For those who want their chick lit to have a little more meat on their bones, this is a good read. It has a darker tone, as Lisa's wild past threatens her new romance with a straight-laced businessman. Despite Lisa's experiments with sex and drugs, Ciresi rounds out the charachter by giving her a literary streak and a love for Proust. But the shadow hanging over the character is her best friend and cousin, a gay man suffering from AIDS. Far from being light and fluffy, Ciresi manages to inject humor into the novel to keep it from being depressing, and enough romance and angst to cement it in Chick Lit-ville. Throughout the book, Lisa struggles with her past and how to reconcile it with her future. I think a lot of people can relate to that better than most vapid chick lit heroines who have little or no conflict in their lives except for how to catch a man. ( )

This book wasn't what I was expecting. The tag line on the front said something along the lines of "Lisa's mother wants her to get married, and anything in pants will do". Not true. Her mother has just a minor role and I don't think she once even mentions marriage. The back of the book says:"Ditching her life as an underpaid, oversexed publishing drone in Manhattan, Lisa takes a lucrative spot at a more conservative company, and begins writing - during company time - a novel that pokes fun at corporate life. Enter Lisa's new boss: Eben Strauss. A man of manners and caution, Strauss manages to bring out the best bad girl in Lisa, and before they know it, two very different people from two very different worlds are doing the one thing you should never do at the office: fall in love." I was under the impression that the novel would be a key ingredient in the book. Not so, it plays just a very minor role. Lastly, I expected a nice, light fluffy chick-lit book, but again, not so. I'm not kidding when I say that some of the topics in the book include abortion, aids, the *holocaust* and even death. There goes light and breezy. Still this book is not a bad read. I finished it, which is a good sign and I mildly enjoyed it. Just know what you're getting yourself into. ( )

I usually don't like this type of book - but Ciresi drew me in instantly. This book made me laugh and cry along with the main character. Chick lit though it may be - it killed. Loved it. ( )

I reluctantly call this "Chick Lit." It's really more perverse, intense and tragic than any other piece of chick lit I've read before. For those of you who want to read this novel, I warn you that the first 122 pages are not earth-shattering. But on page 123, and for the remaining pages, the story becomes more complex, more interesting, more sad. For sure, this is definitely a different form of chick lit, and if you are a little tired of reading books that drop fashion designers' names like hot potatoes, then give this novel a try. ( )

This was my first Rita Ciresi book, and it won't be my last. I opened this book with the best of intentions of only reading for a couple minutes, and ended up devouring it in two hours.

The way Ciresi brings the characters to life, and weaves them into such an intricate and superb story line is pure magic. This was one book that ended way too soon. ( )