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It has been statistically proven that Peg Silver is a perpetual girlfriend. Every man she’s dated in the last few years has moved on to be happily married with in six months of breaking up with her. In need of a life change, Peg uproots from Manhattan and moves to backwoods Manshire, Vermont. Thinking her life will now be filled with manly woodsman in dire need of company, she’s sorely mistaken.
She finds herself manacled to a mouse infested house and no competent exterminator within three states. With no where left to turn she comes across an ad for Inward Bound, an adult-education retreat for the hopelessly lovelorn. She decides to kill two birds with one stone and uses Inward Bound as a place to stay until her house is de-moused and a way to solve her girlfriend-itis. Her fellow inmates are hopeless, and even though one of the men, Ray, revs her engine, she is inexplicably drawn to the sexy, intelligent, granola-ish founder of Inward Bound, Linus.
Does Peg have what it takes to complete the ‘hands-off’ course of Inward Bound? Will she finally find love only to have it running screaming from her as all her previous relationships ended? Will her house ever be rid of mice?
THE GIRLFRIEND CURSE is a topsy-turvy story of animal attraction, truthful love, and lots and lots of mice. Valerie Frankel has created fun, dynamic characters and allows the reader, through Peg’s eyes, to see the secondary character’s growth. Peg is somewhat self-serving, but not so much that it’s a turn off. Ms. Frankel has done a wonderful job of keeping the typical overly “me” aspect of chick lit heroines to a minimum. When I find a great hero in a chick lit book I’m always a little disappointed that the reader doesn’t get to see things from his perspective, and Linus is no exception. But as with Peg, Ms. Frankel does give some insight into Linus and overall creates a marvelous story that I couldn’t put down. Oh, and the mice? Well, you’ll just have to read and see.
Reviewed by Tina Burns
for The Road to Romance
June 15, 2005
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