Customer Reviews

Ex to Grind, An: A Novel

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

 

 

Melanie Banksis a VP Financial Planner @ Pierce, Shelley and Steinbergin in New York City. Her Ex, Dan Swain is a "has been" football player for the NY Giants. After getting divorced, Melanie has to pay him alimony to keep him accustomed to the lifestyle he had when they were married. He has no job and spends his days (and her money) by going to the gym, drinking expensive champagne, wearing designer clothes and "hanging out".

Melanie hires the well-known matchmaker, Desiree to help her find a love interest for Dan. You see, in the fine print of their divorce papers, it states that if Dan gets married or lives with another woman for 3 months, she no longer has to pay him alimony. Thus, her search for the perfect Love Connection begins.

I have been a huge Jane Heller fan & have read all of her books. An Ex to Grind and Lucky Stars have been VERY different from her earlier novels that were always filled with fun & crazy plots that guaranteed laughs. These last two, anyone could have written them - they did not have that unique quality that I had come to love.

Jane Heller is by far my favorite author and I've read everything she's written. I have been waiting for about 7 months for this book to come out just to get my next dose of Jane Heller, but I was a little disappointed by it. It is your typical humorous, happy ending sort of book (which is why I love them so much), but Melanie, the main character, isn't very likeable. While she seems career-driven and successful, I don't believe she was realistic.
No doubt that I will await the next Heller book and I do not regret spending the time reading 'An Ex to Grind,' but it seemed a little under par for her normal work.

I've never read any of Ms. Heller's novels. The closest I have come was starting "Princess Charming" and then stopping it after three chapters because it did nothing to make me want to finish.

I gave this novel a chance after a favorable review in the local paper. I stuck with it, hoping that it would get better. It did not. The protagonist is so annoying I found myself rooting against her at every turn, hoping she would wind up alone so she could continue to be miserable. If ever there was a character who deserved to be miserable, she's the one.

Save yourself the time/aggravation and leave this novel on the shelves.

I've enjoyed previous books by Jane Heller, but this one was a stinker. Mel, the main character, is a mean-spirited workaholic. Her magic change of character at the end of the book just wasn't believable. I disliked her through the book, and didn't like her better at the end. Why did Ethan like her, anyway? The only thing she seemed to have going for her was good hair and big boobs. Her personality was rotten.

There was also a petty attitude regarding women paying alimony. Why shouldn't they? I was left wondering if Jane Heller got stuck with a nasty divorce settlement.

I won't be rushing out to buy any new books from this author. Try the library for this one.

After a whirlwind courtship, college sweethearts Melanie Banks and Dan Swain settled into a life of luxury, as he gained a coveted spot on the NY Giants football team, and put her through graduate school, wjole his famed helped her secure a clientele that opened doors in the financial world. Fast forward 13 years: Dan is unemployed due to a career ending knee injury, and massive depression. Melanie is now the primary breadwinner, and finally declares that she's had enough of his moping around, and files for divorce. In the settlement, he gets the fancy apartment, they share custody of the dog, and he gets a huge alimony settlement, much to Mel's disgust.

Due to a co-habitation codicil in their divorce agreement, she decides to hire a matchmaker to provide the perfect woman for him, so that he'll break that cohabitation rule, thus relinquishing his alimony. What she doesn't count on is his finding Leah - the perfect woman, who brings about all kinds of positive changes in Dan, including his new quest to become a college football coach. Suddenly Mel is finding herself torn between the husband she used to love, and the hunky artist across the hall. Of course, if either of them found out about her plot... it could be the end of both relationships.

The story had a lot of promise - it's really hard to actually like Mel. She's so conniving, and never really saw that her current fortune had a lot to do with Dan's early support. Despite that, Heller's crisp dialogue and witty banter keep the story from becoming mundane. I was pretty disappointed with the ending - I hate ambiguous endings when you've invested so much time in a book.

I don't know what happened to the witty novelist who wrote INFERNAL AFFAIRS and THE SECRET INGREDIENT. AN EX TO GRIND was a clear departure for Ms. Heller, and a truly disappointing one at that.

Melanie Banks, a most unsympathetic character, is a financial analyst who is griping that, since she was the breadwinner in their marriage, she has to pay her husband maintenance in their divorce. She hits upon a clause in their divorce agreement that gives her a light at the end of the tunnel and she single-mindedly pursues a mean-spirited course of action to get a bit closer to that light. She doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.

There's nothing funny in this novel. There's nothing even mildly witty in the dialogue. Melanie uses her friends, shirks her real responsiblities and wastes everyone's time, not least the reader's. I kept reading because I wanted Melanie to receive her inevitable comeuppance, and while the sequence when that arrives is indeed sweet, I thought she deserved worse than she actually got. Given that she's the "heroine" of the story, I suppose that was too much to ask.

I hope that this author returns to form in future novels. I miss the crackling dialogue, intelligent styling and interesting heroines that made me a Heller fan many moons ago.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I though that Heller did a great job at addressing modern day gender equality issues that people (mostly women) often ignore. I couldn't put this book down! But I hated the ending. One of those ambiguous, up to you to decide type endings... :-/

Melanie Banks is seeing red and his name is Dan Swain-her ex husband.

Melanie and Dan were married for about a decade before a injury on the football field (he was in the NFL) sidlined not just Dan, but Mel as well as their marriage.

Because Mel was the primary breadwinner she is forced to pay Dan allimony and she does not like it. It does not help that Dan is spending the money on expensive things that he does not really need just to make her mad.

Then Mel comes up with a plan with the help of her friend. There is a clause in the divorce decree that says that if Dan lives with a woman for 90 sustansive consective days he forfits the allimoney. The plan that Mel and her friend come up with involves setting up Dan with a women so that he forfits the allimoney.

After a few bad dates Dan meets Leah and they begin to cohabitate shortly afterward. At first Mel is thrilled that her plan works, but then she notices that Dan is starting to chance back into the Dan that she fell in love with. She is guilty about falling back in love with her ex as well as pulling the wool over his eyes-but she trys to do it. Does Mel get to have her cake and eat it too? Read An Ex to Grind

Melanie Banks, a Manhattan financial planner had been married to Dan Swain, a former New York Giants football player. He supported Melanie through Business School, and sent many big name players her way as she was getting started. He was injured and that was the end of his career. Melanie would not listen or understand why Dan would not get a job. She left him and moved into a place known as the "Heartbreak Hotel". Melanie becomes obsessed with Dan's spending habits. Determined to stop paying Dan alimony, she concocts with the help of her friends an improbable plan to find Dan a love interest. Dan falls in love with Leah Purcell. Melanie fails to see how much Evan, another resident in her building, is interested in her. Naturally, things turn out for the best, or do they? The ending leaves you hanging. Normally I'm a big fan of Jane Heller, but this was a weak effort.

I had to put in my 2 cents here as all the reviews seem very negative. I greatly enjoyed this book. Sure, Melanie is a little unlikable in the beginning, but she becomes much more likeable by the end. The ending is not at all predictable and Heller keeps the plot rolling along with her usual wit. It could have been a bit funnier, I suppose, but I thought it was quite good. If you're a fan of Ms. Heller's it's a must buy/read.