read 2022

Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars. However, Goodreads does not have half stars so I rounded this up to 5 stars.

I loved and laughed out loud so many times reading the first book in this series. The second book following personal assistant Charlize (known as Charlie) Edwards while she tries to navigate her job, her family, and her relationship with her boyfriend Jordan who has left for a two month assignment to work on a movie.

I am going to be honest. I really didn't feel the character of Jordan at all in the first book. Nothing that happens in this book had me in his corner at all. I actually felt for Charlie trying to deal with wanting her relationship to work out and realize that she is feeling attracted to another man. One of the reasons why I didn't give this book five stars, was that we had Charlie treading water and obsessing on and on about Jordan and I didn't get what was so special about him. At all. I think if the book had showed them while dating I could have seen what made him so attracted to Charlie. Instead we go to the point where Jordan is off doing his assignment, and Charlie is freaked out about their breakup (or just a break).

We once again have funny asides with Charlie's best friends, Kate and Dawn. And we have her family once again showing how crazy they all are. One of the funniest scenes was Charlie recounting how their family was going to keep away from certain topics during Thanksgiving due to what has occurred at previous family gatherings.

The writing and flow was great. I thought the whole book worked together quite well.

The ending I also really didn't feel at all. I think it was because the ending hints at possible more drama and not really a happily ever after for the main character. ( )

One of the funniest books I've read that hasn't been written by a comedian.
I laughed out loud a lot reading this book. ( )

This book picks up where A Total Waste of Makeup left off.

Charlie is still terrorized (in a humorous way) by her Hollywood actor boss, insane family and neurotic friends. Juggling all this she is also trying to piece together her love life while writing an advice book for her future great granddaughter. The advice book includes little anecdotes like You won't meet your future husband in a bar. Never drink wine out of a box. Don't wait by the phone.

A light, amusing read.

The beginning of this book gives you a huge déjà vu, and not in a good way. It’s too repetitive, way too similar to the first book, and not in the writing style but in the writing itself. Three major examples are:
☹ Exotic animals: Book 1 Drew buys an elephant and Charlie has to deal with it, Book 2 Drew buys a hippo and Charlie has to deal with it.
☹ Toilet accident: Book 1 Drew gets stuck with one arm down the toilet while he’s wearing only boxer shorts and Charlie has to pull him out. Book 2 Drew gets stuck with one arm down the toilet while he’s wearing only boxer shorts and Charlie has to pull him out. (Not joking it’s exactly the same thing)
☹ Wedding theme: Book 1 There’s a wedding being planned and the author rambles about dyed-to-match shoes, and bridesmaids’ dresses. Book 2 The wedding theme is bit more subtle, but the rambling about dyed-to-match shoes and bridesmaids’ dresses stays the same. I thought she was going to repeat the whole wedding hustle-and-bustle, luckily for the book she doesn’t too much, it’s more in the beginning.

Then the books gets better, it goes back to being original, funny (in new ways, with new jokes), and catchy.

However, there still are some major bumps:

☹ Kate’s story. The beginning is far-fetched, A guy that you haven’t seen in ten year does not propose on the day he bumps into you at a party, even if he’s your ex-boyfriend. it just doesn’t happen. Is pushing it a bit too far with the fiction. The ending of this side-story is also too rushed, underdeveloped, and not really exhaustive.
☹ This one really is personal, many will disagree. But in the book Charlie has two guys, and the author leans towards the wrong one. I totally had a reader-crush on the other one!! The author choice was so wrong, it was such a letdown that I wanted to scream.
☹ Then, the very end. Like its predecessor this book doesn’t properly end. It hints at a possible ending, but the actual goods are not there. I could understand it if there was a third book (it would have been annoying, because I think that even books in series should have a proper ending) but not being there a third book, it was just hyper annoying. I don’t want to imagine an ending, I want to read it.
☹ And finally, the little ending you get, besides the wrong guy, is sort of depressing, and I quote “So I think I’m going to spend a little while being single. Not because I don’t want to be in love with someone. But because I’ve decided—at least for now—that I need to love myself more. And part of loving myself is taking care of myself. This is what you tell yourself in real life when something goes wrong, it’s not the ending you want from a romantic book that should make you dream, and not give you a reality check. (And I’m not saying it in a bitter way because I’m married.)

What’s the point of reading a chick-lit if you get reality instead of possibility?? Don’t we have enough reality in our day-to-day life? And I don’t say it should be something crazy and unbelievable like Kate’s story, because I don’t like far-fetched, but I like happy endings.
I want to go to page 347 and rewrite everything that follows. If the book had stopped there I would have loved it, but the last ten pages are a huge no-no.
( )