Customer Reviews

Off the Record: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What would you do if you found out a childhood schoolmate had named a famous love song after you?

When Jane Marlowe, a highly organized lawyer about to be made partner at her firm, finds out from her brother that the kid that grew up across the street from them has written a song about her, she is confused. After all, she had never gone out with Teddy, the now-famous rock star in question. She doesn't want to believe it. After all, she likes to keep her life organized and complication-free. She doesn't have time for this.

But unfortunately her brother is determined to push her into the spotlight and shed light on the fact that yes, she is the "Janey" in the song. Jane meanwhile decides one night on a whim to live it up. After all, how often is a famous love song written for you? Her life quickly turns into talk shows and interviews. But are things what they really seem? And what about Drew, the guy at her office that seems sort-of interested in her?

I thoroughly enjoyed Off the Record. The characterization is excellent, the plot believable and fun, and the story line unique and refreshing. O'Connell's writing style is fast becoming one of my favorites- she has a knack for telling an excellent story with just a hint of subtle romance and uncertainty present in the background. Best of all, Jane was a great main character. She was smart, funny and quirky enough for anyone to like.

Other than a tiny bit of predictability found in the story, I couldn't find much I didn't love about this book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for a fun abd thoroughly enjoyable read.

Jennifer O'Connell's "Off the Record," centered around Jane, an attorney in a Chicago law firm whose life was revolved around her work. She was seen as the boring Jane, who did not know how to have fun and was perceived as an incredibly serious person. Even her out of state co-worker, Drew, seemed to have her all figured out. Out of the blue, her brother Andy told Jane that she could be the Janey in the hit single "Janey 245" by the once popular Teddy Rock. "Janey 245" was a big hit in the late 1980s, in which Teddy Rock wrote about this hot girl whom he so desired. Teddy Rock used to live across the street from her but Jane had not much recollection of him. Jane's life became out of control when Andy made it known to the public that she was indeed The "Janey 245."

This was quite an entertaining book. The characters were well-developed and the plot was actually quite engaging. It was also fast-paced and contained many funny moments. This was definitely a better than average book in this genre.

Off the Record was so much fun. I'm a big music buff, so it was fun to read all the "fake" articles about Teddy Rock when he was a big star, and then watch him try to make a come back. Jane was someone who was likeable, if flawed, and I liked how Teddy's attempt to come back paralleled Jane's own realization that maybe she needs to make a sort of come back, too. Jane's family and her friends rounded out the story to create a really fun book.

This book was fantastic. From the main character who discovers, years after the fact, that she inspired a hit rock 'n roll song, to her brother who sets her up her public unveiling, the story kept me glued to the pages. The newspaper clippings at the beginning of each chapter give the reader a great and amazingly real life-like (he supposedly broke up a Julia and Keifer's engagement) glimpse into the super stardom Teddy Rock is trying to get back. Janey is sweet, smart, and funny even as she's trying to figure out her increasingly perplexing situation. Drew, a lawyer in Jane's office, adds another problem for Jane, and throughout the book I didn't know who I was rooting to win - Teddy or Drew. From the start this book is a keeper, and the ending was absolutely perfect.

With the dancing girl on the cover, I sort of expected a rock n' roll romp type of story, but that's not what I got at all. I was prepared for Jane to be the good girl who always did what was expected of her, but I got a lot more. I always got the feeling she cared for her friends and family, and when Teddy showed up I liked that he made her life a mess. But even more so than Teddy, I liked that there were different types of things going on so the story didn't revolve around the rock star (coming to terms with her dad's death, shooting for partnership, attraction to a co-worker even though she knows better, a brother who is the opposite of her) even though that seemed to force Jane to make a choice of what kind of person she wanted to be. I really liked this book and thought it was a lot of fun.

I have been wanting to read a good music chick lit novel for so long now. This one truly delivers. The characters are so funny and it takes you back in time in some ways. I felt like a college student again. I loved Janie -- she is a lot like me. This is for any music lover, or any girl who has always dreamed of breaking out of her shell and becoming a rock goddess.

Jane is a lawyer with just a slight case of OCD who just wants to make partner at her prestigious Chicago law firm. When her brother informs her that he just discovered that the mysterious woman in an old rock song is her (and the performer a former neighbor), she balks. How can she be this rock star's obsession, when the last time she saw him, they were 11?

Her brother manages to make a media frenzy out of the situation in order to help a family friend populate his bar. Soon, Teddy Rock's team is contacting her and filling her quiet existence with lots of turmoil, as well as booking her on Letterman, where she makes a splash. Just as she is about to find out if the office lothario Drew is all she has heard about, Teddy comes to Chicago to renew their friendship. As she and Teddy grow closer, and she and Drew work together on a large case, she questions where her future loyalties and desires lie.

Once again O'Connell has told a believable story with equal parts romance, emotion, and humor. She does a great job revealing Jane's transformation from caterpillar to social butterfly while not betraying her character. About the only thing that I found fishy about the book is the age of the characters verses the childhood memories and pop culture references - seemed to me the author was off by a decade, and they should have been early 40's not early 30's. Overall it is an enjoyable voyage of one gal's self discovery.

This is one of the best chick lit books out there! The story is upbeat and keeps you entertained throughout the entire novel, the pacing is excellent, and you just don't want to put it down!

There's more to this book than the back cover describes. Jane, the main character, is an uptight lawyer who's trying to make partner in her firm when her slacker brother watches a "Behind the Music" type show and realizes that Jane's the one who'd inspired "Janey 245," the hit of the one-hit-wonder Teddy Rock. Jane eventually gets sucked into this world and begins changing her life around bit by bit to better fit the sort of wild girl that's depicted in the song, the wild girl she's never seen in herself.

I literally could not put this down. Each chapter begins with a newspaper clipping about Teddy Rock in chronological order so you get to read "firsthand" about his rise and fall - and now, his attempt at a comeback. The pacing, like I already mentioned, is also excellent. You discover a little more about Jane's childhood and so forth in each chapter, a little by little. It really leaves you wanting more!

I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking for a enjoyable read. I can't decide if my favorite book of hers is "Bachelorette #1" or this one. Either way, I can't wait for her next book!

I was anxiously waiting for this book to come out and I was not disappointed. I read it in one evening. I thought the book looked thin and was afraid it was going to be too short. The type of the book is on the smaller side so there really was plenty of story. I've read Dress Rehearsal also and loved it and now I'm going to pick up Bachelorette #1 too. Great storytelling.

What is it about Jane that is so utterly likeable? Is it her inner-self that continually questions her motives and actions each and every step of the way? Her ability to come across to everyone as totally confident or nonchalant when the reader can sense that she's on the brink of losing it?

Jane is totally unexpected. Which, in and of itself, is unexpected because she's supposed to be the "planner" the organizer, the one who likes normalcy and structure. In Off The Record, she's out of her comfort zone. And that's what grabs you into this book. The idea that the protagonist--who shouldn't, or normally wouldn't--be doing "these things," is actually doing them is unsettling and that's why I was so compelled to keep reading.

You never expect that she'll get on the stage at Sam's bar; you never expect her to outrightly ask Drew about the Christmas Party antics; you never expect her to give up her partnership opportunity. Thinking you know what she's going to do and being totally surprised at what she actually does is what makes this book so readable. And what makes Jane so likeable.

I finished this book in two nights, couldn't stop reading it because I truly had no idea how it would end up, and I loved that about the story.