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Time Off For Good Behavior by [Lani Diane Rich]

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Lani Diane Rich

Time Off For Good Behavior Kindle Edition

by Lani Diane Rich (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Expressing anger is healthy. Wanda’s gonna live forever.

For Wanda Lane, life has been one long string of screw-ups. Her abusive ex-husband keeps threatening to kill her, she just lost her crappy job, and a head injury (sustained while diving off the witness stand to attack an obnoxious attorney) has left her hearing phantom music no one else can hear. It isn’t until she hits the rock bottom of her bottle of scotch that she begins to wonder if maybe -- just maybe -- the problem is her.

On her pothole-ridden path to becoming a decent human being, she makes friends with Elizabeth, a single mother looking for her own solid ground; Father Gregory, the patient priest who counsels Wanda, even though she’s not technically Catholic; and Walter, a Jimmy-Stewart-ish lawyer who is smart, sexy and single... and so far out of Wanda’s league that she thinks he must have been sent from God as one last punishment for her past transgressions. Can an angry, lost woman find her way back from failure, or are second chances the stuff of myth?

Wanda’s gonna find out. You may want to move out of her way.

Length: 260 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Expressing anger is healthy.

Wanda's gonna live forever.

For Wanda Lane, life has been one long string of screw-ups. Her abusive ex-husband keeps threatening to kill her, she just lost her crappy job, and a head injury (sustained while diving off the witness stand to attack an obnoxious attorney) has left her hearing phantom music no one else can hear. It isn't until she hits the rock bottom of her bottle of scotch that she begins to wonder if maybe -- just maybe -- the problem is her.

On her pothole-ridden path to becoming a decent human being, she makes friends with Elizabeth, a single mother looking for her own solid ground; Father Gregory, the patient priest who counsels Wanda, even though she's not technically Catholic; and Walter, a Jimmy-Stewart-ish lawyer who is smart, sexy and single... and so far out of Wanda's league that she thinks he must have been sent from God as one last punishment for her past transgressions. Can an angry, lost woman find her way back from failure, or are second chances the stuff of myth?

Wanda's gonna find out.

You may want to move out of her way.

From Booklist

There is no shortage of bad luck in Wanda Lane's life. She loses her advertising sales job while she is in the hospital recuperating from a head injury. Her abusive and drunken ex-husband has been leaving threatening messages, and she can't get a phantom tune out of her head. Yet she is not exactly a sympathetic character. A litany of bad breaks has left her spiteful and complaining. Even so, Wanda manages to attract the attention of a handsome, widowed lawyer who only wants to protect her, but before she lets herself fall in love, she needs to get her life in order. A bizarre want ad lands her a new friend (and unofficial therapist), and with her help, Wanda decides to do something meaningful. Readers will warm to Wanda as she mends broken relationships, finds a fulfilling job, and learns to open her heart. First-time author Rich has managed to skillfully blend serious topics with humor, and readers will love her for it. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B008601QWM
Publisher : StoryWonk; 4th edition (May 23, 2012)
Publication date : May 23, 2012
Language: : English
File size : 2011 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 260 pages
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #741,634 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,879 in Contemporary American Fiction
- #10,672 in Contemporary Literary Fiction
- #20,252 in Contemporary Romance Fiction

Customer Reviews:
134 ratings

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2 star		5%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Good behavior? Maybe not, but it makes for some funny reading...

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2012

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Wanda Lane has had a string of bad luck. More accurately, Wanda made a series of bad decisions that have landed her in a very bad place. The one bright spot is Walter, a lawyer who lends her a hand and offers her his heart. But before Wanda can even contemplate a happy future, she feels like she needs to put her miserable past to rest. Wanda's journey of self-discovery is poignant, frustrating and - best of all - hilarious.

You know how sometimes it takes quite a while to get into a book? Well, this was NOT one of those stories. Right from the start I was captivated by Wanda's first person narrative and her biting, sarcastic humor. Wanda is a little...well, trashy is the word that comes to mind. She drinks too much, she's rude and frankly Wanda is her own worst enemy. As the story moves along we learn why Wanda acts the way she does, and there's a surprisingly dark side to this otherwise light and funny story.

As much as I enjoyed this, there came a point where Wanda got to be just too much. Too much sarcasm, too much self-pity and too much all around "woe is me" behavior. Frankly, I found it hard to believe that a man like Walter would even be interested in her in the first place, never mind be willing to put up with all her baggage. Overall it was an entertaining story and I would recommend it for the humor, not for the romance. Walter's character is too vague and insubstantial to be a plausible romantic interest for the hot mess that is Wanda.

