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Editorial Reviews
One day I’m a food stylist in California and the next day I’m back in Connecticut creating a catering business to get my sister out of debt. That’s not a bad thing. The bad thing was to learn our first job was catering a hunt breakfast for the new girlfriend of my ex-boyfriend. Yes, him. Atty at Law David "I Can Act Nice, But Not Be Nice" J. Resnick. The same David I left Connecticut for in the first place. What could I do? I couldn’t help myself and the theme of this hunt club breakfast became Blood and Guts. Sure, Bel, as a pastry chef, wore surgical gloves during the preparation of this feast. She didn't want to touch it or look at it. But she since went to Cordon Bleu in Paris, she can make cardboard delicious. The hunters loved it—the tripe piccata, the stuffed hearts, the blood orange salad, and the ubiquitous Bloody Marys. They were practically licking the heating trays. Not the super-lawyer up from the city, though. That would be Joel Bernstein. He’s a younger, cuter, sexier and could be smarter Alan Dershowitz type. He starts flirting with me. Why? Then he wants me to go out to dinner with him because he couldn’t eat breakfast. Under duress from my sister, Bel, I went. And yes, Joel was very appealing but here’s the thing. I swore off men after David. You would have, too.
My life was spinning out of control between these two guys. Within days of getting a rave review in the local newspaper, Joel calls and announces I’m being sued for defamation of character. He’s the lawyer and David’s the plaintiff who's claiming I put him up for ridicule in front of the whole county.
I’ll have you know *I* am the wronged party! And ridicule is a small portion of what David deserves after all he's done.
Somehow, even now I’m not quite sure, while lecturing some single women about how to find a guy (as if my track record is so impeccable), I start talking about how your relationship is not low maintenance, that you have to make it the first priority in your life. Suddenly I become the Mating Maven—what the heck is that, I’d like to know—I’m on TV, the radio, I have a book deal and I’m in demand.
All I really know is that I’m in love with Joel, the lawyer who’s going to take me to court and grind me into the ground for my ex-, who’s thinking “some people need dying” and I’m probably at the top of David’s list.
All together now. Draw a circle in the air. Make a slash through it and say “Not Low Maintenance.”—Viva Miller
***********
Not Low Maintenance has just been nominated for The Best Romantic Comedy of 2010 in The Romantic Review.
My life was spinning out of control between these two guys. Within days of getting a rave review in the local newspaper, Joel calls and announces I’m being sued for defamation of character. He’s the lawyer and David’s the plaintiff who's claiming I put him up for ridicule in front of the whole county.
I’ll have you know *I* am the wronged party! And ridicule is a small portion of what David deserves after all he's done.
Somehow, even now I’m not quite sure, while lecturing some single women about how to find a guy (as if my track record is so impeccable), I start talking about how your relationship is not low maintenance, that you have to make it the first priority in your life. Suddenly I become the Mating Maven—what the heck is that, I’d like to know—I’m on TV, the radio, I have a book deal and I’m in demand.
All I really know is that I’m in love with Joel, the lawyer who’s going to take me to court and grind me into the ground for my ex-, who’s thinking “some people need dying” and I’m probably at the top of David’s list.
All together now. Draw a circle in the air. Make a slash through it and say “Not Low Maintenance.”—Viva Miller
***********
Not Low Maintenance has just been nominated for The Best Romantic Comedy of 2010 in The Romantic Review.
Related Reviews
The concept was cute, and the relationship between the sisters was lovely, but it just wasn't written with finesse. Adequate, would be the best description. I didn't hate the book, and in fact, there were several passages that I highlighted, because I did like them. Overall, however, it wasn't a stimulating read. There was a lot of character thinking, vs very little character action. It was just an okay read. Some say that since it was only $0.99, that makes it worth it, and maybe they're right, but I've read a lot of books at the same price point that were much better. My recommendation- read the sample before buying.
As in "Sweeps" which I devoured, the story of a strong young woman's struggle to attract and hold her one and only is marvellously told. Like travel in spectacular country, there's always much to marvel at.
Until the end. An error.. A cumulative poison comes into play - but the one chosen is not in fact cumulative. And this does tend to suspend belief. However in an ebook that could be easily fixed .
Until the end. An error.. A cumulative poison comes into play - but the one chosen is not in fact cumulative. And this does tend to suspend belief. However in an ebook that could be easily fixed .
Okay the actual writing is pretty decent here. The dialogue is witty enough, although definitely not ground-breaking. The thing I have a problem with is the plot. I don't want to spoil it for people genuinely interested in reading the book so I will only say that it seems a bit like the author felt like the twists and turns were going too deep so she took a convenient short-cut at the end to bring us to "happily-ever-after." So I found myself staring at my kindle saying, "Really, so that's it?" Not a very satisfying read, but I did enjoy the authors style of writing it at least.
This was a good read! It was comical and enjoyable with fun characters. The plot was full of twists and turns that made it interesting to read and not predictable at all. Albeit the unsought fame the main character achieved was a bit far-fetched, it was still entertaining. The only part of the book that was just too unbelievable was how everything was the secret she kept about her ex-husband. Why would she have kept that a secret? That didn't really make sense to me. I enjoyed the resolution regarding the ex-husband, thought it would have been nice to see him suffer just a bit more. All-in-all a nice read!
get it and Read it. It's totally a chick lit book but it was fun and there are things you don't expect that totally catch the reader off guard. It was fun to read and i hated putting it down even when i had to so i could get the lil one to school or get to work myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and want to read more by this author.
It was funny, and the love story was very sweet.
It was funny, and the love story was very sweet.
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Viva's a food stylist (which means she arranges food to be photographed...never read that one before) who drops everything (& apparently quits her job, tho it's never addressed) to fly back home to the East Coast with the thought of rescuing her sister (Bel) from a poorly executed business venture in nuts. Not just any nuts, tho! No, these nuts are "crystalized...in demerara sugar and liqueur."
Just an FYI, there's a lot of food descriptions throughout, so if you're on a diet, this might not be the book for you. But I digress.
Bel is a talented chef, so the sisters decide to pool their resources to make some much-needed money by catering for the well-to-do inhabitants of Connecticut. Through their endeavors, Viva manages to anger her ex-fiance (David), meet a potential new beau (Joel), get sued (by David through Joel), become an impromptu relationship expert (with some surprisingly decent advice...think He's Just Not That Into You), & become embroiled in a murder mystery (but that doesn't come up until much later).
There really is a lot going on in the book, but it's surprisingly simple to keep it all straight. Viva is very likeable, as is Bel, & I found myself wishing I was their long-lost sister. Joel's a sweet guy, & the exchanges between him & Viva added some humor & spice. David is a complete jerk, & there's really no love lost b/t him & the reader. Morgenroth's sense of humor is steady, & I was chuckling through most of the book, though not regularly laughing out loud.
Dialogue was strong & occasionally eye-catching. That a lawyer would pursue the woman his client is suing seems unlikely, but Morgenroth makes it work (even if your eyebrow rises occasionally). I was kind of annoyed at having to read Espanola spelled Espagnola (b/c that's not how the town spells it...it's supposed to have one of those little wavy lines above the n), but that's just being nit picky.
The bottom line is that this is a cute, pleasant story that is certainly worth 99 cents. Unfortunately, I found the tale somewhat forgettable, despite it holding my attention for several hours. There's nothing earth shattering here. This is just a pleasant way to spend a few hours. So I'll give it 4 stars b/c the writing was decent & the story, entertaining. I'm kind of left feeling ambivalent about it, tho.