Calendar Girl

Really enjoyed this book.... had great characters, character development, was funny but very real-to-life at the same time. The heroine did stupid things that we could all do (!!), but at the same time, she worked through her issues and didn't stagnate. Have been reading romances since junior high, and really enjoyed this one. Will be on the lookout for other books by this author.

Twenty-eight-year-old Nan Cloutier always thought that, by the time she was twenty-five, she would be living a posh, fabulous life in Manhattan, with a great job, an even greater wardrobe, and the guy of her dreams by her side. Three years later, and Nan still hasn't achieved all of the above, and then some. For Nan's so-called "posh" job is working for Seasonal Staffers, Inc. A corporation where she has held positions as a Cindy-Lou Who impersonator, Easter-Egg Carrying Girl In Bunny Suit, and Valentine's Day Purple Box of Chocolates, among other, much more humiliating titles. Which is why Nan is desperate enough to tell a little white lie. While posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas display, Nan tells her boss - Mr. Iverson - that she can speak French, and pretends to converse with a French child, reciting her Christmas list to the English-speaking Grinch. After much praise, Nan is beaming from ear to ear, but her smile slowly fades when Mr. Iverson falls and breaks his leg - the fault of Nan, of course. Quickly getting canned from her Seasonal Staffers position, she is offered a new job - by Mr. Iverson - one that involves baby-sitting his grandson, Colm. However, upon meeting, Nan quickly realizes that Colm is actually her age, and that Mr. Iverson was actually playing "matchmaker" for his grandson, and thinks that the two will make the perfect couple - once they work out a few bumps in the road. I have read many of Naomi Neale's YA books - published under the name Naomi Nash - which is why I was extremely eager to experience one of her adult chick lit books for myself. I was pleasantly surprised, for, from page one, I found Nan's character to be amusing, what with her somewhat...unusual career choice, and the wisecracks she litters throughout all of her observations on being a Seasonal Staffer, and life, in general. She is the ideal protagonist and keeps you laughing from beginning to end, while the many bizarre people in her life will take readers by surprise - a pleasant one, of course - and lead them on a trip down lover's lane. Neale has done an amazing job of weaving together a tale filled with smart characters, witty storylines, and an emotional roller coaster to top it all off. Nan is a character full of flaws - as well as heart - who will stay with you year-round. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Ms. Neale's deft storytelling is in full force here; what starts as a kooky Bridget Jones-style farce grabs your heart at several points and doesn't let go. Neale has created a flawed but smart and witty heroine in Nan, and takes her through a maze of emotional roadblocks. Neale is especially effective in striking a wonderful balance of heart and mirth without losing the essence of the characters in the middle. This may be a "beach" read, but the characters and the story will stay in your head long after summer is gone.

In New York City, Nan Cloutier believes she is the ideal calendar girl pin-up not because she is Playboy perfect, but because she obtains holiday jobs. Her current temporary work is posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas interactive display. When she lies about being proficient in French to avoid window duty, Nan meets store owner Mr. Iverson, but her actions leads to the gentle elderly man breaking his leg. Her former employer offers her a job to baby-sit his grandson Colm. Needing the money with Christmas over, she accepts. When she meets Colm, he is her age and believes she is a hooker. Mr. Iverson explains he was matchmaking because he believes these two delightful youngsters are good for one another. Colm courts Nan, but her personal life is overfilled as she feels she must save her former college boyfriend and fellow member of the Elizabethan Failures Society from an English invader. Still Colm keeps the pressure on and they fall in love even as their respective families try making them over rather than letting them make it. This is an amusing Manhattan chick lit romance starring a delightful lead female protagonist and a fabulous secondary cast. The story line never takes itself seriously as Nan and cohorts struggles with life, but refuse to believe they are failures. Colm provides a wonderful newcomer into her circle though she wonders if he is a deadly virus or her forever soul mate. Chick lit and contemporary romance readers will laugh with Naomi Neale's naughty and nice tale of a Who who finds love. Harriet Klausner