Engaging Men [Paperback]

Lynda Curnyn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red Dress Ink (Numbered Paperback) | Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Angie has had three serious boyfriends, none of whom she married and all of whom married their next girlfriend--proving that men are in fact like tight lids...one woman comes along, loosens him up, leaving him for the next woman to pop off the lid. But Angie had never benefited by this theory...until now. She realizes that her current boyfriend has already been "loosened" and she would like to pop him open, by getting him to pop the question. The author of Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend will utterly engage readers with her vibrant new novel that chronicles Angie's angst and euphoria as she resolves to "mate" it in Manhattan.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

According to Angie's friend Michelle, men are like jars: they need their "lids" loosened before they're ready to take the plunge into marriage. Angie's boyfriend, Kirk, is a prime candidate for lid loosening, and with the help of Michelle, Angie starts being less available and more mysterious, and it works. She gets the long-coveted invite to Kirk's parents' house, and Kirk becomes even more passionate, at least when he's not consumed by his work. Angie's own career as an actress is floundering, in large part because she hasn't been going to auditions since being cast in an exercise program for children on cable. When a big network expresses interest in the show, Angie is forced to decide whether she wants to chose the safe route or pursue more challenging opportunities. And as Kirk inches closer to the big proposal, doubts begin to plague Angie: Is he really the guy for her? Curnyn, author of Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend (2002), delivers another fun and frothy crowd-pleaser. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Lynda Curnyn lives and works in Manhattan. She is currently accepting applications for a husband. Please send photo (of the ring). In the meantime, she is hard at work on her third novel, Bombshell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373250282
• ISBN-13: 978-0373250288
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging novel..., May 12, 2003

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Engaging Men (Paperback)

Having read Lynda Curnyn's Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend, I had looked forward to reading her second novel. Engaging Men is one of the best RDI's offerings thus far.

This romantic comedy centers on Angie DiFranco's desire to cope with the heartbreaking fact that most of her ex-boyfriends plunged into marriage immediately after they'd broken up with her. Was she somehow responsible for this? In order to tarnish the cycle, Angie, with the help of her friends, sets up a game plan to secure a marriage proposal from Kirk, her current beau. However, the aforementioned proves difficult, especially when Angie begins to question her relationship with Kirk...

There are some fun twists in the novel.

As mentioned earlier, this is one of RDI's best installments thus far. Curnyn's characters are endearing and the situations the protagonist faces are realistic. I also love how the author describes New York City with such passion and conviction. The aforementioned city is the perfect backdrop for the story. Despite some loose ends (some of the characters vanish without so much as a postmortem), this is a great novel to read in one sitting. Highly recommended...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a little too preditcable, March 27, 2005

By 

M. Link "magykal2321" (IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Engaging Men (Paperback)

This is the story of Angie, an actress and customer service rep.
It's a typical chic lit read, about how she's 31 and wants to marry her
boyfriend, so she goes off on this
wild ride of popping his top off so that he'll propose to her.

Right from the start you just know that Kirk isn't the one she should be
with, even though he's "perfect". In the typical chic lit formula she goes
through all the phases of discovering her true self, and deciding if Kirk
really is Mr Right, or if she just has it in her mind that he should be.
She asks the question, does she love him enough? To which she normally
replies yes...when in the reality the question is does he love her enough to
allow her to be who she wants to be?

While I enjoyed the story, it wasn't one that I loved. It was too obvious
in a lot of ways. However, the last 40 pages or so were the best in my
opinion. There is a second story involving the same characters which will
be read shortly, and I hope there is "more" to it than this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enaging characters and storyline!, April 20, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Engaging Men (Paperback)

Angie is a struggling actress in New York. She also has a penchant for dating men, dumping them, then getting invited to their weddings. After the third boyfriend in a row calls to advise he is on his way to the altar, Angie decides that she is tired of "loosening the lid" for other women to pop open, and sets out to make her current beau, Kirk, her betrothed. Though they have been dating for nearly two years, Angie has yet to meet his family who live near Boston.

She enlists advice from an old friend from work, who later turns out to not really know what she is talking about. From day one, she plays games with Kirk to become more elusive. It works, and he starts to take the bait. Then Angie wonders, "what was I thinking" as she evaluates whether or not they are meant to be. She is still trying to find herself and not ready to start a family, while Kirk is a workaholic, driven to succeed with his start up software company, and he is not really supportive of her chosen profession.

Angie's family is a hoot - a loud, proud, Italian family from Brooklyn - especially her 84-year old grandmother who is tired of being widowed and steps out with the local butcher, much to Angie and her family's chagrin. They are the polar opposite of Kirk's frosty parents.

Is Angie really ready to settle down and settle all for the sake of being married? Is there perhaps someone else she has had feelings for all along? Maybe someone right under her nose...

The only flaw in the book was the lack of depth of some of the characters - particularly Justin and Grace. But given that the book was first person - it is probably understandable. Looking forward to reading the follow up - Bombshell - which highlights Grace's romantic struggles.