a.k.a. Washington, D.C.,  and is the daughter of a presidential nominee; the upcoming election will be the first since the war. She has been targeted by a mysterious group called The Revealed, which has been associated with the disappearance of many other 18-year-olds. No one previously targeted by this group has ever been heard from again. The kidnappings started after the war ended, and over the past five years four hundred 18-year-olds have gone missing. ("What would an organization of any kind be doing with four hundred teenagers? Parents say having one is hard enough.")

I am not going to say much about The Revealed other than that they do NOT disappoint when they finally show, making plants grow, glass shatter, and guns fly out of people's hands from across the room.  (I know I am not 18, but how do I sign up to learn to defend myself like this?!)

In the midst of everything that is happening around her, Lily is a surprisingly normal teenager who is constantly sneaking out of the house. She is restless and yearning for freedom, and is counting down the days until her 19th birthday when she will be out of danger from The Revealed; most 18-year-olds are kept hidden away inside their homes for an entire year.  She has also caught the attention of two gorgeous guys: Kai Westerfield, who has a green-gold gaze, is the son of Lily's dad's rival for president, and is the most eligible bachelor in the North American sector; And Skylar, with the crystal-blue eyes, who comes into Lily's life under unbelievable circumstances.

I enjoyed The Revealed, and it surprised me by challenging me to think hard about destiny, the greater good, stepping into and owning your power, and the hard truth that you cannot truly understand and appreciate beauty until you have been through tough times.

Btw, Jessica Hickam is an actress and also worked in production on Star Trek: Into Darkness, and that sci-fi experience must have really come in handy while writing The Revealed. You can click here for more on the book and the author but (WARNING) do not read the author Q & A until you have finished The Revealed, because there are some SPOILERS in there. However, if you would like to try to guess at a spoiler, you will find a big clue on the cover of the book. And guess what? There is a sequel coming! The Revealed has revealed a talented new writer to keep an eye on.

Book Review: Megan Abbott's THE FEVER

The girls in Megan Abbott's The Fever have some issues with their hearts, and you will most likely find yourself dealing with some serious palpitations as you read.

High school student Deenie is sitting at her desk on a normal day, thoughts wandering all over the place, when one of her best friends, Lise, has a mysterious seizure in the middle of class. Later, she bites a school nurse and ends up in the hospital. And Lise is not the only one; girl after girl follows, each with a mysterious but similar group of symptoms. As fear in the town grows and parents and kids start to turn on each other, everything from bats to vaccinations to the creepy, algae-filled lake are blamed for the continuing sickness (and what exactly was Lise doing in the bushes--and with whom--on the morning she took ill?), but no one really knows what is going on.

Megan Abbott really gets the brutality of teenage girls, as well as how quickly people can begin to unravel when tragedy strikes; as terrifying as the mysterious illness was, it was also scary to read about the hysteria and confusion that sets in when you do not know what is happening (we have all seen this kind of thing on the news). In this story, secrets, crushes, and family tragedies also come to light.

Even though The Fever might technically be a Young Adult novel and is focused on young girls in high school, there is nothing childish about it. Megan also writes convincingly from a male perspective; Deenie's brother, Eli, is a stud of a high school hockey star, and her dad, Tom, is a teacher who has recently begun dating after a divorce from Deenie's mom. And the town, Dryden, is the perfect backdrop for a chilling story, as it seems like it is constantly misting, raining, or snowing, all while fog is rolling in.


If you are an older reader of The Fever, this might take you back to your own coming of age, and possibly bring up some painful teenage memories for you. There were not any mysterious fevers going around when I was a kid (or texting and YouTube, used to great effect in the book), but school tended to be terrifying in many other ways. Reading this as a mom, I could definitely identify with the parents (much like I did with the mom in Reconstructing Amelia, another terrific read) as they struggled with powerlessness to protect their daughters not only from the mysterious illness, but from the general evils in the world that seem to be lurking around every corner.

Try to start The Fever when you can read it straight through, which should probably only take a couple of hours; I tore through it in one day, finishing it over a plate of mashed potatoes at Tender Greens. I was creeped out even in the middle of a busy restaurant, and reminded that the ties that bind can also easily tighten around our necks.

Book Review: Paul Hoppe's THE CURSE OF VAN GOGH

Paul Hoppe's The Curse of Van Gogh, part of the BookSparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge, is a fast-paced, suspenseful, wild ride through the art world. And even if you do not know a van Gogh from a Picasso, or a Manet from a Monet, not to worry; this book is for anyone who loves a good thriller. Writing about art theft seems to be a trend right now, as I have read two books recently (B.A. Shapiro's The Art Forger and The Girl You Left Behind from JoJo Moyes) that deal with similar themes.

