Book

Yesterday I finished my latest Harper Collins First look book, Reality TV Bites by Shane Bolks. The story is about Allison Holloway a 32 year old interior designer who hails from the richest upper crust Chicago society. She's very much in the mold of many other chick lit protagonists--strong and yet weak, rich and stylish without trying, 'definitely not interested in finding a man' yet desperate to find a man...and terrified of showing her 'real self'. The two men she must choose from are Dave and Nicolo. Dave's an ad executive that Allison refers to as 'a toad' (oh yeah she has a princess complex) though a very attractive toad. Nicolo is a Dutch Italian prince who is also, coincidentally, the executive producer of the interior design reality show Allison finds herself a contestant on. As a writerly type this book was pretty bad, it followed a formula in a way that I knew what was going to happen within the first three pages of the book. As a writerly type who will have to pay back loans, I wonder if there's something in this formula...whether I could ever write a book like this. I'm not sure I could. The author often uses what the characters look like and wear as a substitution for actual depth in their personalities...not that I'm all that good at bringing depth to my own characters...And I'm trying to figure out what kind of 'chick' this book is really for. Do women like the main character read a book like this or do mothers of three on a limited budget read books like this. I don't know.

If you're sick, or you're lying on the beach, or if you don't have a vcr but want the equivalent of a romantic comedy then this is the book for you.