A once celebrated playwright turned photographer, Erinn Wolf needs to reinvent herself. Almost broke and tired of her sister's constant worrying, she accepts a job producing a reality TV show. She's not thrilled with the young, brash director, but the Italian guy that rents her guesthouse seems like a promising prospect.
While it took a couple of chapters for me to get fully invested in this novel, once that happened, I never wanted to put the book down. At first Erinn and Jude didn't do much for me, but I think part of that is intentional on the author's part. Erinn is a down on her luck socially awkward person, while Jude is young and says whatever comes to into his mind. They don't click at all and she's happy to be rid of him. He originally rubbed me the wrong way too.
Enter Massimo, the classy Italian guy who knows what to say and how to treat a woman with respect. Though pushy at times, Erinn is wondering if he's part of the romantic plot materializing in her brain.
But while on location, Erinn starts getting used to how Jude and the rest of the crew operate and act. She begins thinking of Jude in a different light. The experience forces her to get used to dealing with people again instead of hiding out in her house all by herself. She works to tame her know-it-all attitude and discovers a side to Jude she didn't consider at first. I also had a kind of transformation where Jude is concerned, which was neat to see: my opinion and Erinn's opinion of Jude changing at the same time.
What I kept thinking about while I read this novel is how much this is a realistic romance novel. Yes, Jude is a young hunk of a guy who works out at the gym each morning, but he's not perfect. Erinn doesn't even like him when they first meet. And as for Erinn, she's older than Jude and not exactly the type of woman you find in a romance novel. Her face wouldn't be gracing the cover of Cosmopolitan. Even as charming as Massimo is, he has many flaws. So, while you have this cockeyed kind of triangle going here, none of the players seems superhuman. That's definitely part of why I enjoyed A Comedy of Erinn so much--these are realistic characters trudging through life and making mistakes along the way.
Bonaduce created a fascinating, funny and romantic story that includes regular people and is for regular people. It's a great storyline that is told well. There were a few shocks along the way to Erinn figuring out her life, too. Definitely a book I would read again.
Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Kensington Trade (September 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601831250
ISBN-13: 978-1601831255
I received a copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.
I read this book for the following challenge:
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1 comment:
Massimo sounds like my kind of guy! ;-)
Great review!
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