The Bench by Kevin Farran

I honestly like this author. This is the second Farran book I have read. I really enjoy his characters. He doesn't do the "damsel in distress" bit, but writes about strong women. In this case, the heroine, Jenny, isn't all that tough in the beginning... but as the story unfolds, she grows some balls.

Jenny is a book worm who works for a publishing company. She wears a skirt everyday, rides a bicycle with a flower basket, and hasn't been laid in five years. "She had become trapped reading other people's work, assessing and crushing other's dreams. Her own dreams remained cloistered, like some pariah that she was too afraid to release." She likes to keep to herself and spends her evenings on her balcony with a glass of wine. She's lonely and doesn't even realize it. Till someone begins leaving her romantic poems on her lunchtime park bench... and soon, Jenny begins to write responses even though she doesn't leave them on the bench.

She begins to imagine and fantasize about her mysterious poet and all the while, something inside her awakens. She gets a sexy dress. She tells off her jerk co worker.. "The only inferiority here is not shrouded in a frock, but is suffered by your remarkable and unchallenged mind, which subjugates itself to the stump that hangs between your legs."

Oh, I would love to say something like that to a fellow I work with... You go, girl!

Nevertheless, Jenny changes. Things at work change. She notices men she didn't notice before. She starts thinking about ... LOVE. And it may happen.

It has a somewhat sad ending in a way, not for Jenny, but for someone else. The lead up to it is quite hillarious though. I loved Jenny's conversation with her neighbor lady comparing men to baboons and Jenny's grandmother... When Jenny mentions her desire to get a dog, here's what Gran has to say, "Get a man instead. They're not as easy to train, and you still have to pick up their crap, but at least they can rub your shoulders if you get tired from writing. I think that's the only advantage."

Another laugh out loud moment... kinda.. "She thought women with punky haircuts and hard make up were either prostitutes or 'hard bitches.' (Hey!! I beg to differ!)

Good book. The only reason I don't give it a five is it has a lot of errors. There were lots of missing commas and there were periods where there should be question marks. A small amount of this would not bother me but I found myself scratching my head and rereading some things too often. Also, there are some disrepencies. Example: Jenny was given a dress but later in the book she is thinking about it her thought is, "She couldn't pay for it and not wear it though." There were some little things like that that threw me off a bit.

I still recommend it though. Great chick lit. There are even some discussions about my favorite show, Sex and the City.

I received this in ebook format from the author.