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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended summer chick lit, July 1, 2005
This was an immensely satisfying read, a breath of fresh air after the trite novels which usually characterize the chick lit category. I prefer the chick lit writers from Britain because their wit is dry and they can take any situation and take a look at it in perspective. The heroines of British chick lit also seem less shallow than the heroines of American chick lit. As a result, the characters are fresher and the subject is more appealing.
This book features the dating adventures of Jess Monroe, a woman who, at 34, seems happy in her single life in London. But secretly, she envies her sister, who has a perfect marriage and two children. This book takes a good, long look at the 21st-century way of dating- pulling it apart, sometimes exhibiting its merits- but always looking at it in perspective.
On her 34th birthday, Jess gets a card from a friend she detests- the friend has signed her up for a dating service, something which Jess has never even considered trying. At first, she is dead set against online dating- think of the dangers. But after receiving 48 e-mails from potential suitors, how can she resist? And some of them sound pretty decent. Alas, nothing is ever as it seems; some of the men who contact her have buffed out their profiles considerable to make themselves seem more attractive.
Those 48 e-mails are quickly reduced to 12 men, and Jess sets up dates with several. The first is Simon, a guy who seems perfect for her. But after what seems like a wonderful date, he ditches Jess, leaving her to pay the bill herself. Her friends ostensibly think that he's married and is simply a player. Nevertheless, Jess keeps on trudging along Following suit are dates with a vegetarian, and a man who somewhat resembles a Yeti, as well as countless others. Will Jess ever find The One? Will an online dating service help solve her dating problems? Or will it merely serve to confuse them?
Summa, with a dry wit, this book was extremely funny (take, for example, the scene at the beginning of the book- aka, the date with the Yeti). Sure, its not high-class literature; but what else can you expect from a chick lit novel? This is a highly readable book, not just for those who have put their toe into the proverbial online dating pool (or considered it; because honestly, how many single people are out there who haven't?), but for those who want a good summer read.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming chick lit with a serious subplot, August 16, 2005
Jess Monroe is an over-30 single woman in London who is ready to settle down. For her thirty-fourth birthday, a mean-spirited friend buys her a membership to an online dating service, complete with a posted photograph. Jess rather hesitantly accepts the gift, prompted by her friends to give online dating a try. She is unhappy being single; she is unhappy in her job as a producer at a seedy morning show; she figures she has nothing to lose. After receiving more than thirty e-mails her first day, Jess narrows the responding suitors down to three: an attractive man who may or may not be married and who bolts in the middle of dinner, a vegetarian who spends lunch berating her for being a smoker, and a man so unattractive she pretends to be someone else to get out of the date. Compounding her bad experiences, Jess's sister Olivia becomes unexpectedly ill, which causes Jess to reevaluate the way she's living her life--and to change the things she doesn't like about her employment and dating circumstances.
Jane Moore's LOVE @ FIRST SITE is a charming and witty look at the perils of online dating. Moore is an entertaining writer; her narrative voice is sharp, frank, wry, and wildly funny. In the tradition of Bridget Jones, Jess Monroe is an honest and substantial heroine, looking for love and usually striking out. While the serious subplot of Olivia's illness is unexpected in a lighthearted piece of chick lit, it does add substance to the story and is an important part of Jess's evolution from a discontented single girl to a more mature and self-satisfied woman. LOVE @ FIRST SITE is what it is: a piece of chick lit, but a refreshing and enjoyable piece.
I'm not usually into chick lit, but this is one my mom--who has had her own unbelievable experiences with online dating--picked up and recommended. And I must say, I enjoyed this book as a relaxing piece of escapist fiction. I only took issue with one aspect of the book: the use of dollars instead of pounds for currency. Jess obviously lives in London; she works for a show called Good Morning Britain, and Moore, her creator, is herself British. The book is peppered with British slang...My point is, LOVE @ FIRST SITE obviously takes place in England, and it was published there first. So why does Jess pay 75 DOLLARS to enter a speed-dating event? There are other references to money as well that I just can't recall at this moment. What, did the publishers think we Americans aren't aware of the fact that England uses a different currency than we do? This discrepancy threw off the book's authenticity for me a bit.
Overall, though, my impression of the book was a positive one. A lighthearted story with a serious edge, LOVE @ FIRST SITE is entertaining and brilliantly funny, a fairy tale with a modern twist.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Stilted and boring..., July 20, 2005
Just finished Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed then picked this one up right after...What a difference! Love at First Site is extremely boring right off the bat and the writing style is so painfully unnatural I couldn't make it past the first 40 pages. Griffin's debut, by comparison, is one of the best chick lit novels out there--very engaging with strong characters and lots of romantic suspense. Even if you like British chick lit authors as I do, don't bother with this one by Jane Moore.
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