"And then Bill O'Reilly came on, and I realized the whole world was a bottomless pit of crap, just like I'd always known" - Wanda Lane

Some strong language and mild sexual content

Helpful

Peggy T.

Wanda found her way from the inside out

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

What a spirited person Wanda turned out to be. Her defiant self resulted in virtually no confidence and low self-esteem. The choices she made when she was young made her cynical and harsh which made her sad and lonely. When Wanda found Walter, her life was turned upside down and she did the only thing she knew how to do - she ran away. Like so many of us, she had to hit 'bottom' before she could begin the difficult task of picking herself up and crawling back up to reality. She had wrapped herself up in a steel blanket for so long that any kind word or action just slid off without so much as a dent in the armour that she so tightly held on to. Wanda found strength and perseverance to forgive and to accept the fact that she was worthy of loving others and also being loved. This book has a positive outcome - listen to your inner self and allow life to just simply happen. It's a great message - now go make yourself a cup of tea and sit down in that big, oversized chair and read about Wanda.

Helpful

Bookworm

Really Fun and Unexpected

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2012

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I thoroughly enjoyed "Time Off for Good Behavior." Wanda is hilarious. She is flawed. She has issues. She has the courage to change. I love classic chick lit stories with happy young people who have perfect friends and parents, but sometimes it is nice to read about someone who is insecure, sassy and troubled within the framework of a fun chick lit novel. I love how Wanda realistically goes through a process of change that takes time and effort. She doesn't completely become a new person, but as cliche as it sounds she re-discovers the happier, more confident person inside of her. Going through the process in a real, but amusing way, is what I set out to do in my novel, Between Boyfriends . As tempting as it as I will not now begin to plug my own work. I do very much appreciate chick lit books with people who are sometimes rude (Wanda is very rude at times) or bitchy as long as they take steps to become nicer. There are a lot of really nice people in the world, like Wanda, who push people away and make bad choices because of how they feel about themselves. They may come off as a bit rough around the edges but they really don't know any better until they make some efforts to grow up. Wanda takes steps to change partially for a man, but she doesn't automatically change because of the man. I really enjoyed that part of the story. Meeting the right person does not make someone with interpersonal or relationship issues suddenly be able to be a well-functioning, healthy relationship partner. It takes personal growth and Wanda shows this very well without losing her identity.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

charmdimsure

A Few Words of Wisdom and a Terrific Novel

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2012

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At first, I detested Wanda. She was loud, profane and obnoxious, stomping through her life with a chip the size of a sequoia on her shoulder, terrorizing everyone around her. I thought Wanda was going to be a slightly more literate version of Bobbi Faye, the jinxed trailer trash heroine of Toni McGee Causey's trilogy. I was wrong.

Wanda is badly injured in an accident and winds up in a coma. When Wanda comes to, her life falls apart. She loses her job. Her loser, abusive ex is coming back to see her. And to cap it off, she's turned down by a really, really nice guy. Instead of foul-mouthing and wise-cracking her way through the rest of her life, Wanda takes a serious look at her life, with the help of friends and acquaintances, and tries to get to the roots of why she is this way and what she can do to improve things. That's when I started to like Wanda. She is just as confused about things as the rest of us. She doesn't have all the answers, she can't tell you how to fix it, but she's darned sure going to give it a try.

This is an outstanding book, well written, with likable characters and a story that hangs together well. You'll wind up liking Wanda. A lot.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

A. N. Other-Reader

Dark and light

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

The humour that is - it's both dark and light. There are some thought provoking moments and I found it easy to empathise with Wanda, though I felt sorry for a lot of the people involved in her life.

Wanda decides, after years of what she sees as 'messing up', to clean up her act and improve her life. Lots of people help her and these characters are well developed, giving us an insight into how Wanda has allowed her life to become such a mess. When she finally plucks up the courage to do things she has avoided for many years, we see Wanda's life from the prospective of others and this is what makes it thought provoking.

The romance wasn't ultra romantic or ultra hot, but it was believable and I was left feeling that they would probably live HEA, or as happy as any marriage could be.

It's not short and you can't skim any of it if you want to understand what is going on, but it is worth the effort.

Sharon Stratton

A great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2015

Verified Purchase

What a fabulous story. I loved Wanda in all her messed-upness and her journey of self discovery. There's plenty here to make you laugh and cry. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.