TEST
A Fairy Godmother told a married couple: “For being such an exemplary married couple for 35 years, I will give you each a wish”. “I want to travel around the world with my dearest husband,” said the wife. The Fairy moved her magic stick and abracadabra! two tickets appeared in her hands. Now it was the husband’s turn. He thought for a moment and said: “Well this moment is very romantic, but an opportunity like this only occurs once in a lifetime. So…..I’m sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me”.
The wife was deeply disappointed, but a wish was a wish. The Fairy made a circle with her magic stick and…abracadabra!…suddenly the husband was 90 years old.
I like ex-trophy wife stories. What I enjoy most is the transformation and empowerment of the ex-wife. I love watching the women learn to value themselves for something more than just their looks. Plus these books are usually underdog stories, with the underdog winning. And if I am completely honest, I get a little satisfaction in seeing proof that the women whose good looks have opened every door for them face a little hardship too. The title intrigued me too, since I love blonde jokes.
Maxine Cambridge – prom queen, voted most likely to succeed and head cheerleader, class of 1987 – has been kicked to the curb at the age of 40. And now her husband is playing hardball. He emptied their accounts, leaving her very little money, and has hidden their assets. With no money, Maxine only has funds to hire a second-rate lawyer to fight her soon-to-be-ex.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Maxine has no marketable skills. She has never had to support herself. She and her son are now living with her mother in a retirement community. Things seem pretty hopeless after Cluck Cluck fast food restaurant refuses to hire her. But Maxine is determine to wear the hat with the big yellow beak, even it means begging for a job. After finding out that the two teenagers who filled out job applications at the same time as she did got the jobs, she has a melt down. Before the manager calls the police, she is pulled back to her senses when she hears her name called out. To her relief, it’s not someone from her old life, but she doesn’t recognize who this hunk is.
Campbell Barker has had a thing for Max since they were partners in chemistry lab. Of course he has changed since then. Gone is the tall, lanky boy with a golf ball as an Adam’s apple. Campbell, now staying at the same retirement center to help his dad get back on his feet after a heart attack, is not going to let this opportunity slip away. He knows that she needs time to recover, but he wants to be there when she’s ready to move on.
Maxine’s character is written as over the top. I realize that it was written that way for humor, and some of it worked very well for me. But after a while, it became distracting and vexing. The best analogy I can come up with is listening to a heavy metal band for five hours straight when your music of choice is easy listening. Even with that I still liked Maxine. She has a great relationship with her son, and she really cares for other characters and her mother. Clearly, her heart is in the right place. But toward the end, her insecurities pushed her closer to unlikable.
Campbell is a great foil for Maxine. While she is a heavy rock band at times, he is a large class of mountain spring water to a woman who has been in the desert for years. If I had one complaint, it is that he was a little too understanding.
The sensual rating is warm for a large portion of the book, but once the relationship moves forward things really heat up. There also is secondary romance that is very enjoyable, if slightly underwritten.
The plot is fairly typical for a story about a 40-year-old heroine getting a divorce after 20 years of marriage. The author does bring her own brand of humor to it and is quite imaginative. Even with all that didn’t work for me, I liked the story. I closed the book with a sense of satisfaction that the underdog had won, and karma had worked it magic; what goes around comes around.
I wavered back and forth on the grade. Funny scenarios, yummy hero, great sex scenes are all on the plus side. On the other hand, we have an over the top heroine who borders on unlikable at times, the big conflict at the end, and too many outrageous scenes. I think that if that author would have concentrated more on the emotional development in a less embellished way this book would have been a big winner for me. As it stands, it’s just a little better than average.
Grade: C+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 14/01/11
Publication Date: 2010/12
Related Reviews
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.