Customer Reviews

How I Stole Her Husband

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Have you ever cringed because of a book title? I certainly have on many occasions. However, I've discovered that some of the most awful-sounding titles cloak some of the best stories. This is one such book. I absolutely loved Liz Ireland's previous book "Three Bedrooms in Chelsea". This latest novel is yet another wonderful read!

Meet Alison Bell, our main heroine. She was once a rich girl and grew up in a very nice part of Dallas, TX, but her father has since went bankrupt and went to live the simple life on a ranch. Alison is now on her own and in her late twenties, living in a squalid apartment, and looking for a new job. She finds a wonderful opportunity in the newspaper and goes to inquire about it. The ad was looking for a nanny, with possible relocation to New York City. This particularly appeals to Alison since her best friend from college relocated there years ago.

Imagine Alison's mortification and surprise when she discovers the woman who is interviewing her for the nanny job is none other than Pepper McClintock. Not only was Pepper a rival of Alison's since the tender age of 5, but Pepper had stolen and apparently married Alison's one true love, Spence Smith! Pepper and Spence are married with a beautiful child, and very well off, while Alison is single, poor, and looking for work as a nanny.

However, Pepper manages to talk Alison in to taking the job. Alison discovers a few things pretty quickly. First off, she isn't really nanny material. Second, Pepper is certainly holding a grudge against her. And third, she isn't quite over Spence yet... The entire situation is a recipe for disaster! When they do relocate to New York City, things get even more insane.

Despite the ridiculous title, I loved this book. Liz Ireland has crafted a fantastic, multi-layered and impossible-to-put-down story. She seems to have a knack for creating irresistably offbeat characters with both good and bad qualities. I must add that this book really much about stealing husbands and getting revenge. (The back cover certainly exaggerates). Alison is a great main heroine despite her many weaknesses and passivity. The plot, which goes from the present to past tense (so the reader can see why Pepper and Alison have so much angst between them), is absorbing and exciting.

There were a couple of things in the story I found irritating. One was Spence's character. He wasn't in enough scenes for the reader to get a good sense about his personality, and when he did show up, he seemed lifeless and like a cardboard cutout. (What DID Alison and Pepper see in him??) Also, as mentioned above, Alison was very passive at times - to the point of me wanting to give her a good shake. However, even those things weren't enough to make this less than a five star read.

Overall, this is one book you do NOT want to miss!

Former debutante Alison Bell had it all. The rich daddy, the McMansion in a Dallas suburb, the expensive private liberal arts college, the handsome boyfriend... Her pampered existence is no more when a series of errors in judgment causes her father to lose the family fortune.

Fast forward ten years: Alison is destitute after a series of dead end jobs have left her penniless & unfulfilled. An ad for a nanny seems too good to be true. When she meets the woman of the household, she realizes it was in fact too good to be true, as her would-be boss is her high school nemesis, Pepper, at whom she tossed horse doody when she was five. In high school, Pepper stole the love of her life, financial whiz Spencer, who is now Pepper's husband. Pepper is living the life that Alison dreamed about. After mulling the offer over with the aid of her two best friends - one who said run, the other who said take it, she takes the job, as Pepper has assured her that bygones are bygones. Not surprisingly, Pepper was not honest. Alison finds herself in over her head with a troubled toddler, an uncooperative maid, a constantly absent father, and an unfaithful Pepper who figures her job ended after childbirth. And she's nursing a broken heart over Spencer, who takes every spare moment he can to reminisce about the good old days.

When the family finally relocates to New York, Pepper continues to make Alison's life unbearable. But time spent with her best friend and Finn, the brother of her other friend, who wants to be more than her friend helps may it more bearable. But with unresolved feelings for Spencer, she pushes Finn away, staying primarily for young August. When she finally gives in to her passion for Spence, her life is suddenly turned upside down as she has become what she always dreaded - the other woman. Will she find love everlasting with Spence? Will she ever overcome her esteem issues and stand up to Pepper? And what about her growing attraction to Finn?

While a great premise, and written with very witty dialogue, it's disappointing that we never really get to know either of the male characters, particularly Spencer - he's rarely around to get to know, we know more about him from her high school memories than his current life (probably why she still cares for him). But the story is enjoyable, and her interactions with Finn make you realize that she might be chasing after the wrong dream.

