Maggie is known to be the sensible one from the Walsh sisters and she always does the right thing, so when she walks out on her marriage everyone is surprised. Finding herself hurt and feeling lost she goes on a trip to Los Angeles to stay with her friend Emma, where she lets her guard down and starts to act like she has never done before. She thinks that this is what she needs to find herself and be able to move on. After a few wild episodes, including a fling with Troy which leads to heartbreak yet again, exploring other grounds with Lara and a lot of recollections of the past, she realizes that being the boring one and living a safe life is ok because this is the way she is, and no amount of adventure will make make her happy like Garv, her husband does. While reading this book I kept waiting to be hooked but as I got nearer to the end I realized this wasn't going to happen. Having read three other books by Marian Keyes (Sushi For Beginners, The Other Side of the Story and Anybody Out There?) which I have enjoyed, I found myself a bit disappointed with this one. I felt that the story wasn't gripping enough and I couldn't really get into it, it seemed like Maggie's character wasn't interesting enough and something was missing. As always though, the witty parts are great, I like Keye's sense of humor and I was glad that it wasn't missing in this book. For me it wasn't hard getting through the book, maybe because I kept expecting it to get more interesting as I read on, but in the end I was let down.
Anna is in Dublin staying with her parents while she recovers from some serious injuries, however her mind is back home in New York. At first what happened to Anna is a mystery, with the occasional mention of her husband Aidan who doesn't seem to be around anymore. When she moves back to New York the story starts unveiling through Anna's painful thoughts. She tries to appear as everything is fine but in reality she is willing to do anything to hear from Aidan, even lose her glamorous job as a PR for a makeup line. While Anna is learning to deal with the truth she also discovers something that she never expected. At first this made her furious at Aidan however in the end it turned out to be what she needed to move on and the closest to Aidan she could get now that he is gone.
This book is written from the perspective of Gemma, Lily and Jojo, three women striving to be successful. Gemma and Lily used to be friends, until Lily stole Gemma's boyfriend Anton, although it's debatable whether she really stole him since Gemma and Anton broke up prior to them getting together. Jojo is the sexy agent at Lipman Haigh involved in a complicated love affair with Mark, one of the partners at the company while she herself is striving to become partner. The three women connect when Jojo agents both Lily's and Gemma's book and as the story evolves, everything gets more complicated, from their love life to their jobs. This is typical 'Chick Lit' but Marian Keyes did a great job at making the story enjoyable where you get to both laugh and cry. It's a great book for a relaxing read with nothing too intriguing to figure out and very easy to go through. For some reason I found myself really rooting for Gemma and was a little disappointed with how her book turned out, but on the other hand was pleased that everything else worked out for her. Knowing how each of the women perceive the situation made me connect with the three of them, and although at times I didn't like Lily in the end I really wanted her to get back with Anton. I also found the three different characters to be real, with a little extravagance thrown in to make it more interesting but I can easily see how anyone can feel the way they did given the circumstances. Definitely need to read a book like this every now and then.
