Friday, Apr 24, 2009

Book Review: Mrs. Perfect

Author:       Jane Porter

Publisher:    5 Spot/Hachette

ISBN:          978-0-446-69924-2

Website:      www.janeporter.com

Type:         Fiction:Women’s Fiction/ChickLit

Pages:        419 Trade Paperback

Purchase:    $11.19 @ Amazon.com (HERE)

The Story

“For Taylor Young life is very good. She has a handsome husband who loves her, three gorgeous children, a personally designed and decorated dream house. Suburbanite trendsetter and super mom—life couldn’t be more perfect. And as long as no one notices the fragile woman beneath her coifed and polished image, things will stay that way.

Then, a devastating secret bursts Taylor’s fairy-tale bubble, suddenly making her a cul-de-sac pariah, and stripping her of the role that defined her. With her struggling to maintain her alpha image, Taylor finds help from the unlikeliest of people, her nonconformist nemesis, Marta Zinsser. But to become the woman her family truly needs, Taylor must first believe in the person she is hardest on—herself.“

(Above excerpt is from www.janeporter.com)

The Review

I was introduced to Jane Porter’s work when reviewing Flirting With Forty last December.   Being a huge fan of the ChickLit genre, I really enjoyed reading the book and watching the Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear.  (BTW: Jane’s got a MEAN recipe for MaiTai’s that is posted on my Flirting with Forty post).

When I received Flirting With Forty for review, I was fortunate enough to get all of Jane Porter’s books including Mrs. Perfect.  I’ve just now finally gotten around to reading and reviewing it, I’m really happy that I did.  Jane Porter DELIVERS in this novel and I loved it!  (Imagine me tearing through this fun 419 page book in less than 24-hours!)   I have to admit that I liked it EVEN BETTER than Flirting With Forty!  (Hope that’s okay… Jane!) 

A neat thing that I have discovered is that Mrs. Perfect is tied to Odd Mom Out  with Marta as the heroine of that story.  Cool Beans!  Since I enjoyed her very much in this story, I can’t wait to crack open that book and read Marta’s story.  It’s a good thing it’s on the nightstand ready for reviewing within the month.

If you have never read of any of Jane Porter’s books, let me just tell you that so far they’ve all been great for me.  They are a fantastic escape from my life and her characters are so relatable!  I can completely envision them and I find myself really rooting for their successes.  Being a mom, Jane  Porter does a great job writing characters who are also moms which makes these books so endearing to me.  For example, the way Taylor’s girls are fighting in this book are written so true-to-life that I could hear their little voices in my head, which is not hard considering I can also hear mine at it in the next room!

In Mrs. Perfect, our heroine undergoes a major life change and faces challenges, daughters in tow.  How much more perfect could this book be for me?  But, then again… you just can’t go wrong with a Jane Porter book!     

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

If you’re a fan of ChickLit, Jane Porter is right up there with Jennifer Weiner and Helen Fielding.  I think that she does a great job of having “a little bit of this” and “a little bit of that” to each of her books.  You get the heartache and the sadness, but you also get the humor!  Along with those, you can count on heroines who get in touch with what’s going on inside them and overcoming the obstacles that are holding them down.  Another great component of Jane Porter’s books, especially Mrs. Perfect, is the great character development of the heroine’s girlfriends.  Jane Porter has really great insight into the female mind and it really shows in her books! 

For the genre Fiction:Women’s Fiction/ChickLit, I am going to rate this book a 9 OUT OF 10.

Guess What Jane’s Up To?

Many of you book bloggers may have been involved in the Flirting With Forty book review/Lifetime movie review last year.  It was a total blast.  When I was visiting her website, I came across the fact that Jane has written a new book.  Here’s what it’s about:

 Coming July 22nd, 2009!

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