Customer Reviews

Engaging Men

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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...

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.

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.

Is it possible that a girl can "loosen" a guy up so much that he's marriage material ----- for the NEXT girl he dates? It is for Angie DiFranco, main character in Lynda Curnyn's new Red Dress Inc novel "Engaging Men." Angie really begins to rethink her dating habits once the THIRD in string of her former boyfriends becomes engaged and ready for marriage. Is it her? Is she the one that makes them ready for the alter, just not with her?

Angie's current boyfriend, Kirk seems to be just what a girl needs. He's been "loosened" by his former flame and Angie thinks that her luck may just be changing.

"Engaging Men" is a fun trip into the dating world where marriage seems to be the answer to Angie's prayers. Makes you wonder if it's a bad idea to hope and wish for something a little too much.

A fun beach read --- really easy and not too difficult for the summer days on the sand.

Cheers!

I read "Confessions of an ex-girlfriend" by Lynday Curnyan in September and I didn't think that novel was that bad so I decided to pick up "Engaging men". The book wasn't too bad but it's stick to the chick-lit formula so if you've read a lot of chick-lit novels, you'll probably figure out the ending by the end of the second chapter as I did. But getting to the predictable ending was enjoyable. I enjoyed the characters of Angie, Grace, and Justin and of course I got annoyed at the characters that we readers are supposed to get annoyed at. It was great to read a novel where the main character is an actor and she's not obnoxious like some of the other chick-lit novels where the main character is an actress(such as "You have to kiss a lot of frogs"). I didn't mind Lynda Curnyn reminding us about how great New York City because it is a great place.
So even though I knew how the story would end, I still enjoyed reading "Engaging Men". It was also a relatively quick read for me as I read it in three days. So if you've enjoyed one of Lynda Curnyn's other novels-I'm sure you'll enjoy "Engaging Men" as well.

Engaging Men is just that - engaging. Curnyn seamlessly guides the reader through the desperate, yet sometimes hilarious, scenerios Angie DiFranco finds herself in when she becomes determines to not let this boyfriend have his lid popped off by another girl. The characters are endearing and the situations are those that any girl who has had her share of dating tribulations can relate to. By far one of the best books I have read thus far!

I loved this book. I had a hard time putting it down, even to sleep at night! I loved the surprises. THis is a feel-good book.

If you've ever gotten engaged, or simply wanted to, or even if you've only thought about it, then this book is for you. Lynda Curnyn's characters are endearing and flawed and totally likable. She has an obvious love for NYC, which filters itself into virtually every bit of scenery, and a real appreciation for the human condition.

Angie DiFranco is a girl trying to get her life on track by getting engaged and finding comfort in her current career path, despite the fact that her boyfriend Kirk isn't ready to make a committment and her job bores her to tears. She embarks on a brilliant scheme to make that man come around but ends up coming to her own realizations about what she wants and where she wants her life to go.

I would give this five stars, if not for my feelings about Kirk's character. That aside, however, it's a thoroughly engaging read.

This was another in the long line of chick-lit books, and it wasn't that bad. It was quite readable, funny at times, and followed the life of Angie and her quest for love and mariage. The title and the back cover are a bit misleading - this book is not really about a woman and all her ex-boyfriends. I thought it would be, so I was surpised by that. Instead, the book is about Angie and her romantic life with her boyfriend Kirk, and how her past relationships (and his) may affect thier future. The end is very easy to figure out by the third chapter, but the getting there was half the fun I guess. This is a recommended book for light reading and lazy days.

Angie is in her early thirties and since all of her ex's are happily married or engaged she feels like it's about time that she needs a pretty ring on her finger, too! With a friend's help, Angie starts a plan of attack against her boyfriend to get him to pop the question. Juggling two jobs and a boyfriend isn't the best way to persue her acting career- so while she's coercing Kirk into marriage she starts to learn what she really needs to be happy. Happiness is definately not her kiddy aerobic instructor job or the boyfriend who wants her to "get a real job"! She learns she is going to have to get back into auditioning to fulfill her acting dreams. Little does Angie realize that happiness was right under her nose to begin with- and yes she does end up happy AND ENGAGED!

Angie is also surrounded with wonderful characters- Justin (her hot roommate who hoards old couches), Grace (georgious long-time friend), Michelle (an unhappily married old friend), Kirk (the boyfriend), her hilarious Italian family (her grandmother has found a boyfriend!), and Colin (her co-instructor on the kiddy aerobic show).

I'm even excited that Linda Curnyn's next novel is going to be centered around Angie's friend Grace! I can't wait to get my hands on that book!