Ms. Murnane Shows Quite A Sassy Sense of Humor

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I have to be completely honest…. I’ve never received a self-published book for review before.  And, when this one came it was right about the time of the “Bad Review/Bad Author Controversy.”   So, I was a little afraid after reading what was going on there with Trish.  But, Maria’s dad wrote me a personal little note with the book and, frankly I liked the feel of the book… the cover… the pretty paper… the cute pictures at the beginning of the chapters.  Yep, this one was being scooted up the pile.  Plus, after reading my last review book, I wanted something light-hearted and fun.  This book was exactly that!

I have another admission.  The main character’s name is Waverly Bryson.  Throughout the story, people ask her, “like the cracker?”  I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.  I must be the only person on the planet who does not know what a Waverly Cracker is.  I still don’t know that they are.  But, there are like A THOUSAND recipes on-line for dishes that have Waverly crackers in them.  This one is by far my favorite:

Homemade Candy Bars

Place 25 crackers in an ungreased 9-by-13-by-2-inch pan. In a saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add milk, graham cracker crumbs and sugars — bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Pour half of the mixture over crackers, carefully spreading to cover all the crackers. Top with another 25 crackers. Spread the remaining sugar mixture and top with another 25 crackers. In a saucepan over low heat, stir peanut butter and the chips until melted and smooth. Spread over crackers. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into small squares. Yields about 3 to 4 dozen.

 Waverly crackers (you'll need about 75)
1 cup butter or margarine (don't use spread)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

So, I wonder if they are still available for purchase in store.  If anybody has the answer… let me know.  I want to make these candy bars!  I looked on Nabisco… can’t find them.  Looked on their parent company, Kraft… can’t find them.  Are my Waverly Crackers a discontinued item?  So sad, if so.

Enough on my rant on Waverly Crackers, but I had to bring it up because I’m a Scorpio and it’s driving me CRAZY!

Onto the review…

The Review:

Title:  Perfect On Paper, The Misadventures of Waverly Bryson

Author:  Maria Murnane

Author’s Website:  www.mariamurnane.com

Publisher:  Winks Ink

Publisher’s Website:  www.winksink.com

Type:  Fiction

Number of Pages:  314

ISBN #:  None stated

Waverly Bryson is a late-20-”Something”-Year-Old living in San Francisco.  She works for a PR/Advertising Agency and represents sports companies.  When we first meet Waverly, we also are introduced to her two closest friends, McKenna and Andie.  Waverly is trying on her wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials to Aaron, the “man of her dreams.”  Her dreams are crushed when he calls off the wedding.  As cute, smart, tall, thin, and successful as Waverly is, she is really down in the dumps about the breakup and doesn’t have any good dating experiences for at least a year.  Now… in my opinion… if I were that young, I would not be wasting my twenties away pining after a man who did that to me… but, that’s just me!  (I’m so bad!)   In any event, Waverly takes it hard but continues to see her friends and focus on her career.  Her dating adventures are engaging, vividly written and funny as ”HE double L.”  I was laughing out loud to myself reading it… you gotta just love feel good books!

Waverly represents a basketball player named Shane who she takes to a trade show/convention aka “The Super Show.”  There, she works her tushie off and, at the end of the conference, ends up at a large party hosted by her client.  It is there that Waverly meets Jake (hunka hunka), the blue-eyed babe from Atlanta.  Jake was Shane’s college roommate and is a sports med guy for the Atlanta baseball team.  Waverly, while waiting for her co-workers to arrive, gets quite tipsy on “Rookies” (a cocktail that I’ve never heard of before and sounds totally lethal).  Needless to say, by the end of the night, our heroine is falling down drunk.  She somehow manages to make it back to her hotel (I always wanted to know how she got there… I thought maybe it was Jake… but, the book never said… either that, or I missed it…).  Hungover and bummed out, she makes it back to San Francisco.  Being in sales myself, and having been to Vegas in my 20′s, I can say I’ve been in similar types of situations.  So, Waverly’s experience was a bit of a walk down memory lane with quite a few chuckles thrown in.  I especially liked the hot-dog wielding, belly bumping, greasy man (read the book and you’ll find him easily!).

