I Want A Hawaiian Hunk!

I was fortunate enough to be included in this very fun, and for me very relatable, book tour with the Early Birds Blog Tour Group.  When I signed up for the tour, I had no idea that I would receive a handful of Jane Porter’s books!  Awesome!  So, I dug in right away and found a lot of fun in Porter’s books.

First and foremost, you must know that Jane Porter is Jane will be appearing on the Grand Central Publishing Blog Talk Radio Station on 12/5 at 1PM ET (See info on how to get in on it -in blue type- below).  So, if you are a fan, dial in and enjoy! 

Also, this delightful book has been made into An Original Lifetime Movie starring Heather Locklear and it airs tomorrow night!  So, if you’re busy reading… set your TIVO’s or DVR’s!

A little background… the heroine and narrator of this story is Jackie.  She is a 39 year old, divorced mother of two facing her 40th birthday.  Sound familiar?  TOO FAMILIAR!  So, Jackie and I are in the same boat… time to put on my comfy robe and dig in!

The Review:

Title:  Flirting With Forty, A Novel

Author:  Jane Porter

Author’s Website:  www.JanePorter.Com

Publisher:5 Spot Group – Hachette Books USA

Publisher’s Website:  www.5-spot.com

Type:  Fiction

Number of Pages: 354 (Paperback)

ISBN #:  978-0-446-69726-2

Flirting With Fortyis a “right up my alley” kind of book.  I just love getting lost in books similar to this one.  I guess you can best compare it with Jennifer Weiner’s style.  Jane Porter has written a story that divorced moms, nearing 40 can relate to.  Jackie, our main character, is a lovely 39 year old woman dealing with being divorced and a mother of two children.  The book starts out with a scene of Jackie taking her kids out Christmas tree shopping.  Of course, it was raining, the kids weren’t on their best behavior, and she is responsible for lugging it home and getting it up.  This totally cracks me up, because I HAVE been there!  So, now… I have the loveliest, pre-lit ARTIFICAL tree to avoid such drama scenes as the Christmas Tree Capers.    Immediately, I could relate to Jackie.

 

Jane With Jackie (Locklear) and Kai (Buckley)

Jane does a terrific job in bringing the kids true characters and voices to life in the story.  It sounds like a scene out of my home, only mine is worse with the twins!  Jackie hosts a Christmas Eve Party, in which she has cooked for “50″ and invited three of her friends and their families.  She goes to great lengths to cook the perfect food, have the place just right, and present herself well, only to have them all leave early and not eat the dinner she prepared.  They had assumed that they were coming over for drinks and appetizers, but needed to be home early enough to get their turkeys out of their ovens.  Jackie is devastated…. I’ve been there too!  It’s hard to adjust to a single mom life.  You don’t really fit in with your married friends anymore and you certainly cannot relate to single friends without kids. 

Jackie’s friend attempts to make it up to her by planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate Jackie’s 40th Birthday.  Jackie discovers, at the airport, that her friend cannot make it and ends up traveling to Hawaii alone.  It is there that she meets Kai and rediscovers herself.

The book is a fun read.  Although Jane claims that this is a book about friendship, I don’t think that I found Jackie’s friends to be as supportive as they should have and could have been.  It’s a perfect book for beach time or poolside… an escape.  Although, I live by the beach and my toesies are staying warm until it heats up around here! 

Favorite Quote of the Book:

“Maybe that’s why I am divorced and my friends aren’t.

I don’t agree with the way we humans function.  I don’t want to be human, mortal, if men biologically need a million women; and women get married and then bored of sex; and children battle, are difficult to raise, and then leave home and never look back.

Who made up this life anyway?  Who designed people to be so hurtful and lonely and alone?”

Ingredients For Love in Hawaii:

Mai Tai

This is the authentic traditional Mai Tai recipe from the “Mai Tai” Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. The original Mai Tai was created by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 and brought to Hawaii in 1953 at the Royal Hawaiian, Moana and Surfrider Hotels.

INGREDIENTS:
» 1 oz. Dark Rum
» 1 oz Light Rum
» 1 oz Orange Curacao
» 2 oz Orange Juice
» 1/2 oz Lime Juice
» 1 oz Pineapple Juice
» Dash Orgeat
» Dash Simple syrup (bar syrup)

PREPARATION:
Combine all of the ingredients in the order listed in a Old Fashioned style glass over shaved ice. Stir with a swizzle stick. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.

Jane will be appearing on the Grand Central Publishing Blog Talk Radio Station on 12/5 at 1PM ET.  Here are the details:

Speak live with Jane Porter, author of FLIRTING WITH FORTY, on Blog Talk Radio on December 5th at 1PM ET. If you have a question for Jane, please email it to miriam.parker@hbgusa.com. Then call into (646) 378-0039 on December 5th at 1PM. If you’d like to listen online or sign up for a reminder, visit: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/HachetteBookGroup/grandcentralpub/2008/12/05/Live-Interview-with-Jane-Porter-author-of-FLIRTING-WITH-FORTY

Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale”:

Well, first of all, I have been to Hawaii alone. I drank MaiTai’s at Duke’s and met a very handsome young man there. Although, that was a couple of years ago. I could picture in my mind the sunsets, catamarans, surfing instructors and views of Diamond Head. I could picture myself in Jackie’s scene. That was quite enjoyable.

Second, I’m a slave to Fiction. This is the kind of book that is an “escapist” book for me. It’s like going to a romantic comedy and being lost in the movie for 2 hours while you’re at the theatre. I like those kinds of books, especially when they are sprinkled in a line up of more “heavy” books. It’s definitely a pleasure read.

For that sub-genre of fiction that I am now deeming “Fiction: Women: Pleasure” I would give this book an 8. The scenes with the kids were so well written. In addition, I think Porter did a great job in building Kai to be a character that remained true to himself throughout the book.

On The Library Thing/Amazon.Com Scales:

Out of ♥♥♥♥♥:

I would give this book a ♥♥♥♥

Book GiveaWay:

The publisher has been gracious enough to allow me to raffle off A FOUR PACK of Jane Porter’s Books!  That includes:

So, if you are interested in the giveaway, all you have to do is the following:

A couple of housekeeping items:

You can purchase a copy of Flirting With Forty on Amazon.Com

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