Disengaged / Beth Orsoff

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Chick-Lit

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

An entertainment lawyer and movie buff, Beth Orsoff lives in Los Angeles with her husband, a movie studio archivist and co-author of a book about the history of the MGM studios. Orsoff has three other books, Honeymoon for One, Romantically Challenged, and How I Learned to Love the Walrus. For more, visit the author’s website.

Description:

Allie Zenet is a thirty-something accountant who is thrilled when her boyfriend proposes, because getting married and starting a family is something she just assumed she would do some day. Then Allie starts second-guessing.

Appraisal:

The definition of the chick-lit genre is broad enough that you’re never sure exactly what you’re going to get and, unlike the romance genre, you're never sure how it is going to end. My preference is for stories that feel realistic and, even more important, characters who make me laugh. The basic story of Disengaged is so real as to be a cliché – doesn’t every person get cold feet at some point during their engagement? But how the story plays out is anything but clichéd.

The main character, Allie, is slightly uptight (what would you expect from an accountant?), yet very likeable. The other characters are idiosyncratic, from her co-workers, who provide a perfect foil for Allie, to her stuck-in-the-sixties Mom, whose example taught Allie what she didn’t want to become. Throw in an ambitious, Mama’s-boy fiancé with his control-freak mother, add a best friend, who happens to be a guy, and the story can’t help but be funny.

Orsoff takes the story in some directions I’d never guessed. Each time I thought I saw where it was going, she would throw a curveball I didn’t anticipate. I’ve read each of Orsoff’s books, and this is the best yet.

FYI:

Some adult language and mild sexual situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

I read a beta copy prior to release and can’t evaluate in this area.

Rating: ***** Five stars