Hello, L.O., I encountered you on the Top Reviewers forum when you offered a gratis (forget it, dear) copy of your novel to any reviewer who would write it up. So the TRs needled you a bit about your misspellings, then flicked you off like a bug.
I'm a Kindler so I can read such fiction and post a no-mercy we've-never-met review, expectedly in genres which are not my usual fare, such as Chicklit. I fancied I would call myself the Chicklit Hawk and pounce on your Henny Penny Dreadful, but found...
*****Your Novel Is Quite Winning and Entertaining!
The 47 chapters (= 316 pages) alternate between Melody and Samantha, and are expressed in first-person present tense with lots of dialog with supporting players. In a Wisconsin town, Melody is 18, completing high school including prepping of the school newspaper; to others, she's an ordinary with a few semi-friends, but to herself she's important of course and given to scheming; she lives with her slouchy mother in a mediocre apartment; she works part-time in a franchise sandwich shop. When 25-year-old teacher Nate Linden is suddenly sucked into her life, she decides He's the One for Her, but...
Nate has recently married 35-year-old Samantha. "Sam" has made it clear she doesn't want children, and works in a video rental store. Oddly, Nate and Samantha live in a building overseen by Sam's bygone boyfriend Collin, who is a piece of work. Aggressive Melody thinks up a multistep plan to trick Nate away from the wife. Further down the plot road, Sam's surprising decision to serve as surrogate womb for friend Jane & Jake's embryo adds a serious note. Then foolish virgin Melody is tempted to use the school newspaper as a stick of dynamite.
Have no fear, I'm not blabbing spoilers. Every one of the 47 chapters has its point, progression, insight, humor, surprise. Author L.O. is a master of plot weaving, pace, character thought & talk & behavior. Her prose is simple, instantly digestible, and her "commonplace" people are curiously intriguing.
Now I'd like to mention a few things that tweaked me, who is certainly not within the target audience but a wide-ranging book and dvd reviewer.
1. When student Axel begrubs Melody with his lips and hands, I had no idea this was to be construed as attempted rape.
2. Hey Chicks, there is no sex. Samantha does munch Nate's toes. At 18, Melody has apparently never rolled in the hay, though I bet Wisconsin is full of it. (So I'll say this novel is appropriate for Grade 10 up.)
3. L.O. does not detail main characters' faces and bodies, but you can cast them if you want to. She does equate Nate with Owen Wilson, so enjoy.
4. The flashback "spelling bee" scene strained my credulity.
5. That Samantha at 35, never having borne, should volunteer for surrogate also strains me. Oh Sam, the weight gain, the watermelon, the strain on your stomach-chemistry & kidneys & bowels, and the contractions and sweats! Am I right, mothers?
6. The novel is full of chickflicks or woman-pics going back decades. When Harry Met Sally, Mommie Dearest, Sophie's Choice, The Graduate...
7. The author's best friend is her spelling checker. Still she is stuck with Brittany Spears, Ernest Hemmingway, Davinci Code, raspberry mouse, "never pealed [sic] my fingernails in a restaurant," erroneous possessive plurals. But, really, who gives a ship!
8. Laurel, please put some starch in a guy or two in your next (#3) novel.
HEY AGENTS, BIG PUBLISHERS, MOVIE MAKERS,
$ $ $ Laurel Osterkamp is ready for prime time--quoth the Chicklit Hawk. $ $ $
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