Customer Reviews

Cheating at Solitaire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was simply entertaining! I enjoyed reading it and it reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones humor. Not sure that I've ever chuckled out loud while reading before (perhaps that says more about me or my reading list), however this book did it. I'm already looking forward to Ally's next clever book. You'll read this book and pass it on to a friend. It's that good.

I definately advise going ahead and ordering learning to play gin at the same time, once you finish this book you will want to keep cruising right along into the next. It is fast paced and realistic. Overall a great read.

Ally Carter, Cheating at Solitaire (Berkley, 2005)

Here's something I never expected to see: a chick lit novel that remembers the "lit" half of the equation. Young adult novelist Ally Carter, best known for the Gallagher Girls series of novels, actually started her career with an adult novel, Cheating at Solitaire. And while I'm willing to admit my reading in chick lit has not been nearly as extensive as it has been in other genres, I've certainly read my share of the stuff, and this is the best chick lit novel I have read to date.

Plot: Julia James is a wildly successful self-help author who's made her living saying that society's perceptions that women must be married in order to be happy are silly, and counseling single women on how to lead a fulfilling single life. (At no point does she say that she's against marriage, though, which becomes a big point later in the book.) Lance Collins is a chronically out-of-work actor who tries something outrageous in order to talk to his agent, Richard Stone. Thanks to a torrential downpour, Julia and Lance end up sharing a cab, and Stone, seeing the two of them together, gets dollar signs in his eyes; how much would Collins' stock go up if he were on the cover of every tabloid in America with the Queen of Single Women? The two of them end up being tabbed an item, and Julia is worried her stock with her readers will plummet. When sales of her books double the next day, she realizes things are getting way, way out of hand, but how to go about rectifying all this? And what's she going to do with Lance?

Sure, it's your basic chick lit premise, but Carter wears it well, straying from the formula (as so few books of this type do) to offer commentary about everything from interior design reality shows to alcoholism, and even more, this is a book that's actually, honestly, genuinely funny, rather than sticking to the sarcasm and deadpan that marks so many of the books in the genre I've read. The final couple of chapters were something of a letdown; I'm assuming they were suggested by either Carter's agent or her publisher, and not faulting her for them. Other than that, I'll say it again: the best chick lit novel I've ever read. *** ½

This is one of her earlier books and is followed by a sequel. Her books flow well and carry a good story line. They are clean so they are appropriate for teenagers to read.

I read this because I liked the ones Ally Carter has written for teens. It is a fun, easy read. I hope to read the sequel.

Cheating At Solitaire is the first book in a long time that has made me laugh OUT loud while reading. It was fast, fun, and so witty. Ally Carter clearly writes from her experience and reminds us all why we should cherish our independence, whether married or single.