Better Off Without Him (Romantic Comedy) [Kindle Edition]

Dee Ernst (Author)

Book Description

Mona Berman is an expert at Happily Ever After – after all, she’s a best-selling Romance writer and happy endings are what she does best. So when her husband of twenty years leaves her for somebody 15 years younger, 20 pounds lighter, and French, she’s got a lot of adjusting to do, both personally and professionally. Lucky for her she’s got three savvy teen daughters, a few good friends, and Ben, the world’s sexiest plumber, to help her along the way.

First she decides that her next book will be the anti-romance – her heroine finds the best part of her life AFTER getting dumped. Next her daughters tell her she needs to start practice dating, and summer at the Jersey shore is the perfect place for that. She’s also juggling her soon-to-be-ex, a loony aunt, and a match-making neighbor, while Ben is sending her romance-driven imagination into overdrive. Can Mona’s life imitate art? Can she write her own happy ending?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Better Off Without Him by Dee Ernst is modern romantic comedy at its best."
Reviewed by Stephanie D. for Readers Favorite

There is plenty of action and witty dialogue, and life for strong, courageous Mona is never dull. And the ending?  Mona gets what she deserves in this story. It is inspiring escapism that will make you smile.

Product Details

• File Size: 432 KB
• Print Length: 267 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477510702
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004ASNCTE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,880 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #8 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Comedy
  • #25 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Comedy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars-A Wonderful Summer Read August 25, 2011

By Dianne E. Socci-Tetro TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am quite tired of reading about the love lives of perky, gutsy, kick-butt 20 -something's and have been wondering just where the sexy, clever books are for us women (and men) of `that certain age'. Well I am wondering no more. I just hope that this author keeps writing about women and men who have actual life experience and aren't afraid to use it!

If you took Olivia Goldsmith or Suzan Isaacs and took out the mystery, you would have a good idea of Ms Ernst's "voice". This is a tale of Mona Berman,a woman of a certain age and her journey through divorce and jumping back into the dating game. While this could have been a trite book since the subject has been done so many times before...it wasn't. The author has a unique perspective on both what it feels like to be alone and lonely after a divorce and what a kind and close-knit community can do to, and for a woman once she has put herself back into the game. The characters are well written and entirely believable. The idea that Mona had money of her own but wasn't filthy rich was a happy extra. The writing was nicely tight with no superfluous angsting of any of the characters. Plenty of good, clearly written dialogue and tight plotting. A fun and funny story line and wonderful secondary and tertiary characters.

The idea of "life imitating art" is certainly apt since Mona, a romance writer, has gotten the idea that she wants to write a book outside of her norm and soon she finds that her life is imitating her heroine. There are some sex scenes but nothing neither offensive nor overly descriptive. The secondary characters are almost better than the story line and I would love to see another book with Mona, Ben, Aunt Lily , her daughters the wacky neighbors and her assistant.

Please write a sequel!

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars loved it January 4, 2011

By iluvbooks

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This first novel for Ms Ernst is well written, easy to read and fast paced. The characters are full of life and instantly likable, except for the villain, of course. Mona the main character is quick tongued, witty and strong. She introduces us to her friends and family, every quirky, but well meaning one of them, while trying to navigate the world as a new divorcee.

Great romantic comedy, will keep it on my "to read again" list and pull it out on the beach this summer.

Looking forward to upcoming novels from this promising author. Would love to see a sequel to Better Off Without Him.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book May 6, 2012

By outspoken1

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved the story line and the characters were awesome. I found myself laughing out loud while my husband eyed me suspiciously. The thing that made me give it only 3 stars is that the author came across as a hot love scene writer and left me feeling deflated. I really am being honest when I say; most readers want those details. You don't have to go to the erotic side, but some good, meaty, details with a little groaning and murmuring thrown in would have been nice. Since there are only insinuations that things happen, well it's a little like having sex but missing the orgasm by a breath. I feel the author failed to pull the trigger on what could have been the best book I have read in a while
If none of that matters then this is a really great read. It matters to me.

More About the Author

Dee Ernst was born Elizabeth Diane Ascoli in Newark, NJ. Her family moved to Morristown, NJ when she was still a toddler. She started writing stories on a battered Royal typewriter when she was about ten or twelve, and she graduated Morristown High School determined to pursue a career as a writer in some form or another (she considered advertising, but luckily came to her senses). Creative writing majors were hard to find in 1974, so she attended Marshall University as a journalism major. That wasn't working, so she tried Education, but that didn't quite work either. Several jobs and years later, staying home with a three-year-old and trying to figure out what to do when she grew up, Joan Hamburg on WOR radio in New York was interviewing someone who said if you wanted to know what to with your life, remember what you were playing when you were ten, and try to turn that into a career. Since Dee was writing stories at ten, she sat down and wrote her first novel. It went nowhere. Her second novel got her a terrific agent and upwards of fifteen rejection letters (She reread them all in preparation of this biography). Her third novel, Better Off Without Him, garnered even more rejection letters from a much higher caliber of editor. Undaunted, she self-published Better Off Without Him in October 2010. She is now waiting patiently for fame and fortune.