tl;dr - | ✭✭✭½✩ | Honestly... the half star I had to tack on for the end of the book. This was supposed to be a humorous book, but I found it more sad and frustrating more than anything else. It was ok... I really can't think of the type of person I'd suggest it to. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Description: Courtney is a mid-30s lawyer working at a small firm in LA, navigating the murky LA dating scene while trying to hide her obsession with Velveeta. Her friends and family are absolutely useless in their dating advice, and the guys she meets can be described as wacky at best, and down right scary at worst. This story is a memoir-esque (but fictional) look at dating in your middle ages in the middle of LA, and navigating "LA Royalty".
So.... This book is supposed to be funny. And I am absolutely certain there are people who will find the scenarios in this book to be hilarious. I, unfortunately, am not one of them.
Mothers who try to pretend they're still in their early 20s and completely shirk off adult responsibilities and especially their parental responsibilities. Men who are in their 30s and 40s, who are basically giant man babies who cannot take care of themselves let alone contribute to a healthy relationship. Men who become stalkers when she turns them down, because they showed up late reeking of booze and instantly started insulting her when they met her.
I just, unfortunately didn't find it funny. If any of those, or the various other interactions with basically everyone she comes into contact with, situations had been even slightly amusing I would've enjoyed this book more. But because it just stressed me out and i was just disgusted with these minor characters, i had a really hard time getting into this book.
The book started picking up a bit more in the middle of the book, but overall it just left me wanting. It did have a fairly nice resolution, but some revelations about Courtney just felt forced. For instance, her reason for getting skin treatments and whatever.... at the point when she revealed it I wondered why it mattered anymore, unless to highlight just how awful her "best friends" had always been to her.
Also, the obsession with Velveeta was WAY overdone. After the 60th time in 100 pages (exaggeration, but maybe not. I didn't go count) of her mentioning her need/love/consumption of velveeta fake gross cheese, and the disgusting recipes she has for the gunk, I didn't need to hear about it again. It was very very repetitive, to the point that any time she'd bring it up yet again, I just wanted to roll my eyes.
And then the man she ends up with.... I kind of forgot who he was and what importance he had to the story. He was far too underplayed, and the focus was on all the horrendous crazy men that I just felt like he was added for no real reason. I seriously had to try and remember who his character was at one point.
So, overall it was an ok book. It wasn't really to my tastes, but I'm sure there are people that would find everything that happened hilarious and enjoy this book far more than I did.
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