Customer Reviews

What to Do About Annie?

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Annie Goldman is not in the best of moods. First of all, she is a maid-of-honor in her friend Mary's wedding, and she's "dressed like an rose-tinted marshmallow". Secondly, the priest officiating is none other than Joe Russo, Mary's brother, "Father What a Hunk". Joe was the love of Annie's life when he broke up with her fifteen years ago to enter the priesthood.

Joe has never totally gotten over Annie. When Annie miscarried fifteen years ago after Joe had promised to marry her, he felt that he was being punished by God and left her to become a priest. Now he has decided to leave the priesthood-his heart is not fully committed to it.

But Joe isn't ready to give Annie up now, even though she wants nothing to do with him. When he gets a job working as a youth counselor in the building next to Goldman's Department Store, where Annie works, the two can't help but run into one another. Sparks fly, and ex-priest Joe and unconventional Annie become an item. Obstacles get in the way as Sophia, Joe's mother, dislikes Annie and wants her son to marry a more conventional Italian girl. And Annie is only half-Italian, with ever-changing hair colors and flashy clothes. Will their love endure these tests, and can Annie ever learn to trust Joe again?

For a delightful read, with a healthy dose of humor interspersed with enigmatic characters, this is a sure winner. The conflicts between Annie's family and Joe's family are hysterical as each parent is only trying to do the best for their child in their own quirky way. The supporting characters are as developed as the main characters thereby making this novel more than superficial and definitely an entertaining read. Readers may recognize Mary from Ms. Criswell's previous work, THE TROUBLE WITH MARY and can look forward to lawyer Angela's story in THE TRIALS OF ANGELA.

When Annie was 18 and Joe was 20, they planned to get married due to a surprise pregnancy. After losing their baby, Joe felt such guilt that he committed himself to the church and became a priest (known fondly by his parishioners as Father What-a-Hunk). Annie took his abandonment hard and became a bit loose, never giving her heart when she gave away her body.

Joe, now 35, has never been able to commit himself fully to the church, as he still has feelings for Annie. His decision to leave the church was not taken lightly, though his mother and grandmother give him a hard time about it.

Joe pursues Annie with vigor (particularly funny is when he sings "Annie's Song" to her at his best friends wedding, much to her mortification) and he tries to reconcile with her. But Annie has never forgiven him for deserting him when she needed him most. He takes a job that will put him in close proximity of her, and sparks fly. Of course, Joe's Mother, Sophia has plans for her now single son - to marry a nice Italian girl, and Annie does not fit into her plans.

As they slowly get to know each other again, and Joe constantly professes his love to a very reticent Annie, both realize that they cannot relive the past if they are to carve out a future.

The premise of this book had me so looking forward to it, but I was a little let down - I was expecting more tension between the leads, and more challenges to overcome besides their meddlesome parents. I also got a little tired of all the Yiddish and the overuse of the term "oy" - I found it annoying and somewhat stereotypical.

Overall, they are likeable characters and it is a fun book to read, and provides readers with an update on Mary and Dan from "The Trouble With Mary."

After reading The Trouble with Mary which I thought was hilarious I bought Annie's story and read it in one afternoon. Altho it was amusing, it was not as hilarious at Mary's story. It is however enjoyable, and you root for Annie and Joe (especially Joe) all the way thru. Joe's faimily is a riot. Ethic humor is great; Joe is delicious and Annie was a tug at a mother's heartstrings (and patience). Altho 15 years was a long time for them to finally get together, and Joe's leaving the priesthood was a bit too quick and easy for reality, everything turned out the way one would expect this type of book to end. A nice, comfortable read for a rainy afternoon.

After reading The Trouble with Mary and enjoying it immensely, I believe my expectations for this novel was too high. Although the story was an enjoyable one, it does not come close to capturing the magic I felt with "Mary's" story.

There are quite a few funny moments and the fact that Annie and Joe are finally able to go through life and end up where they should have been 15 years ago was an interesting tale but getting there was a struggle for both.

Annie Goldman and Joe Russo should have been a great love story - imagine the Thorn Birds - a man is a priest and is pining away for a woman he once loved. He quits the priesthood to be with the woman.. And.. Everything should be romantic and beautiful, right? Wrong. Although the love story could have been great, it wasn't. Annie and Joe were both one dimensional characters with barely enough substance between them to keep the book interesting. I wasn't impressed with this book, despite liking the first book The Trouble With Mary. What to do About Annie was missing the humor and wit that was evident in the first book, and it was also missing the romance and likeability. Skip it.