The book opens in Nazi Germany with a horrific accident involving a young man who is carrying a stolen van Gogh painting, and later we find out that this story has been circulating for years as support for the rumored "curse of van Gogh," where anyone who owns one of his paintings is doomed to either become possessed or meet a terrible end.

Cut to New York City just before the dawn of the new millennium, and we are introduced to Tyler Sears, a bartender at the Art Bar, who is just out of prison and the recipient of a mysterious invitation to a swanky event at a new building whose lobby doubles as an art gallery. As the messenger informs Ty, he is known to be good at handling matters that require the utmost discretion, which is why Komate Imasu, a billionaire art collector and chairman of a powerful global corporation, wants to meet with him.

At the reception, Imasu "suggests" (threatens) to Ty that he should do a job for him involving van Gogh's Starry Night, and in the course of the conversation lets it be known that he has way too much information about Ty's family and complicated, tragic past. That same night, Ty also runs into Lucy, a woman from years ago that he loved (and left) in Paris. Still feeling the attraction, she pulls a business card from the top of her Italian leather boots, a move that I need to try one of these days.

Will Ty agree to Imasu's plan, or will he counter with an offer of attempting to pull off an art heist for the ages? As the web tightens around him, is there anyone in his life that Tyler can trust? Can he ever tell Lucy the truth? Will he live to see tomorrow? And how about the femme fatale he meets on a train who is known as Chanel No. 5? Not only was Tyler drenched in sweat and fear at certain times of the book, so was I. As you make your way through this smart and stylish thriller, you might feel like the web is tightening around you.

The BooksSparks bio on the author says: "Paul Hoppe worked as a lobbyist in Washington DC, a stockbroker on Wall Street, and a screenwriter in Hollywood before writing his first novel.  He has lived on four different continents and currently splits his time between the High Sierras and the beaches of Australia." Reading The Curse of Van Gogh, you can definitely see how he has written what he knows, and that he has a great love of the arts. I really loved how descriptive the novel was, with tons of details about famous paintings, gadgets used to pull of heists, buildings, and cities, and lots of references to classical music and poetry. At times, I felt like I was walking the streets of NYC and DC with Tyler, who I pictured as a cross between George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven, Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl, and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief (which is mentioned in the book).


Initially, it took me a minute to get into this book, but once I got sucked in I was hooked. Like, did not want to do the dishes, shower, work, or go to sleep so I could keep reading kind of hooked. And like The Da Vinci Code, many of the chapters are short, so you think, "Let me just read one more. And one more. And just one more..." I do want to give you a heads up that there are some graphic descriptions of violence, but you can easily skim over those parts if you are faint-hearted.



I have heard that this is the first in a series of books that Mr. Hoppe is planning to write, all involving art and museums, and I look forward to what will be coming next from him! And, inspired by The Curse of Van Gogh, I signed up to take a course on Expressionsim at Lacma. Although, unlike Tyler, I will NOT be planning on taking any masterpieces home with me...

Book Review: Beth Kendrick's CURE FOR THE COMMON BREAKUP

Cure for the Common Breakup, by Beth Kendrick (part of the BookSparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge), is a charming Chick Lit novel, and it so perfectly fits the description for a summer beach read that I wanted to head for Santa Monica immediately. In fact, the main character is named Summer.

In a whopper of an opening chapter, we find out that Summer, a gorgeously blonde flight attendant who says that 25 is a state of mind (she is 32), is most likely going to get a proposal from her smokin' hot pilot boyfriend after they land in Paris. However, it seems that Summer is allergic to commitment, but before she can decide how she truly feels about this tragedy strikes and a decision is made for her.

While on her last flight, Summer had seen a magazine cover that touted Black Dog Bay, Delaware, as the best place to recover from a breakup. Do they only sell Kleenex and Ben Jerry's at the stores? Is Steel Magnolias on 24/7? Is the official uniform in the town sweatpants? She heads there immediately, and things immediately get really interesting when she meets a handsome stranger after swerving to avoid a turtle. She also encounters a wealthy older woman who lives in a purple house (painted that color out of spite) and owns half the town; she has a mysterious hatred for Black Dog Bay and a plan to destroy it.

