A blurber on the back of this book enthused that she "loved the Jane Austen-ish heroine." Reader, if that tempts you to buying this book, all I can tell you is I've read Jane Austen (even the incomplete novels), I know from Jane Austenesque, and for the life of me I can't see how Lyles' heroine, Cate Padgett, resembles any of them. She certainly isn't sensible like Elinor, talented like Marianne, witty like Lizzie, clever like Emma or level-headed like Anne. Cate is...well, nice, but doesn't stand out to me as a character and struck me as too doormattish for too much of the book. Her best moment is in the very first chapters when she locks up the drunk ex of her about to be married friend. Nor do I see Jane Austen's gentle satire of social convention and pretensions here and to me, anyway, fart jokes, "penis crowns" and strippers with the sobriquet "cheesedick" don't conjure up her wit. Humor is a very subjective, I know, but I never felt the comic scenes and jokes ever came off in this book--and despite the sometimes crudity actually my general impression of the novel was its blandness. I found the plot predictable and the prose pedestrian.
However, all this is probably to treat this novel too harshly. If you love chicklit (which, admittedly, I'm finding I don't), and want and expect a light frothy romance and not literature, this might be a good bet. All and all it's a good-hearted tale with likable characters, and I admit I was charmed by and envious of Beth's Halloween wedding (I'd want one if I got married!) and am tempted to create Jill's breakup compilation. ("Survivor," "Respect," "Rearranging," "No Scrubs," etc.). So yes, I'll admit the story had its moments.