I spent several hours with some delightful character in WHAT TO DO ABOUT ANNIE. Relaxing and entertaining, the story tells about the lives, loves and heartaches of interesting, caring people. If it was the authors intention to entertain, she did an admirable job. Read it, you'll love it.

I am a fan of funny romances, and I am so glad I dicovered Millie Criswell. The plot has been described by other reviewers, so there's no point going over it again. I'll just say that if you like Jennifer Crusie and Janet Evanovich, you'll love this writer!

Father Joseph Russo resigns his priesthood, becoming a regular Joe, and plans to sort feeling he's run from for fifteen years. He has feelings and desires incompatible with being a priest, and questions that need answers, especially: What to do about Annie? He knows beneath Annie's surface flamboyance lurks a woman of substance and depth - a woman he can't forget and can't get over even after all this time. Loving her had been incredible and loosing her had been almost unbearable. Now he wants her back. It's time to overcome his practicality and share Annie's unbridled passion.

Annie Goldman, a woman extraordinary in appearance and attitude, believes Father Joe should have been named Father What-a-Waste, because Father Joe and celibacy don't go together. She should know. She's made a career of concealing the vulnerability and sorrow resulting from their time together fifteen years ago. When she lost him irretrievably to the priesthood, she took quite a hit to her self-image and self-confidence. After all, it's tough enough competing with another woman, but does a woman compete with God?

Author Millie Criswell shifts tone slightly in WHAT TO DO ABOUT ANNIE? While THE TROUBLE WITH ANNIE is uproariously funny, WHAT TO DO ABOUT ANNIE? combines humor with deeper issues to create a rich tapestry of emotion. Family, religion, and friendship weave a spell that will hold readers enthralled. Not only are the hero and heroine believable, strong characters, but the secondary characters also add texture, including Joe's mother who mourns her son's decision to leave the priesthood by wearing black, and the spoiled cousin that adores Hollywood gossip. Grandma Flora also puts in several marvelous appearances with rumors of food fights and a healthy dose of common sense. Fans will be pleased with the included sneak peak at THE TRIALS OF ANGELA due in Summer 2002. Highly recommended.

This book tries to hard. It tries to be funny and hip and ends up being over the top and sad. Sort of like an old lounge singer.

Joe leaving the preisthood because he wanted to have... Annie just didn't work for me. And the part where he bought black satin sheets was just plain icky.

I just finished reading What To Do About Annie. I was not sure that I could like the character Annie. She is brash and independent and just a little too free-thinking for me.  Then --- I met her parents, Sid and Gina, who are also smart mouthed and brash, yet horrified because their daughter was the same.  Hmmm.....

Enter Joe, the ex-priest who was in love with Annie, and his mother, the obnoxious Sophia Russo, who everyone loves to hate.  Although I loved Sophia in Mary's story, I found myself not liking her in the first few pages of Annie. I gave them a chance to change my mind.   A skilled author can make you love a less than perfect character. Every person has a story, but it takes a special author to write that story.  Millie has done this far beyond my wildest expectations!  Millie hit the very core of Joe's feelings about leaving the priesthood and about his feelings of betrayal toward Annie. I felt for Joe and I felt his feelings about the church deep in my soul, as I have also wrestled with those same feelings. Millie captured them so well and so realistically. Joe and Annie together had many obstacles to overcome, stubbornness and pride being the biggest. Annie's wall of defiance against Joe, and the harboring of the secret they shared, tore at their relationship; until she began to open her eyes to the world around her and to the many relationships she juggled within her and Joe's family. 

Sid and Gina Goldman also came forth in this book as wonderful and caring parents who wanted the best for their daughter.  Even Sophia's heart of gold began to show beneath the granite casing she tried so hard to keep locked away.   The book is funny and realistic and heartwarming, and I have grown to understand and love the characters within the growing families of Little Italy. What to Do About Annie is one of the best books I have read this year and is peopled with wonderful and warm characters and is a realistic portrayal of some of life's ups and downs that we all struggle with.