Customer Reviews

No Good Girls

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, let me preface this review by stating that, unlike some - maybe all - of the other reviewers that have left notes here, I'm a guy. And I mean I'm a guy's guy. I love contact sports. I drink beer (among other things). And I think that changing the sheets on my bed twice a month is plenty often. So you can imagine the horror that flashed across my face when the extensively pierced Barnes & Noble staff member advised me that, sure, they had the book I was inquiring about in stock - and I should try looking in the "Romance" section. Prior to this visit, the only time I'd ever spent in the "Romance" section was when I thought "True Crime" wrapped around to the next aisle. And so I found myself inside Barnes & Noble, face to face with several dozen Fabio look-alikes, long hair waving in some foreign salt-air breeze, pectoral muscles perfectly tanned and glistening in a setting sun, just waiting to sweep me off my feet. I cringed as I bent down to the P's to find this gem. And low and behold, there it was - No Good Girls, by Jean Marie Pierson. Without Fabio on the cover.

It seems that this book, wonderfully entertaining and witty, has been lumped into the "Romance" section only because a more fitting category doesn't exist. What No Good Girls calls for is a "incredibly well written, romantic-but-not-sappy, hilarious at times and poignant at others" section. It's obviously written from the heart, and is so incredibly relatable at points that anyone who has spent any time working, living, socializing or trying to sleep in Manhattan will swear at some point in the book that they've lived it. Our heroine Geri - with all of her insecurities - feels perfect, and could, at times, be me. Except maybe for the boobs. Couple her with a small circle of close friends in Maria, Emmy, and Sally, all with their own issues, a fantastic cast of secondary characters - we've all known a Hedda, haven't we? - and a backdrop that is the greatest city in the world, and you've got the basis for a perfect contemporary romantic comedy (are you listening, Paramount?). I'd be really interested in reading the screenplay that spawned this book, which one reviewer quite appropriately noted is too good to have been published as a mass-market paperback right off the bat.

In short, I loved the book. I love the foreshadowing from the "opening scene." I love the character development and the way that they play off of each other. And I was intrigued - right up until the end- as to why J.T. seemed to have two different personalities - the "Spy J.T." vs. the "Bathtub J.T." It's a quick read, well written, and entertaining all the way through... I can't wait for the next installment.

Buy the book. Read it. Enjoy life.

-Sean

Don't let the "romance" classification fool you. This is a story about the power of friendship, as well as the highs and lows of living and loving in the big city. Laugh-out-loud humor is often followed by tender moments which make you feel connected to this very real circle of friends. Narrated by the main character, Geri, the story is set primarily in Manhattan with a brief trip back home to the lovely North Fork of Long Island. Geri's tale is proof that the everyday people in your life (whether real, or not) can help lead you to your dream - one remarkable experience after the next. I'm certain this will be the first of many entertaining novels by Jean Marie Pierson.

I bought this book mainly because it had to do with women in New York. Being a fellow New Yorker myself I took a chance. This is a empowering book about the lives of 4 women living in New York City. Love, life, work and drama all come into one beautifully written book. I really hope Jean Marie writes another novel. I recommend this to any women in need of her "courage" to find her happiness!

I read this book as soon as I got it and now have passed it on to my friends, which only happens with books I really love. They love it too. This is a can't put it down, make you laugh and cry at the same time kind of book that made me want to move in with Geri and Emmy just to be part of the story. Jean Pierson has captured the feel of living a book much more than just reading it. After reading Sean's review, I kinda started to wish Fabio, or at least a J.T. in his Abercrombie commerical look alike was on the cover, it was well worth the read. All it's missing is the Josh Kelley soundtrack.

Like some of the other reviewers, I rarely check out books in the romance section. I agree that this book does not feel like other "romance" titles. It is more a story of real people facing daily challenges and surviving through funny-but-embarrassing-you-can't-make-this-stuff-up kinds of moments. You don't need to live in NYC to identify with Geri and her friends. This book is great for a quick read on a plane and offers a healthy dose of reality to the glamourized "Sex and the City" genre.

Totally fun and engaging reading. Great for girls because so much will hit home. Great for guys because it opens the mysterious female mind to them.

The book is the perfect balance of sensitivity, sensibility, and most of all, humor!

I absolutely loved it!!

What an entertaining way to spend some time - reading this tale of a NYC girl that's all too similar to many of us hopeless romantics around the world. If only real life had this many funny, meaningful and thought provoking situations....You're sure to find a part of yourself while you're reading this book.

As soon as I got to the last page, I started it over again. I can't wait to see what Geri's up to next.

Too good to have been released as a mass market paperback, this first novel from Jean Marie Pierson is edgy, laugh-out-loud funny, and definitely not a textbook romance novel. Reading this novel was like Girls Night Out with your best friends, commiserating, laughing, and sharing each others triumphs and heartaches. I can't wait to see what's next from this new author!

I wish you could give half stars, as this book is falling squarely between 3 and 4 for me. It definitely was not one of my favorite reads, but I still enjoyed it and thought it was fun.

I found the fact that Geri, at age 27 (or so), still had such a "fleshed out" imaginary friend a bit odd.

I did like her relationship with her friends and some of the scenes in the book were LOL funny! The author also had lots of very witty one-liners. She is clearly a talented writer. It reminded me of "Sex in the City" without all the sex and with much younger characters.

All in all, a good read.

Wannabe writer Geri knows a lot of things, but most important she hates but needs her job and believes with her heart that the man for her is out there, if she find the right atlas and a New York minute. Helping her cope is her roommate Emmy and their friends Maria and Sally; as these four musketeers lament together about a lack of good men in the city. Amongst their other moans and groans they are there for one another.

Geri thinks her luck must be changing as she has not stepped in anything in a few days and received a promotion although she stops to ponder the female equivalent to the Peter Principle as her boss wants someone to write a children's book on the Donner party thinking it must have been a fun affair. She is also dating, a miracle of sorts, except she fears her Todd's affection might be more the rebound effect as he just broke off with his girlfriend. Still as Geri writes and revises her list of what she knows beside Nittany Lion 1990s football (the'94 team should have been at least co-champs) Geri begins to understand she needs to look inside herself to determine what she wants in her one chance at life.

This is an entertaining chick lit tale starring an interesting young woman supported by her three friends, a hunk, a boss, and a tertiary cast of millions. Geri is a terrific protagonist as she heeds Sinatra's advice to make it in Manhattan, but when she thought of quitting Emmy, Maria and Sally pick her up and get her back in the rat race as "That's Life"; just like she does for them. Fans will enjoy her lament that there are no good men out there even as she understands those good men groan that there are NO GOOD GIRLS out there on a fourteen mile island where millions live and work.

Harriet Klausner