Book Review: Hot and Bothered by Annie Downey

                                     From Goodreads.com

She’s offbeat, off balance, and at times off-the-wall, a late-thirties mother of two living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and trying to figure out who she is now that her husband has left her. He’s a rat, anyway, and currently attends Sex Addicts Anonymous. He still comes by the house, though, as do her hippie, macrobiotic mother; her feisty, alcoholic best friend; her God-fearing grandmother; and that Perfect Guy, the one with the beatific son who plays with her daughter, the one who happens to have a winning smile, wild black hair, a professorship at Harvard—and (drats!) a gorgeous doctor girlfriend.

Told in short takes that perfectly mimic the frantic nature of our busy lives, Hot and Bothered follows its heroine through the streets of Cambridge, where she spends far too much time staring into space and sipping mocha lattes with extra whipped cream; to church, where she prays for a little salvation; to Alaska, where she believes a rugged outdoorsman might just be that salvation; and to Cape Cod, where, in a little house by the sea, she might finally see the light. Annie Downey has written an updated Cinderella story for all single moms. 

I picked this book up at the local "Friends of the Library" book sale last April.  Not sure what to expect, it has taken me a long time to decide to read it.  I finally picked it up to read because I am trying to read my older books first and was surprised by the story.

I found myself intrigued by the main character (we don't learn her name until the last line of the book.) Through most of the book she is unstable but I was able to connect with her. Does that mean that I am unstable? I have questioned the things that she questions. I have felt insecure as she feels insecure. I have felt happy as she feels happy.  Granted, there are times when she is a little more wacky than I am, but this character is believably written and I grew to love her. Having read some other reviews of this book, I notice that other readers too have the connection with the main character even if their life did not parallel hers. That is a major accomplishment by the author as far as I am concerned. To be able to connect with your reader even if their lives are not similar speaks volumes for the writing style and the story.

I enjoyed this book very much. It is a fast read and it keeps you turning to the page as the story develops quickly. I can't say a lot about the plot without giving away too much. While my life was not changed in reading this book, I would recommend this book to anyone as I am sure you could get something out of it that you were not expecting.