Customer Reviews

The Men I Didn't Marry: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I rated this book as a four stars because it was truly fun to read - an entertaining book. I laughed at a few scenes and I thoroughly enjoyed the premise and the writing style.

Now, for my negative comments. Throughout the entire storyline, I kept thinking "gimme a break". First off, it felt to me as though the authors never really had the main character deal with her pain - then again, looking up old boyfriends might have been her way of dealing???? Secondly, some of the lines in this book were downright corny - they made me cringe EEKKKK! and thirdly, the fact that the boyfriends she tracked down were all: 1) thrilled to see her (right!!!), 2) still in love with her (right!!!) and coincidentally still single (right!!!!!) - nope a little too convenient for me. Oh, did I even mention the absolutely perfect children who adore their mother so much (18 and 19 years of age) that they call her everyday AND fly to an Island to surprise her and be with her because they are afraid she is going to be lonely!! (yeah, that's going to happen in real life!!!)

Yet, I loved reading this book. So, there you have it - I am recommending a seriously ridiculous, but wonderful book.

I can enjoy an entertaining, "unrealistic" book or movie from time to time but, this book was unbelievable and ridiculous beyond compare! I spent much of my time saying to myself, "Yeah right." or "Gimme a break!" ...or rolling my eyes at all the one liners and cliches. The authors tried way too hard to be witty. If they removed half of the "humor" and replaced it with substance, (like real character development) this might have been a worthwhile read.

Not since my last Cecelia Ahern book have I hated a character so much as I hated Hallie. She's supposed to be 40 but I could barely believe that she was 21. I kept reading hoping that the ending would turn out better than the rest of the story but no such luck. When I put the book down I just wished that she'd have gotten run over by a New York cab.

The dialog was trite, the name dropping was weak and the whole Angelina Jolie bit??? Give me a break!

Yeah...it was that bad.

Early on, there is a plot twist in this novel that, alone, makes it worth the price of the book.
I won't spoil it for you, but this is my favorite of the Schnurnberger/Kaplan novels. As they said on "The View"--a great beach read.

No matter what any other reviewer has said about this book, READ IT.
Joyous, empowering, funny and sad. Ultimately, a triumph of the
human spirit. Is it somewhat unrealistic? Probably. Most of us would
not have the financial means to do what this woman did, but her eventual
healing and strength is so uplifting and would be of great benefit to anyone going through a painful divorce or separation. Unlike Danielle
Steele's characters, this woman does not go crawling back to the miserable guy who dumped her. This woman has the self-esteem to wait
for the right person, even if he never comes along. I didn't want it
to end. It made me laugh out loud. I then lent it to my friends who
loved it as well. Definitely a woman's book - and not for the ultra
conservative type. If you read it when your depressed, it is guaranteed (by me) to make you feel better again. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!

As Hallie and her husband Bill are dropping their last child off at her dorm, Hallie is looking forward to spending some quality time alone with her spouse. Unfortunately, Bill has other plans, namely a new apartment and a new relationship with his trainer Ashlee (with two "E's"). After emerging from a fog of Oreos, home shopping channels, and general depression, Hallie picks herself up and takes her daughter's advice to go out on a hike. Of course that ends up being a disaster, but a chance meeting with a Tom Sheppard on the side of the road hatches a plan. Tom is a friend of billionaire Eric, one of Hallie's college lovers. After hooking up with Eric, she wonders where the rest of the guys that got away are and what they are up to.

And so the quest begins. Many of her misadventures result in hilarity, as she discovers that most of her former paramours are single, and a few seem pretty interested. When she hooks up with Kevin, an underwater photographer based in the Caribbean, the sparks fly and she thinks he might be a match. But could conservative lawyer Hallie find everlasting happiness with bohemian Kevin?

The writing duo of Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger has penned another hysterical tale filled with wry observations and quick pacing, though a bit far-fetched, but hey - it's fiction after all! It is nice to see adult heroines once in awhile, and the duo does a great job of fleshing Hallie's character out.

The authors of this book are very, very funny, but they've also created a lead character you care about. Hallie is a grown-up woman with a full life -- she's a lawyer who has two college-aged children and a hilarious best friend (who provides Hallie with funny sides trips to Singles Night at the Opera and a Cellulite Exorcist). But Hallie's life comes across as very real, and when her husband dumps her and she goes in search of four old boyfriends you're rooting for her to make the right choice. I loved it!

More to the point, who on earth even wants to go see what our ex boyfriends look like after 20 something years??? Come on already!
This is an ultra light read that will soon be forgotten and never recommended.

It's flat and full of voids, the characters are not really developed and I just didn't buy the whole plot here, if you can call it a plot that is.

This is not the kind of book that will leave a print on your mind.... It didn't make me laugh out loud like Marian Keyes does every single time, nor did it entice me to find out more about the main character.

In all honesty just another plain lifeless chick lit book I won't recommend to you.

Hey, I would have stayed with the guy on the island..but anyways. This was a cute read while I was traveling by plane to Chicago. Some things were unrealistic, far-fetched. But overall, I laughed outloud a dozen times and it was a fun read.

Their son Adam lives away from them while their daughter Emily starts at Yale so Hallie and Bill Pierpont drop her off at the New Haven school. While Hallie planned on them stopping at a romantic inn in Vermont, Bill informs her that he leaving her for Ashlee.

Over two decades of marriage abruptly over, Hallie mopes until Emily yells at her to get outside and run. Hallie heeds her daughter's advice and hikes near Cold Springs Connecticut, but everything goes wrong until Dr. Tom Sheppard finds her and takes her back to her car. He apparently is a close friend to her college sweetheart Eric Richmond. Eric and Hallie see each other, but she finds herself attracted to the steadier unselfish Tom although Hallie insists at least to herself that she only wants a fling.

In spite of a few days in hiding and her humiliation while with the hen crowd, Hallie seems to adapt too easily to the out of the blue dumping. Yet in spite of her rapid adjustment (most of her hibernating is off page), readers will appreciate her return to life with her perils of Pauline hike, subsequent rescuing by Tom and reconnecting with Eric. This fine contemporary that shows there is life after dumping keeps fans wondering whether Hallie will choose the steady Tom or the flamboyant Eric.

Harriet Klausner