She'll Take it [Paperback]

Mary Carter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2006

Meet Melanie Zeitgar - aspiring actress-turned-bored temp, The Queen of Divine Quips, and a total kleptomaniac. For Mel, stealing is a lot like love: she knows the right thing when she sees it. Unfortunately, she sees it everywhere: Pretty soaps, Socks, Lipstick, Cashmere sweaters, Tampons, Condoms, Candy bars, Perfume, Make-up, and the occasional vibrator. Hey, can she help it that she has a special, and unfortunately, very illegal, talent? She doesn't mean to take things. Just like she doesn't mean to tell people she's a struggling clock artist. Or continue eating chocolate. Or wait for a call from Ray, the Beautiful Musician who must have been in a horrible accident that broke his dialling fingers. Melanie's biggest rule, in life, love, and shoplifting, is this: Don't Get Caught. But sometimes, even the best klepto has an off day. Now, with every part of her life veering zanily out of control, Melanie's met a guy whose heart is hers for the taking, if she's brave enough to pay the price...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

ncCarter's debut sucks the reader into the hyper-neurotic world of struggling actress cum talented kleptomaniac Melanie Zeitgar, for whom the guilty thrill of a good theft can take the sting out of boyfriend mishaps, job failures and dysfunctional family affairs. But stealing stops being a palliative for this 20-something New Yorker when the habit veers out of control and jeopardizes her shot at a relationship with a man who demands nothing more than honesty. With incisive, funny writing, Carter reveals a highly troubled but very likeable woman lost in the big city. Though the conclusion disintegrates into pat psychobabble that explains Melanie's need to steal, the novel adds the twist of deep-seeded pathology to the basic chick lit formula, and, in so doing, contains an element of frantic desperation that is as sad as it is amusing.
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Review

"Move over Shopaholic. With perfect comic sleight of hand. She'll Take It chronicles the adventure of the most neurotic public enemy ever to hit the Big Apple. It should be a crime to have this much fun reading a book."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Strapless (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758213549
• ISBN-13: 978-0758213549
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,321,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARY CARTER is a freelance writer and novelist. MY SISTER'S VOICE is her fourth novel with Kensington. Her other works include: SHE'LL TAKE IT, ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED, SUNNYSIDE BLUES, and THE HONEYMOON HOUSE in the best selling anthology ALMOST HOME. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which is part of the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has just completed A Very Maui Christmas, a new novella for Kensington that will be included in a Christmas of 2010 anthology. She is currently working on a new novel, The Pub Across the Pond, about an American woman who swears off all Irish men only to learn she's won a pub in Ireland. Readers are welcome to visit her at marycarterbooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Carter's book is fun and provocative!, February 27, 2006

By 

Terrence Daryl Shulman "Terrence Daryl Shulman" (Detroit, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She'll Take it (Paperback)

As the author of "Something for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery" I was eager to read Mary Carter's book about a shoplifting addict/kleptomaniac. While our books are certainly different, I enjoyed the story and found that Ms. Carter's heroine's "secret life" of angst rang true with the many people who also suffer from this baffling behavioral disorder. I know many more people shoplift than we think and this book may help readers get a glimpse into this behavior as well as into themselves. The feelings and themes in the book are universal.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She'll Take It, March 14, 2006

By 

Melissa Carter "Melissa Newman, book lover" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She'll Take it (Paperback)

This book is incredibly addictive!!!! It gave me the same feeling I get when I watch Sex & The City or eat chocolate, I just wanted more at the end! Loved it!!!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny!, March 18, 2006

By 

Allison K. Dunn "Allison" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She'll Take it (Paperback)

I wanted this nutty, funny and vulnerable character to stop stealing, but I also couldn't help relishing it every time she did. I loved this character and rooted for her all the way. Didn't want it to end.