Customer Reviews

Learning Curves: A Novel of Sex, Suits, and Secret Affairs

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

 

 

I had a really time getting interested in this book. I wasn't a big fan of the character, Harriet (Jen's mom), and wasn't looking forward to reading too much more about her and her interactions with Jen. Luckily Harriet was not in all that many scenes in the book.

Once I got going with the book I enjoyed it. I found most all the characters likeable. I didn't necessarily feel like I got to Jen all that much but there was enough to work with and relate to.

The book picked up and I sat down and read straight through the last 80 pages. I would recommend it.

This "chick lit" book is better then most - an intelligent heroine does more then just worry about her love life. There is a bit of mystery to it as well. It is not often you read books about MBA students - as an MBA grad myself, it was great!

This book was truly enjoyable. This book is the 2nd I've read written by her. I enjoyed it and kept wanting to read more!

I can't write, that's why I am not a writer. Here is a game for you: count the number of times the main characters "sigh" or "frown" on each page... The writing is painful: she frowns, he frowned, he sighs, she sighed... I am frowning and sighing trying to get through this book.

Since I used to live in London, I buy any chick-lit that's based there, whether I think it looks interesting or not. This book stuck out at me since it's rare to see a chick-lit book that explores mildly-intellectual things (business ethics for example) while still telling a single-girl-coming-into-her-own story.

The premise of the book is that Jen's mother wants her to infiltrate her estranged father's company to find evidence that he is linked to some illegal business dealings. Jen's parents divorced nastily fifteen years before, and her mother went on to start an "ethical" business consultancy to compete with her father's "big business" company. Jen joins the company, and quickly right becomes wrong, left becomes right, the good guy becomes the bad guy.

With a neat and tidy little twist at the end, the book is clever and tells a good story. It drags on in parts, and the dialogue isn't the greatest (the "real life" conversation between Jen and her boyfriend ordering takeout made me want to scream) but I definitely think it's a great escapist chick-lit book, ranking up there with Sophie Kinsella and Helen Fielding.

Usually Townley's novel are kind of funny and a little over the top. I adored her first book but thought he second was a little boring.

This one does not feel so much like a chick lit novel to me. Yes, there is the requisite single girl and the mother and the misunderstandings with the dad, but this book felt more heavy handed to me. Like the author did not know what to do next and went into a different direction.

The result is a so-so novel. A bit on the "yeah right" side. I had a lot of problems accepting the basic premise which is that our main character applies and gets into an MBA program cauz her mom told her she had to do it in order to help world peace. Its okay as a library rental - don't spend the money to buy this one.

It was a quick, lightly entertaining...I'll read something by the same author in the future, I'm sure (although I'd probably get it from the library!)

I liked this author's first book, Little White Lies, but this is so much better. Its centred around corporate intrigue, family feuds and corporate greed, and also has a great love story and a character who actually rings true instead of the usual airhead.

I picked up this book used when I was looking for some light summer reading, and in that sense, it fit the bill. Main character Jennifer Bell (a 20-something single, of course!) has recently broken up with her boyfriend. She and her ex had traveled the world on various environmental causes, but now Jen is back home working for her mother's company, Green Futures. However, Jen's mother convinces her that her father's company, Bell Consulting, may have something to do with illegal business dealings related to rebuilding homes following the tsunami in Indonesia. The plan is for Jen--who has been estranged from her father since he divorced her mother when she was 16 years old--to enroll in a MBA course offered through Bell Consulting as a means to spy on her father and his company.

So, that's the setup. And, of course, as is typical for any chick lit novel, Jen meets a man along the way. And, even more de rigueur, there are complications resulting from this. (Although, unlike what the subtitle would suggest, there is actually very little sex.) By the end of the novel--as it often turns out--all of the problems were of course a great big mix-up, and everything works out for the best.

Was I entertained by this story? Yes, I was, for the most part? Did it follow a somewhat predictable path familiar to many chick lit-type books? Yes, most definitely. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you are simply looking for a light read as I was. In the end, I would read LEARNING CURVES to be about 3 1/2 stars.

This is only the second book I have ready by this author. I loved her first book. I do agree, it took a little longer to get interested in this book, but once I got into it, I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I loved her relationship with Daniel Peterson. if you are looking for a book that just takes you away for a few hours or so a day from day to day life then I definitely recommend reading this book. Just take it as pure fun!