Cure for the Common Breakup is so much fun; this is the kind of book you want to tear through in a weekend. It is sweet and delicious, like the M&Ms, Rolos, Twix, and other candies that Summer shovels into her mouth throughout the entire story. What I really loved about it were the details; for example, many of the businesses in town reflect the breakup theme, with a bar called The Whinery, Retail Therapy Boutique, and Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, where the innkeeper confiscates cell phones from all broken-hearted guests upon check in to prevent regrettable texts or calls (where has that woman been all my life?). The supporting cast of characters is also fantastic, from Jake, the town rebound guy ("I've cleansed a few palates in my day."), to Mimi, an unpleasant summer resident who is described as exuding the "smell of Chanel No. 5 and filthy lucre."

There is a rumor that in Black Dog Bay, when you are ready for big changes in your life, you will see the ghost of a big black dog. Although you might not spot any ghostly canines coming toward you on a deserted beach, you might be inspired to make a few changes or take a few chances in your own life after reading this little gem of a novel. And I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a fun reading experience, whether they have been married for twenty years or got dumped last night!

Book Review: Kris Radish's GRAVEL ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

I was cleaning up my house recently when I came across a picture of myself in high school. I had not seen a picture like this in years and years, and it shocked me. I searched that innocent face with the trusting eyes, chubby cheeks, bushy eyebrows, and retainer, wondering if she had any inkling of what her future would hold, and trying to find traces of the woman I would become. I then looked at myself in the mirror, hoping for some glimpse of that sweet young soul.

I wonder if Kris Radish felt that way when digging into her past for her latest book, Gravel on the Side of the Road--True Stories From A Broad Who Has Been There. This is my first time reading something from Kris, and after the first sentence ("Ordinary is very often extraordinary but experiences in this realm are usually overlooked."), I was hooked. You can tell a lot about a book from its opening sentence, and this one lived up to everything those words promised. I cannot wait to read more of her work.

I am so fascinated by the life that Kris has lead, and in these stories we find out that she is a woman who has done everything from raise babies to write for a newspaper to work as a waitress to earn money by catching night crawlers. Her fierce love for her children shines through, as well as compassion for tender souls (some who appear to be tough on the outside) who have been dealt a losing hand in the game of life.

In Jesus Drives A Thunderbird, the story that opens the book, we meet a woman (Kris) who is independent enough to have a cabin on an isolated mountain and handle a stranger at her gate.
Even Now is about the tragedy that she encountered when she responded to a routine fire call; this one will steal your breath and rip your heart right out of your chest. In Turquoise Ring, we are introduced to Ray ("He had two shirts. One plaid and the other more plaid."), a customer of Kris's at the diner who had suffered a stroke, whose simple presence helped soothe away her own anguish and loneliness.

Just the variety of experiences in Gravel on the Side of the Road are enough to make your head spin, as the book bounces from chance meetings to the sisterhood of women, peace, war, mullets, blind dates, and road trips with your family as a kid. Read this book if you want to be inspired by the ordinary moments in life that can be transformed by your attention, which is a priceless gift in these days of smartphones. I know that I am inspired to take a closer look at the people with whom I interact on a daily basis, from neighbors to the cashier at the local health food store.

In The Day They Sliced Me Open, Kris writes about how her newborn son seemed to know her voice just minutes after being born, and years later always knows it is her. Soldier Boy recounts Kris's meeting with a young man from her home state of Wisconsin, moments before hopping on a plane that would take him to a war zone; he had gotten married the day before. Becky Barton, a story that had me sobbing on the treadmill at the gym, is about a thirteen-year-old cancer patient whose mother wanted Kris to write a story about her daughter to help the family raise money for treatment ("Get involved. Never look back. Throw my heart into the air and watch it land in Becky's bony hands.").

Someone once said, "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile, leave footprints on our heart, and we are never, ever the same." Gravel on the Side of the Road has left an impression on my soul, and I am just so thankful that there are writers like Kris Radish to remind us of the beauty, wonder, and humanity all around us.

BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge: Review of Erin McCahan's LOVE AND OTHER FOREIGN WORDS

I liked this book right away, as I related to fifteen-year-old Josie Sheridan's passionate love for Dennis De Young; seriously, have you HEARD his version of "On the Street Where You Live?!"

This is technically a Young Adult novel, but (like the wonderful Wonder by R.J. Palacio), Erin McCahan's Love and Other Foreign Words is a great read that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. After reading some heavy stuff lately (Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust and You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz), it was a relief to dive into something light and sweet and fun where nothing terrible happened to anyone. Unless you count breaking up with someone in the middle of a high school dance.

