Tempting Fate

I was disappointed after hearing friends rave over this book. The main character was pathetic, annoying and selfish... so needy it was embarrassing. Parts of the plot were ridiculous. After Elliot grew a backbone and left the selfish Gabby the book got a little better. My favorite plot twist is that Claire, the ex-best friend sets up Elliot with Gabby's nemisis the "perfect" yet plastic Trish.. and they hit it off.
This book helped me come to the realization that I must just say "no" to chick- lit. Pushers not welcome!
Sadly, I believe this pathetic character is the embodiment of some shallow people I know. Unfortunately she only finds meaning in life by being desired by a man or being pregnant or mother to an infant. (None of the women are self- actualized in the book except the much maligned Natasha, who is a great feminist character!)
Oh, so I have revealed my true identity... a feminist who is insulted that this book is so popular among forty- somethings.
Ugh. At least Natasha is finally appreciated for the wonderfully strong person she is.
That was the happy ending.
That is the only reason it got 2 stars instead of 1.
( )

predictable ( )

This book is a great cautionary tale for married women of all adult ages but particularly for mid-life women. When you're 23 or 33, it's tough to imagine being 43 or 53, so I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed reading this at an earlier stage in my life.

Gaby is 43, happily married and the mother of two teenage daughters. Her life seems perfect but she struggles with the doubts and insecurities that seem to crop up in middle age. Unfortunately, she allows herself to fall for a man who isn't her husband and she has an emotional affair that leads to a one night stand. Reading this book is like going through the fallout with your best friend. Some of the book can be downright exhausting and emotionally wrenching (I had to walk away from it for a while and come back to it). There are times when you see that Gaby is so selfish and self-centered that you want to scream. But maybe that's the point - Gaby is flawed. She isn't a perfect character who makes perfect choices. She's human and makes mistakes. And in the end that made her real to me.

What really resonated with me though is the book's underlying theme of grace, forgiveness and redemption. Sometimes it is in marriage where we must extend continual, everyday grace in addition to forgiveness for huge trespasses. It's easy to walk away when we've been wronged and so much more painful and difficult to work through it. While the story had a predictable ending as far as fiction goes, in real life, the ending to this is usually much messier. I liked how this book chose to show the other side of the typical, real-life ending - what happens when we choose to forgive and how do we move on after causing hurt or being the one impacted by someone's else's mistake? ( )

I have never read any of Jane Green's books before and received this book to review.
It reads as a very cliched and formulated book and it's very clear from the very beginning what is going to happen next and indeed the end is clear from a long way off. just not my type of book at all!
The main character Gabby is a middle-aged woman and annoyed with her husband goes out with friends for the evening where she is chatted to by Matt a younger man.
I disliked her and felt nothing in common with her and couldn't imagine who would.
Sorry but I can't recomend this book ( )

The word that comes to mind is "belabored". Gabby, the main character of the book was having some sort of mid-life crisis and totally disregarded the happiness and well-being of her family to cultivate an illicit relationship that strokes her ego and satisfies her appetite for sex w a hot young surf dude/millionaire. The reader is forced to live inside her whiney, weak, vain, petty little head where she repeatedly ruminates about how everything affects her. Woe is me. She is the queen of self-indulgence.

On a side note, I listened to this on audiobook, read by the author and she was a slow reader and it seemed to add to the "belabored" aspect of the book. Several times I said out loud…"yes, we get it already…move on with the story!" Turns out there wasn't much of a story. I do not recommend it. ( )