Elizabeth Maxwell

Elizabeth Maxwell's debut novel, Happily Ever After is a charmingly offbeat read that is outrageously funny and refreshingly unique. Fast paced and riveting, the story is an interesting mix of genres but that is what makes it such a truly outstanding reading experience.

Erotic novelist and single mother Sadie Fuller wakes up to find an unexpected 2000 words in her latest work in progress (WIP). She knows she didn't write this part of the story, but trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of who did takes a backseat to her daily chauffeuring and shopping duties. During a shopping expedition, her life takes a very unexpected turn when she meets a stranger who is vaguely familiar. When Sadie brings the man with the movie star looks home, his identity leads to a rather bizarre and mystifying conclusion: the characters from her current WIP have magically stepped off the pages and into her life. The zany, rather madcap adventure that follows leads Sadie in a very unanticipated direction and forever changes her life.

Sadie has had her heart broken a few times and following her divorce, she has concentrated mainly on raising her daughter and her writing career. She gets along great with her ex and while he flits from romance to romance, Sadie has been content to avoid the dating scene. She has a no strings casual relationship with a great guy but her longest lasting and most successful relationship is with her German housekeeper Greta. After a chance meeting with her no strings guy, Sadie begins to rethink her feelings for him but she has her hands full trying to reunite the hero and heroine from her current WIP.

Written in first person from Sadie's perspective, readers gain fascinating insight into the writing process-most especially character and plot development. This interesting look into how an author creates characters and devises a storyline is seamlessly woven into the unfolding story and is in fact, quite crucial to the dilemma that Sadie and her characters are facing.

Happily Ever After is an eclectic blend of several genres but it is primarily a romantic comedy. It begins with a few very steamy sex scenes but it quickly turns to women's fiction once Sadie takes over as the novel's narrator. There is also just the tiniest hint of a paranormal aspect as well but this adds a delightful touch of whimsy to the story.

An impressive first novel by Elizabeth Maxwell, Happily Ever After is a very entertaining romance that is wickedly funny with smart dialogue and an extremely original storyline. An enchanting and magical story that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.… (más)

Happily Ever After is a cool and unique concept, centered on a smut writer who inexplicably finds her own characters have come to life. Fortunately, Maxwell did not go for the obvious path of devolving into a smut-themed story centered around the author and her fictional character. Instead, Maxwell kept things interesting with some fun dialogue, adding a fair number of surprises along the way, and diverging somewhat from the traditional ending.
Truthfully, I think the execution is mildly satirical not only of the erotica genre itself, but particularly with what the public considers to be stereotypical of the genre’s authors. A single-mother, slightly-overweight divorcee with a gay ex-husband who has to resort to placing ads in the Classifieds in order to arrange a strangers-with-benefits situation? All that was missing in Sadie Fuller’s life of being a closet erotic author was a houseful of cats.
However, one thing this book does have going for it is that Happily Ever After could easily fit into several different genres. Although it contains elements of each, it never quite manages to find a way to fit singly in any of the romance, erotica, or supernatural genres. While that could make it difficult to recommend, the book’s core plot makes the book interesting enough to likely draw a variety of readers.
In all, Maxwell crafted a story that is well-written and as creative as it is unique. I was engaged in the story by the end of the first chapter, and it was better-executed than I had anticipated. That said, there are a few issues that keep it from being fantastic, most notably being that it lacked a truly compelling element; I had no problems putting it down when I wanted. As a whole, Happily Ever After‘s primary draw is that it’s intriguing in it’s difference, and as a result, readers will likely remember it long after they’ve finished it. In short: it’s a fun book, a quick read with a distinctive, well-written story.

**Original review posted on HonestReviewsCorner.com**… (más)

Title: Happily Ever After

Author: Elizabeth Maxwell

Publisher: Touchstone

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Age Recommended: Adult

Rating: 4.5

Review:

"Happily Ever After" by Elizabeth Maxwell was definitely a fun, unique romance read. I liked how this author was able to take the reader on a intertwining of different genres to present to the me a interesting story-contemporary, paranormal(magical), erotic, chit lit, some women's fiction and romantic comedy. I liked the ride of the twist and turns as this story will take you on this fun read. I liked how this author put together this read where I can even see the main character is somewhat overweight, divorced, raising a eleven year old daughter and supports herself by writing erotica stories. Hay its a job and someone wants to do it! It really become interesting as you read of Sadie Fuller when she goes over a current manuscript to find a character and parts of the story she didn't

write...is she losing her mind? I could even feel with her from the read as fear comes when she stumbles across one of her characters while at the Target store. I really enjoyed how this author presenting the reading with wondering if ... will any of this have to do with helping Sadie find just what she has lost in her life? I thought this was some deep realization being presented here. Some of the characters were very well developed and colorful ... from having to deal with those noisy neighbors to spandex support I found the read was definitely blunt and hilarious in giving the me the reader a even closer up look at a single Mom from dating to sex few points. Now, this maybe a little odd, cute and unique read however, by picking up this read you will see in the end what this author wants the reader to understand. I got it! I also found this story somewhat predictable at times but the way this author presents "Happily Ever After" this read will keep you hooked and very entertained.… (más)