Waverly has a series of dating adventures, times with her girlfriends, and experiences at work. She works with this woman, Mandy, who we grow to despise… poor, misunderstood, Mandy.  In any event, I really like the “I kissed two Darrens last night” story and Ian the salad bar, “touch my muscles” guy (eewwweeehhh!).  Oh, and look for Andie’s bathroom tale of horror!  As a reader, I could easily relate to Waverly through many of her misadventures (except, I’m not tall and thin, shucks!)  Waverly’s life takes some pretty big changes towards the end of the book and she learns some valuable lessons along the way.  You find yourself really pulling for Waverly to achieve that happy ending, and I think she gets there.

The ending of the book is funky… I can’t tell if I like it or dislike it.  I’ll leave that up for the future readers to decide on their own.  I would lean towards liking it…  I think I just need a sequel!

I’d compare this book to a “Sex In the City” or Jennifer Weiner type of book.  It’s a fun read and I did laugh out loud at several parts in the book.  I’m learning, about myself as a book reviewer, that every book for me cannot be deep and heavy.  Don’t get me wrong… I LOVE those books that exhaust my mind and change my life.  But, with a capital “B,” I have to have those “in between” books that make me happy, that are easy to follow, that make me think, that make me laugh, and where I get lost in the story.  This was that book for me… almost similar to Flirting With Forty (although a different genre, it gave me the same type of satisfaction).  This book is perfect for single 20-something year old women, especially career driven.  And, if you’re like me and enjoy a wide variety of fiction, you may very well enjoy this book.

I think that Ms. Murnane has a bright writing career ahead of her and this won’t be the last that we hear from her… at least, I hope. 

Favorite Quotes of the Book:

(When discussing “dating disqualifiers” at the singles table at her associate’s wedding:) “We all agreed that the best disqualifier of the table belonged to Christopher, who cracked us up with stuffed animals in the back window of her car.”

(Still at the wedding:) “After a quick scan of the dance floor, I spotted my tablemates front and center.  They must have done some group tequila shots in my absence, because they were on fire.  Hank and Amanda were making out.  Matt and Lisa were dirty dancing.  Greg had his shirt off and was twirling it over his head as if he had just scored a goal in the World Cup.”

(Waverly, while talking to Jake and ALWAYS putting her foot in her mouth:) “Suddenly I realized that a lot of time had passed, and I still hadn’t said a word.  Say something Waverly!  ‘I went to Brazil and Argentina a few years ago,’ I blurted out.  ‘It’s a total party down there.  I’ve never kissed to many boys in my life.’ OH MY GOD.”  (Remember, this is her talking to the guy she has a crush on!)

“Rita dressed me in a pair of white linen pants and a white cotton tank top, and then Liz and Cricket touched up my hair and make-up.  Once I was finally primped and ready to go, the four of us got into a limo and drove to the beach on Half Moon Bay.  There we met a photographer named Jan and his four-person lighting crew, which had roped off a whole area for the photo shoot.  The girls primped me again, and then Jan spent nearly four hours taking about 180,000 pictures of me frolicking on the beach.  I felt like I was in a maxi-pad commercial.”

“We turned back to the dance floor, and he put his hand ont he small of my back.  Once again, his touch nearly burned a hole right through me.”

Sher’s “Out of Ten” Scale:

According to the author, this book is “dedicated to any woman who has ever been on a really bad date or realized halfway through the workday that her skirt is on backwards.”  I’d agree… it was that type of book… witty and charming.  So, my readers, I have to give this one a rating based on its genre.   I mean, it’s certainly not a “heavy” literary style that will blow your pants off and make you go, “HOLY COW!”  But, it is a book that I looked forward to reading, like a delicious little treat.  It would definitely be a book that I would recommend or lend to a girlfriend.  Personally, I carried it around everywhere I went and read it whenever I had even 5 minutes of waiting time.  Simply, I liked it!  So… for a light-hearted, FUN read… I’m giving it a 8 out of 10 rating.  I think it would make a great romantic comedy movie – big screen or made for tv.  I’m a big Harry Loves Sally, Love Actually, Bridget Jones, Pretty Woman, A Walk to Remember, chick-flick kind of gal.  I love fun, girly romantic comedies.  It’s just who I am.  If you’re like me… you’d like this book.

On the Library Thing & Amazon.Com Rating:  ♥♥♥

Where To Buy The Book:

For great pricing on this book, go to Amazon.Com (click here).

Thank you to Pump Up Your Book Promotions for including me in this book tour.

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