Something Blue By Emily Giffin

From the back cover:

Darcy Rhone has always been able to rely on a few things: her beauty and charm. Her fiancé Dex. Her lifelong best friend Rachel. She never needed anything else. Or so she thinks until Dex calls of their dream wedding and she uncovers the ultimate betrayal. Blaming everyone but herself, Darcy flees to London and attempts to recreate her glamorous life on a new continent. But to her dismay, she discovers that her tried-and-true tricks no longer apply—and that her luck has finally expired. It is only then that she can begin her journey toward redemption, forgiveness, and true love.

***

So, this is a sequel of sorts to the book Something Borrowed, with the main difference being that in this book, the narrator is Darcy, and thus tells the story from her perspective.
It was ok, I didn't really like the way Darcy changes completely by the end of the book, it was kind of unrealistic! In fact, the whole story of the fresh start where everything goes perfectly well with a few minor hiccups, was too far-fetched. In that respect, Something Borrowed was much more believable.
So, there was really nothing special about this book, I had expected a lot after reading her previous book, but was disappointed.

***

Some lines from the book:

After all, there is nothing like a mother telling you that you're making a bad decision to convince you that what you are doing is the absolute best course of action.

I suddenly recognized that there was a safety in having someone, as well as a lack of pressure to shine. Ironically, this had cultivated a certain free-spiritedness that had, in turn, allowed me to be the life of the party and hoard the affection of additional men.

We were all accountable. We had all lied and cheated. But despite everything, I knew we were still good people. We all deserved a second chance, a chance to be happy.
I considered the expression "Once a cheater, always a cheater," and I dismissed it as a fallacy. People generally didn't cheat in good relationships,

Love and friendship. They are what make us who we are, and what can change us, if we let them.

Can You Keep A Secret? By Sophie Kinsella

 From the back cover:

Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets: 
Secrets from her boyfriend: I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken. Secrets from her mother: I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur. 
Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is. 
Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.…Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her...

***

This was just another chick lit book, but with some very funny moments, that had me literally laughing out loud!!
It is basically about all the secrets & insecurities that Emma has, and how she deals with them, when they are revealed first to one stranger on a plane, and later on to nearly everybody she knows!

In some ways I found Emma to be a lot like Becky from the Shopaholic series, her at times ditzy behavior, and how she handles embarrassing situations, etc.
But, I liked the book for its simplicity, it does not go over-the-top with any characters, and the situations the protagonist finds herself in are totally believable. Really! I mean, who says a chance meeting with some guy on a plane wont lead to a relationship with a multi-millionaire!!!
 
A light, fun book & definite re-read this book in the future.

***

Some quotes:

“Relationships are a battle. They are a chess game. And what did I do? I just threw all my chess pieces down on the board at once, and said, "Here! Have them all!” 

“If you can't be honest with your friends and colleagues and loved ones, then what is life all about?”  

“The truth is, some relationships are supposed to last forever, and some are only supposed to last a few days. That’s the way life is.” 

Shopgirl By Steve Martin

From the Back Cover:

Mirabelle works as a shop assistant in the glove department at Neiman’s, L.A.’s finest store. She has two men in her life : Jeremy, a man who stencils amplifiers for a living; and Mr Roy Porter, a rich, older man who believes he can apply logic to relationships and is serially confused. How can she choose between a man who thinks a date is a chance meeting in a Laundromat, and a man whose policy of honesty is guaranteed to hurt her?

***

I didn't know Steve Martin was an author too! I loved him in the Father of the Bride (one of my all-time favorites!) & The Pink Panther movies. Anyway, moving on to the book. I didn't really like it initially but it got better towards the end. I really love happy endings and in that, Shopgirl does not disappoint.

It gets off to a pretty depressing start, with a description of Mirabelle's lonely and melancholic existence. I didn't think it was possible, but the rendezvous with Jeremy are even sadder!
And then she meets Mr. Roy Porter, and everything is so much better, she very quickly falls in love with him, a love that is not consciously reciprocated, as he is still looking for the perfect woman, who most definitely is not Mirabelle.

In an attempt to make it clear to Mirabelle this is just a fling, the following conversation happens:

"I think I should tell you a few things. I don't think I'm ready for a real relationship right now." He says his not to Mirabelle but to the air, as though he is just discovering a truth about himself and accidentally speaking it aloud.

