Book Description
Publication Date: July 10, 2012
Gigi Levangie Grazer, the New York Times bestselling author of The Starter Wife, returns with a hilarious and spirited tale of love—both lost and found.
L.A. is no place for widows. This is what forty-four-year-old Hannah Bernal quickly discovers after the tragic death of her handsome and loving husband, John. Misery and red-rimmed eyes are little tolerated in the land of the beautiful. But life stumbles on: Hannah’s sweet three-year-old daughter, Ellie, needs to be dropped off at her overpriced preschool, while Hannah herself must get back to work in order to pay the bills on “Casa Sugar,” the charming Spanish-styled bungalow they call home.
Fortunately, Hannah has her “Grief Team” for emotional support: earth mother and fanatical animal lover Chloe, who finds a potential blog post in every moment; aspiring actress Aimee, who has her cosmetic surgeon on speed dial; and Jay, Hannah’s TV producing partner, who has a penchant for Mr. Wrong. But after a series of mishaps and bizarre occurrences, one of which finds Hannah in a posh Santa Monica jail cell, her friends start to fear for her sanity. To make matters worse, John left their financial affairs in a disastrous state. And when Hannah is dramatically fired from her latest producing gig, she finds herself in danger of losing her house, her daughter, and her mind.
One night, standing in her backyard under a majestic avocado tree, in the throes of grief, Hannah breaks down and asks, “Why?” The answer that comes back—Why not?—begins an astounding journey of discovery and transformation that leads Hannah to her own truly extraordinary life after death.
About the Author
Gigi Levangie Grazer is the bestselling author of four previous novels, including The Starter Wife, first a miniseries and then a series on the USA Network, and Maneater, now a Lifetime miniseries. Her most recent book, Queen Takes King, is currently under option at Lifetime. Grazer has also written the screenplay for Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, and articles for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour. She lives in Los Angeles with her two children and one miniature dachshund.
SOURCE: PUBLISHER
MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
Hannah, a producer of reality shows, is married to the love of her life and when he is killed while riding his bike, her world crumbles. Her "grief team" surrounds her with love and tries to get her back on track to keep her and her young daughter from despair and becoming homeless. Jay, her multi talented, gay, producing partner is always there for her and makes sure Ellie, is always dressed in style. Aimee, is the quintessential LA actress, but with a heart and may always be know as "that girl in the shampoo commercial". Chloe, ohmigosh, where do I start with Chloe, she is everything I hate about LA, but I did end up loving her at the end. Chloe is a dog rescuing (bonus points!), yoga practicing Uber Mommy that is probably better known as Momzilla, except with a spray tan and lots of blond highlights, married to a financier and on her way down in the bank account.
When Ellie is kicked out of her posh pre school for talking to her dead dad, things really get out of control quickly. Hannah starts to hear voices and then sees people, dead people, who give her really amazing advice and she starts to think she is crazy and leads to her to several laugh out loud mishaps. I didn't really expect this book to be paranormal, but I knew that the original working title was Happy Medium and being a huge fan of the Long Island Medium, well, you can see which direction this book took. It was so easy to walk me though that door and into believing that this could happen to an ordinary person. Her besties are just some of the funniest characters that I have read about in a long time.
Sigh, I always read Gigi's books without stopping and since I have read everything of hers, I always hate the wait until her next book arrives. I think I did this one in a record 3 hours. If you need a perfect beach book, take this one with you. I may end up rereading this one since I adored the laughs so much. Oh, this would make an awesome television series and since the author already has the Starter Wife, this could be huge. I would love to follow Hannah as she talks to more dead people and helps others with their lives. Also....the author has a DACHSHUND! You know my rules...any author with a dachshund rules.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (July 10, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345523997
- ISBN-13: 978-0345523990
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