The Frog Prince [Paperback]

Jane Porter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2005

Holly Bishop is the proverbial, small-town good girl. She always follows the rules, thinks of others first, and she never, ever makes mistakes. Until she marries the man she thought was her Prince Charming, who confesses on their honeymoon that he's not sexually attracted to her. Now, 14 months after, Holly's marriage is in the toilet, along with her self-esteem. Determined to start over, she moves to San Francisco, where she must navigate the landmines of dating in the big city. In the shadow of the Golden Gate and amid a population of wacky Bay Area eccentrics, Holly will discover that nice girls don't always finish last. In fact, they sometimes end up with everything they'd ever wanted.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Holly Bishop is still reeling from the beating life has given her. She's only 25 and her short marriage is over. She moves to San Francisco, where she knows no one, and takes a job as an event planner. Her boss, Olivia, is model-thin and confident, everything Holly is not, and Olivia becomes so concerned about Holly's despondency and lack of a social life that she takes her under her wing. Slowly Holly rejoins the land of the living. She dates an ogre or two and still makes depressing late-night calls to her ex, but she is getting out there. Then her big event looms, and in spite of all her hard work, no one shows up. Aghast, Holly realizes that she's been sabotaged. Will this be the end of her job and any progress she's made in her self-esteem? Porter's tale is entertaining and witty as she tugs the heartstrings in a big way, and readers can't help but cheer Holly on. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

JANE PORTER lives in Seattle, Washington.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Warner (May 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446694495
• ISBN-13: 978-0446694490
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #421,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Award winning novelist, Jane Porter made a smashing debut on the chick lit scene with her single title release, The Frog Prince (Warner, May 2005). With a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from UCLA, and a Master of Arts in Writing from University of San Francisco, Porter has had incredible success as writer of contemporary romance. A two-time Rita finalist, the Romance Writers of America awarded Porter the Golden Heart in Long Contemporary Fiction category in 1998.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful story, July 2, 2005

By 

Jenn (Calgary, AB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Frog Prince (Paperback)

You gotta kiss a lot of frogs to discover who you are. That's what I loved about this book. It wasn't about our heroine trying to find a guy but learning about herself. The title is deceiving. Don't expect a romance with The Frog Prince. This is a story about a woman trying to find her place in the world after it's been yanked out from beneath her in a divorce she never saw coming. Holly's journey is a beautiful, realistic tale that had me laughing and crying and thinking "Wow, I'm Holly." This is Jane Porter's first foray into mainstream fiction and she makes an entrance. I'm not a big fan of chick lit, but I'm a fan of Ms. Porter's. For life. Fantastic.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Get Over The Man You Thought Was Prince Charming, May 11, 2005

By 

Rian Montgomery "Rian Montgomery" (Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Frog Prince (Paperback)

Meet Holly Bishop. After the devastating break-up with the gorgeous and smart Jean-Marc - who was supposed to be the Prince Charming she was to spend the rest of her life with - she is struggling to accept that she is already divorced at 25. Holly now lives alone and works as an event planner in the bustling city of San Francisco. When her boss Olivia accosts her one day and says she must either do something about her personal life or think about getting another job, Holly has little choice but to join Olivia and her friends for drinks out. Although the night is somewhat uneventful and humiliating, it does show Holly that it's time to take control of her life.

As she makes her way through the ups and downs of shedding some weight and going on some laughably bad dates, Holly decides to throw herself into helping plan a charity event that benefits hospice patients. The only problem is that Olivia doesn't know what she is doing, and if she finds out.. there will most likely be hell to pay - perhaps even her job. But Holly doesn't give up, even when the going gets extremely tough. At the same time, she learns that she isn't quite ready to give up on herself yet.

"The Frog Prince" was an absolutely wonderful read. You would never know that author Jane Porter has recently crossed over into the chick lit genre from romance. The book is subtle, sweet, sometimes sad, and sometimes funny- but always true to life. Porter did an awesome job at capturing the true angst of a newly-divorced woman trying to pick up the pieces of her life. The writing in this book flows seamlessly from one scene to the next, and Holly is such an interesting, slightly flawed yet likeable character that one will feel they are there, experiencing the things she does.

I couldn't find one thing about this book I didn't like. Even when Holly was at her lowest point, she didn't act like a wet dishrag or doormat - and that, in my opinion, is highly commendable in chick lit.

Overall - this is an amazing book!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE FROG PRINCE IS THE PERFECT BOOK, September 8, 2005

By 

Kathleen Paterka "Kathleen Irene Paterka" (Charlevoix Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Frog Prince (Paperback)

I don't normally read much chick-lit, but thought I'd give this story a try - and am I glad I did! Jane Porter had me hooked by the end of Chapter One. Holly Bishop, with all her trials and tribulations, left me fascinated, but it was the "heart" of the story that really grabbed me. Holly Bishop could be any woman, and Jane Porter has written a beautiful story that reads utterly true and speaks from the heart. There's reality and truth and beauty sprinkled like fairy dust throughout the pages of this book, and the result is MAGICAL. Thank you, Jane Porter for sharing Holly's world with us all! I'll definintely be waiting for your next book!