The Spinster Sisters [Paperback]

Stacey Ballis (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 6, 2007

Jodi and Jill Spingold are the Spinster Sisters. With a radio show, speaking engagements, DVDs, and two bestselling books, they've built a thriving cottage industry helping other single women find happiness. Their futures have never been brighter-until Jill turns out the lights on Jodi by announcing her engagement.

Jodi is stunned. How can they be the Spinster Sisters if one of them is married? Complicating things is her own love life, involving three vastly different paramours offering three different kinds of happiness-none of which Jodi is sure she wants. And her ex-husband, backed by his lawyer girlfriend, may be angling for a piece of the Spinster Sisters empire.

Now, Jodi must make some tough decisions, keep the business afloat, and get to the altar to stand by her sister-even if means that from now on she'll be single all by herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Sisters Jodi and Jill Spingold have made a career out of being proud singles. Their company the Spinster Sisters has become a nationwide phenomenon, with their book Living Twenty-Five and their satellite radio show, Lunch with the Spinster Sisters, garnering them new fans everyday. When Jill gets engaged to her handsome WASP boyfriend, Hunter, Jodi is happy for her sister but worried about their business and the inevitable backlash when some of their fans perceive Jill's engagement as evidence that she doesn't practice what she preaches. Jodi is devoted to her bachelorette lifestyle; she has no less than three lovers: distinguished Abbot, younger-man Ben, and handsome but elusive Connor. Jodi also has to contend with her ex-husband, Brandt, and his pushy new girlfriend, Mallory, who forces Brandt to demand a Jewish divorce and a share of her company. When Jodi finds herself falling for one of her three beaus, she starts to wonder if maintaining complete autonomy is really what she wants. Readers will be rooting for Ballis' smart, snappy heroines. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Her novels are delicious. -- Johanna Edwards, author of The Next Big Thing and Your Big Break

Stacey Ballis is warm, witty, and wise. Her books suck you in and won’t let go. -- Cara Lockwood, author of I Do, But I Don't and I Did, But I Wouldn't Now

Stacey Ballis knows her readers like books smart and funny—and she always delivers. -- Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Matzo Ball Heiress and The Anglophile

Stacey Ballis manages to be irreverent, unflinching, sexy and somehow very sweet. She is truly a writer to watch. -- Laura Caldwell, author of The Rome Affair and The Night I got Lucky

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425213560
• ISBN-13: 978-0425213568
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stacey Ballis is the author of several novels, incuding Inappropriate Men, Sleeping Over, Room for Improvement, The Spinster Sisters, Good Enough to Eat, Off the Menu and Out to Lunch, currently available for pre-order, being released December 3, 2013. She is also a contributing author to the anthologies Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, and Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume, and Living Jewishly. She is currently at work on a new work of full-length fiction called Recipe for Disaster for Berkeley/Penguin, which will be out in December 2014.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A work in progress August 2, 2007

By Bookphile TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The premise of this book sounded promising but the overall effect was disappointing. It's not that it's an awful book, it's just that there was far too much story for far too little plot. My biggest issue was that this book committed a few of what I consider are the cardinal sins of literature and, in particular, of the chick-lit genre.

For one, the book was terribly repetitive. Time and time again, Jodi and her aunts or Jodi and her sister had the same conversation. There wasn't even that much variation in how they had it. By the third or fourth time I wanted to shout, "Okay, we know you're worried about the business, get over it!" And the word "organic" was used so often in this book that I found it distracting. I didn't count how many times Ballis used it but I felt like I should after a while.

Another trap I felt it fell into was the tendency toward silly pretentiousness. It seemed like every last page described some swanky hotel or swanky restaurant the characters were patronizing. I understand that Jodi and Jill were supposed to make good money but I really had a hard time believing that such a lifestyle was truly within their reach. I also don't get why so many chick-lit authors feel this burning need to make their characters spend money so profligately. What's wrong with eating at a diner once in a while? Why do our plucky heroines always have to be hanging out at the trendiest clubs and restaurants or spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes? Who really lives like this?

Lastly, Jodi's neuroses really began to wear on me after a while. I have no problem with a female character being portrayed as a neurotic. It's one of the things I dearly love about Bridget Jones's Diary. However, Jodi acted like a spoiled, petulant brat about 90% of the time. I found it incredibly unrealistic that her sister would react so passively every time Jodi saw fit to throw a temper tantrum about Jill's wedding. I didn't downright dislike Jodi but I did find her rather annoying. There's a fine line between making a character endearingly wacky and an annoying pain and I fear that Ballis crossed the line a bit.

Even so, though this review may sound harsh, I do think that Ballis has some potential. She's got a sharp sense of humor and I like Jill's character. The aunts were fun too and made nice foils for one another.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Story is thrown together November 4, 2008

By Lauren Calder

Format:Paperback

Dialogues are tagged ... endlessly with `she says'-- `he says', `he asks'-- `she asks'. The closer the reader gets to the end of the book, the more the story falls apart, and the more the constant rambling gets irritating. It was not worth the time or the effort.~Affaire de Coeur

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Light, with a few mistakes May 18, 2007

By Katie

Format:Paperback

I'm a language arts teacher and I had a few problems with grammatical errors...but DON'T let that detour you from this GREAT novel!

It was funny and light hearted...everything you would expect from a chick lit novel. This book is about a woman who has built an empire with her sister on the idea of being strong and single. Her business is at risk when not only her sister gets engaged to be married but she finds love herself.

A quick read and the second book to be read in my Chick Lit Book Club. It will make you laugh!!