Josie, the ponytail and glasses-clad narrator, is so cute that I wanted to squeeze her; she's smart (genius iq and in high school and college at the same time), funny, and just the right amount of gangly and awkward to keep her feeling like a real person. She is surrounded by an interesting cast of characters, consisting of her family, her best friends (Stu and Sophie) that live across the street, and her friends from high school and college. All of the characters engage in witty banter on everything from how a good-looking boy smells (like day-old pizza grease, it turns out) to when a couple will have kids, which reminds me a little of the Dawson's Creek days of rapid-fire exchanges. I will say that all the cleverness does get a wee bit exhausting if you are a little sleepy while reading, and there were moments where I just wanted someone to give a straight answer or be serious for a moment; For example, Josie's dad buys a journal, and when she asks what he will be using it for his response is, "Wouldn't you love to know?"

Life is going along just fine, and then one night Josie's beloved older sister Kate brings new fiancé Geoffrey Stephen Brill over to meet the family. Josie is horrified at Geoff for a variety of reasons (one being that he seems really into tick-borne diseases) and vows to stop Kate from making what she thinks will be the biggest mistake of her life. Kate tells Josie, who has been on three dates in her life at this point, that she needs to fall in love first, and then they can talk. Josie, who is wise beyond her years when it comes to book smarts and already studying language in college (she's working on a project on the different meanings words have), sets out to try to define and understand this mysterious feeling called love. (Note to Josie: Even most of us grownups still struggle with that.)

Will Josie find love? Will she be able to define something that poets and authors have struggled with for centuries? You will have to read Love and Other Foreign Words to find out, but you will definitely find a charming coming of age tale that had me laughing out loud on the treadmill at Equinox. If you are a younger reader, you might see shades of your life right now in Josie's story. Since I am (a few years) (okay, more than a few years) past high school, this story took me back to that innocent and complicated time in my life, and also made me yearn for the kind of close relationship with my siblings that Josie has with hers. Erin McCahan does a beautiful job of capturing the unique love and closeness between sisters, but also the ways they can wound each other.

How would I define Love and Other Foreign Words? In one word: Fantastic!

BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge: Review of Emily Giffin's The One & Only

 As a proud bookworm, I am honored to be one of the bloggers for the 2014 BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge! I will be reading and posting a review of a book a week through Labor Day, and you can see the full schedule for the program here. Plus, they are giving away some great prizes, like a $500 Visa Gift Card! Happy Reading! #SRC2014

Disclaimer: My son is named Dallas, my husband is from Texas, and we are huge Cowboys fans.

I try not to find out much about books I am planning to read so that I can just jump in with an open mind, but I did kind of geek out when I found out that Emily Giffin's latest, The One & Only, involved football and the Lone Star State. I have read everything she has ever written, usually staying up until the wee hours to see how they ended, and this book was no exception. 
  
(cue the Friday Night Lights theme)

The One & Only tells the story of Shea, a thirtysomething football fanatic and sports writer who has started to wonder if her comfortable and familiar life might be a little too comfortable and familiar. I pictured her as a cross between Erin Andrews  on Fox Sports and Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give, since Shea is hot but refuses to believe it, even while football players are falling at her feet and gifting her with diamonds. Her BFF since birth, Lucy, is the daughter of the superstar college football coach, Coach Carr, a man so handsome that a male sports writer once compared his looks to those of George Clooney. He also constantly calls Shea "girl," which brought to mind The Gos in Crazy Stupid Love. The story kicks off with the death of Coach Carr's wife, and while I am not going to give anything away here...I will say that certain things about the book are very predictable. But still enjoyable.

If I am remembering correctly, all of Emily's books have an element of a forbidden relationship in them (remember Rachel and Dex in Something Borrowed?), which I think is one reason why her stories connect so well with her audience. One of her books was called The Heart of the Matter, and that is exactly what she gets down to in The One & Only, in a way that would make Don Henley proud. If you have ever longed for someone that was out of reach or forbidden, or felt torn between two loves, or harbored a secret crush for years, this story will resonate with you. And beyond romance, the novel might make you consider if you are dreaming big enough and truly pursuing your passion, no matter what your age or stage in life.

If you are going anywhere near a beach or pool in the next few days, The One & Only belongs in your bag. It is a perfect summer read, and can easily be devoured in a few days or even one marathon reading session into the wee hours while the hubby and kids snooze. Even if you are not that into football and do not know a line of scrimmage from a coin toss, you can still enjoy the story, and you might even be inspired to check out SportsCenter or an actual game when the season starts.