Mirabelle answers, "You had a rough time with your divorce."

Understanding. For Ray Porter, that is good. She absolutely knows that this will never be long term. He goes on: "But I love seeing you and I want to keep seeing you."

"I do too," says Mirabelle. Mirabelle believes he has told her that he is bordering on falling in love with her, and Ray believes she understands that he isn't going to be anybody's boyfriend.

"I'm traveling too much right now," he says. In this sentence, he serves notice that he would like to come into town, sleep with her, and leave. Mirabelle believes that he is expressing frustration at having to leave town and that he is trying to cut down on traveling.

"So what I'm saying is that we should be allowed to keep our options open, if that's okay with you."

At this point, Ray believes he has told her that in spite of what could be about to happen tonight, they are still going to see other people. Mirabelle believes that after he cuts down on his traveling, they will see if they should get married or just go steady. 


Although such hilarious exchanges are rare in the book, the rest is not too bad.

Things get bad when Mirabelle finds out about Ray's indiscretions. She still loves him, but cant forgive him, so she ends things. And try as he might, Ray just cant seem to stop thinking about her.
So, they stay in touch, and he helps her in any way he can. She eventually gets over him somewhat, and is back to living a solitary life, when the unexpected happens and we get a happy ending!!

I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

From the Back Cover:

Denis Cooverman wanted to say something really important in his high school graduation speech. So, in front of his 512 classmates and their 3,000 relatives, he announced: "I love you, Beth Cooper."
It would have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is. And Denis, the captain of the debate team, is so far out of her league he is barely even the same species. And then there's Kevin, Beth's remarkably large boyfriend, who's in town on furlough from the United States Army. Complications ensue. 

This book was an impulse buy, and mostly because of the colorful cover! Also the author was a writer for the Simpsons, which can be funny at times.

Anyway, I didn't particularly like the book. It was too much to take in such a short span of time, and most of it was cartoonish and not very real! There were many unbelievable scenes like Kevin's truck entering the living room and the cow incident! I mean you see that kinda stuff mainly in cartoons and maybe Jim Carrey movies!
The basic premise of the book was good, but there was nothing remarkable about the following settings/scenes. 

Something Borrowed By Emily Giffin

From the Back Cover:

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

***

So I'd written about the movie here, and once I came to know it was actually based on a book by the same name, I had to get it cause I really liked the movie, and the book was better than the movie (which is almost always the case!).
 
There are a few differences between the movie and the book, the major ones being the role played by Ethan, which is pretty small in the book, as compared to the movie, and the part just before the ending, which I'm not giving away.

The constant struggle in Rachel's mind between happiness at being with the man she loves, and guilt at cheating on her best friend, however malicious she is, is the crux of the book.
What I didn't understand was how someone supposedly as smart as Rachel couldn't figure out that her best friend has been sabotaging here from the very start of their friendship, and also  how could she continue seeing Dex, when she can see that he's not doing anything to end the relationship with Darcy!
I guess where your near ones are concerned, one can be quite blind to their faults.
 

***

Some memorable excerpts from the book, all a part of Rachel's internal monologue:

I am a good friend. A good person. This isn't who I am. I must stop. I won't know myself if I don't stop.
Yet I don't move away.

I will tell him that it has to stop. This time I really mean it.  

How can I end something that I have never experienced before? Something I have been waiting for my whole life? Nobody before Dex could make me feel this way, and what if I never find it again? What if this is it?

I used to wonder how they found people who had committed such acts of despicable disloyalty. Now I was joining the low-life ranks.

Maybe it is meant to be.

"What are we doing?"
There it is. The Question.
Every time I answer it differently:
We are following our hearts.
We are taking a chance.
We are crazy.
We are self-destructive.
We are lustful.
We are confused.
We are rebelling.
He is afraid of marriage.
I am afraid of being alone.
We are falling in love.
We are already in love.
And the most common: we have no idea.
This is the one I offer up. "I don't know."

She is subdued. Something is wrong. Maybe there is trouble brewing at home, a visible crack emerging in their relationship. Maybe Dex said something to her. I feel a surge of hope, which is followed by a larger dose of guilt. How can I so easily root for my friend's unhappiness?

And the best one:

Life's not black-and-white. Sometimes the end justifies the means.