I almost passed this book by because I took it for yet another dreary chic lit Bridget Jones imitation but I was facing a long train ride and really wanted something light and breezy to read so I bought it. Lucky me. The heroine is very well written. She's not dumb, or pitiful and she actually grows up and discovers that having isn't always as satisfying as wanting. The villainess of the book, Pepper is suitably nasty and the New York scenes are all mostly funny. I had two small nit picks though. Spence, the love interest falls flat when he finally makes his adult appearance and the the apparently prerequisite strained mother/daughter relationship thing has been done to death. Just once in a chic lit book I'd like to see a heroine who has a reasonably healthy relationship with her parents.

Anyway, the book is a very amusing way to spend a few hours.

I had my eye on this book for awhile but I just recently purchased from Amazon. I'm so glad that I did. I won't recount the plot since other reviewers have already but the book was never boring for me and I read it an afternoon. Alison is a great character and Liz Ireland wrote it so you do root for Alison and want the best for her in the end. Liz Ireland also does a great job of creating characters so you know who to root for and for who not to root for. The title does make you think of something different than what the book actually is but the phrase "How I stole her husband" does tie in with what happened to Alison in the book-you'll just have to read it to find out how. I would definitely recommend this book to any chick-lit reader. In the future, I will definitley be reading more of Liz Ireland's books.

I figured this was some story about a slutty nanny in the mold of Paris Hilton (not that she was ever a nanny), but it's really about a less-than-glamorous woman named Alison who takes a job out of desperation. She ends up working as a nanny for her childhood rival, Pepper McClintock. Pepper stole Alison's boyfriend in high school, but their rivalry goes back to age 5, when Alison threw horse dung at Pepper during Pepper's extravaganza birthday party.

Pepper puts on a facade of niceness but quickly shows her true colors, forgetting to reimburse Alison for money Alison spent on Pepper's daughter's bathing suit ($108), becoming hysterical when Alison gives a Dove bar to Pepper's daughter, and sleeping with a guy on Alison's bed, then refusing to change the sheets. Given how awful Pepper is, the reader is actively rooting for Alison to steal Pepper's husband.

However, you can tell Alison is blind to the husband's faults, and so certain plot developments are not a surprise. That said, the book is really well-paced, especially after the very beginning, and Alison is a very funny character with lots of one-liners and snide observations. She is not always the best-behaved, but most readers will identify with her flaws and wishful thinking. The novel takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it's a page-turner.

I am not usually a fan of Liz Ireland. Her previous book left me blah!

However, in How I Stoler Her Husband, the author manages to tell an interesting tale of chick lit with a little twist.

I really got into all of the characters in this book even though I must admit that "Pepper" was kind of your standard fare evil-rich woman that you find in so many chick lit books. Its hard to believe that anyone would tolerate these types for very long - so this makes the story a bit of a stretch for me.

However, I enjoy the relationship between Al and August (this kid is going to need therapy) and even Al's friends are interesting and play a semi-important role in the book. The character of Spence feels as though he just "appears" in the story and then pops out and in again. This character did not feel fleshed out properly to me.

The writer has an engaging writing style and the story is fun although it is far from deep.

The character of Al is truly a doormat (as one of her friends points out to her) and this kind of removes some of the pleasure of reading this for me. I would have liked to see Al with more backbone - but then again, this book would not be possible if Al was written in this manner.

Overall, a very good choice.

How I Stole Her Husband is a very enjoyable read to anyone who has ever felt bad about themselves or is having a hard time finding a book that the average person can relate to. The characters are all unique and you find yourself drawn into every second of the book to find out what happens. I never found a boring moment where i just wanted to skip ahead because what i was reading wasn't interesting. I also enjoyed the creativity not to many books out there make you feel like you could actually be in that situation, which gives it appeal. I would definatly reccomend this book to any girl, sorry i don't think the fella's would enjoy this one.

I found the characters to be so life like - it made the novel even more entertaining. You just want Alison to be happy and wake up and smell the coffee. Everyone in high school had that one girl that made them feel inadequate and in this book that is Pepper. What a likey name for a stuck up princess. I really liked the book!

I've loved Liz Ireland for years. The characters in this novel are completely believable to me, especially Pepper (the villainess). And I found Alison to be adorable. This book and Charmed I'm Sure are my favorites by this author, whose new books I never miss out on.

Alison Bell is anything but ordinary. Down on her luck, she is forced to take a job as a nanny working for former classmate and boyfriend stealer, Pepper. While working as the Smith's Nanny, Alison develops a special relationship with their daughter August and with her former boyfriend Spence who is now Pepper's husband! After a move to New York City, the story really starts to pick up and show its true colors. What unravels is an intricate story full of past grudges, past and present loves and the desire to be accepted. A charming, light-hearted read for any woman!