With Or Without You (Red Dress Ink Novels) [Paperback]

Carole Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red Dress Ink Novels | Publication Date: July 1, 2006

After her boyfriend, Jake, dumps her for an Angelina Jolie look-alike who climbs Mt. Everest, Lyssa Allen decides maybe a little adventure of her own can win him back. Leaving hair dryer, lattes and dreams of babies behind, this tougher-than-she-thought London editor sets off for Nepal.

Her month-long sojourn teaches Lyssa that her horizons are bigger than she knew -- and the man of her dreams far different than she thought. She even gains a new perspective on her former baby obsession. As her eyes are opened by her handsome American tour guide, Lyssa wonders if she can ever return to her old life. And when it's time to go home, she faces the hardest decision of her life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A lover's infidelity prompts a homebody toward big adventures and new priorities in Brit Matthews's entertaining romantic comedy. Lyssa Allen works at a baby magazine and is dying for a child of her own, but when successive rounds of IVF fail, her live-in boyfriend, Jake, declares he's had enough. Of course, he's also gotten himself involved with "a nubile twenty-five-year-old with legs like Lara Croft whose urge to go through the motions of procreation is very much in evidence." Poor Lyssa! What will she do? Shack up temporarily with her younger sister, Edie (aka "Rabbit"), who has a whopping six children at 29—and then jet off to Nepal for a trek through the Himalayas. After all, if Jake's new (but sort of slippery and insincere) lady can climb Everest, can't Lyssa hump a pack along a trail? And wouldn't it be nice if her guide were "a vision of manly loveliness" named Dean? Pretty soon Lyssa's contemplating big life changes, even as her old dreams look like they could finally come true. Matthews throws a few wrenches into Lyssa's voyage of self-(re)-discovery, but never leaves any doubt that happiness is around the bend. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Lyssa Allen is devastated when her boyfriend, Jake, announces that he wants to move out after they've spent months fruitlessly trying to conceive a child. Frustrated with Lyssa's growing obsession with having a baby, he finds passion in the arms of Neve, an athletic, ambitious colleague at his advertising firm. Lyssa seeks solace with her sister, Edie, a frazzled mother of six, and with her colleagues at work. But when Lyssa's boss tells her that she is being moved from her staff position at a baby magazine to one focusing on divorce, Lyssa decides she has had enough. She quits her job and heads off to Nepal to trek through the Himalayas for a month in the hopes of changing her life and gaining some perspective. There she finds more than she bargained for when she becomes enamored of the handsome guide. Matthews is a master of compelling stories about women and men at crossroads in their lives, and her latest is a winner in every way. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373895933
• ISBN-13: 978-0373895939
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #592,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carole Matthews is an internationally bestselling author of hugely successful romantic comedy novels. Her unique sense of humour has won her legions of fans and critical acclaim all over the world.

As well as appearing on the Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller lists, Carole is published in 24 different countries. Her novel Welcome To The Real World was shortlisted for the RNA romantic novel of the year award.

In the USA, the hilarious For Better, For Worse was selected by one of America's top TV book clubs - Reading with Ripa on LIVE with Regis and Kelly - as their book of the month. As a result it went straight into the USA Today and New York Times Extended bestseller lists.

Carole co-edited two editions of the hugely popular Girls' Night In charity series called Girls' Night Out - one for the USA and one for Canada. All proceeds go to War Child. She has recently contributed a story to an anthology for the Romantic Novelists' Association, Loves Me, Loves Me Not. Carole has presented on television and is a regular radio guest.

Born in St Helens, Merseyside, Carole has always been an avid reader and dreamed of being a teacher, an air traffic controller, a travel guide or a hairdresser - writer never featured once. Leaving Liverpool for London after a torrid holiday romance in Torquay, she worked as a secretary, an ice-cream lady, a shop assistant and a beauty therapist. It was when she was working in a completely mad holistic clinic that she first thought 'one day I should write a book about this.' She still hasn't got round to it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Why would an unmarried couple try to get pregnant?, July 12, 2006

By 

Heather (booklover) (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Or Without You (Red Dress Ink) (Hardcover)

Lyssa desperately wants a baby, and after too many fertility treatments, her boyfriend Jake says enough. Thinking he just needs a cooling off period, little does she know he's moved in with another woman. Faced with uncertainty, she does what any woman would do - she goes on a trek to Nepal. And then meets the real man of her dreams.

This one had me scratching my head. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would - I just could not get over the fact that a woman who did not have a commitment with a guy would go to such lengths for a baby... call me conservative!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly enjoyable, August 10, 2005

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: With Or Without You (Red Dress Ink) (Hardcover)

The dust cover of this book does not its contents justice. It looks like your typical chick lit fare- with a cartoonish drawing to boot. But there's a lot more substance to the novel than meets the eye. The characters are all three-dimensional, fun, and interesting- and there's no obligatory gay best friend!

Lyssa and her boyfriend Jake have been trying to get pregnant for a long time. Nothing, not even IVF, has worked. Ironically she works for a magazine called My Baby, which may have contributed to Lyssa's "baby mania." Lyssa's whole life changes when she learns that Jake has been having an affair with someone at the office- a young, nubile woman named Neve, who is as different from Lyssa as anyone could be. Given the circustances, Lyssa gets over Jake pretty quickly, and she begins training to climb the Himalayas. Going on a trek of that magnitude means giving up her creature comforts- her hair dryer, her high heels, etc.

Also completely opposite from Lyssa is her 29-year-old sister, Edie, who, since the age of 15 has given birth six times and seems to get pregnant at the drop of a hat. Edie's house is always full to bursting, and Lyssa is the adored aunt.

Its a bit of a cliche that, while in Nepal, Lyssa meets a hunky American tour guide, Dean. The attraction is instantaneous. Its a love affair that seems doomed at first. In the course of four weeks living away from the hustle and bustle of London, Lyssa learns to relax, to "live a little."

Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction (except maybe not Jake's); and this delightful book will keep you turning pages. Although Lyssa is unable to conceive, the author Carole Matthews doesn't let this fact bog down the book. This is a highly enjoyable and highly recommended read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great British romantic dramedy, November 30, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: With Or Without You (Red Dress Ink) (Hardcover)

After her latest round of in-vitro results in no pregnancy, Lyssa sulks and boyfriend Jake asks for a break in the relationship. Devastated, she expects him to walk in the door that evening as if nothing happened. What she does not realize is that he has moved on and in with a sultry younger work colleague.

Faced with the realization that they may never reconcile, Lyssa puts her baby obsession on hold and takes a leave of absence from work to go trekking in Nepal, where sparks fly as soon as she and Dean, her American-transplant tour guide start a passionate month-long affair. In finding this new passion, Lyssa realizes what was missing from her relationship from Jake once her baby obsession took over.

Upon returning to Britain, Lyssa is faced with uncertainty. After her month in the mountains, returning to civilization is not all it is cracked up to be, what with work, commute, late nights with the gang, and the sudden reappearance of Jake clouding her thoughts, as well as an unrequited crush she was unaware of.

Matthews hits another one outa the ball park with this story. I must admit, it takes awhile to like Lyssa - her baby obsession is completely annoying, as is her tendency to be a doormat. But once she leaves Britain and gains her self confidence, she emerges as a strong and engaging heroine, worthy of all the male attention.

Now, if we can just encourage Matthews to quit with her obsession with all things Regis and Kelly...