Misery Loves Cabernet: A Novel Paperback – April 14, 2009

Thirty and single. (How I can relate.) Charlie, who works as a Personal Assistant for a Blockbuster movie star in LA, struggles to balance her private life from her work life. Plan to encounter the phrases "hippo poop" and "bathroom skating rink" as you learn of the insanely random jobs her neurotic boss puts her to. As she tries to take care of her child-like star, she also attempts to find the love her life. But to no avail. She only wonders what is wrong with her and why her relationships don't lead her down the aisle. And this leads to the confidence issues. Major. Quitting smoking led to adding on a few (15+) too many pounds (as her boss so candidly points out). Her family is tightly knit but the absolute definition of dysfunctional (mother with a boyfriend half her age, father with a mistress, grandmother that drinks whisky and plays poker, slutty brother, etc). Her friends are always by her side but certainly have their quirks/issues as well. It doesn't help her confidence when her new beau chooses a job in Paris over her. She runs into another hunky man whom she is convinced is out her league but we find that there might be a potential for them afterall.What can I say about this book? It was a cheap indulgence that I kept reading through (yet strategically hid the cover from any onlooker's sight). If you're in the mood for a chick book, sure, why not? The main character, whose first person narration we follow, is fairly funny. I certainly had many "lol" moments throughout. Sometimes I would have a fit of laughter. And then others I was keenly aware that she was trying too hard to be funny. What I am most certainly aware of is that everyone in this book is a character. The personalities are, to me, very contrived. I found her girlfriends to be typical girls (maybe this is why everyone likes this book?). Personally, I would never hang out with any of them (except the main character) so I kind of found them to be annoying and dreaded the points at which they were part of the dialogue. I was annoyed when nobody called out the friend who cheated on their fiance (a moral issue for me). And then I felt like the hunky heart throb was just that--a figment of one's oh-so-hopeful imagination. The main character, Charlie, just tears and claws at her self-image in front of this man repeatedly and yet somehow he continues to stick around. Meh. Highly unlikely. (it's fiction, remember it's purely fiction)So if you're looking for a mindless chick read, feeling down about your singleness (*ehem*) and don't have a ton of other options, I will say go for it. You have your main character, your unrequited love, zainy characters (whatever that means), some Hollywood glitz and glamor, and the suspense of wondering throughout "who will she end up with?". I won't tell you the ending. But I will say, after 358 pages of reading, I did not leave with any warm and fuzzy feelings. Nor did I feel enlightened. I felt like the author was trying to figure out how to wrap it up and threw the ending together so that she didn't have to write 500 pages.But that's just my take.And scene. That's a wrap.

Misery Loves Cabernet by Kim Gruenenfelder referred to me by amazon. Based on purchases and recommendations I've made, they thought I would like this book.Gotta say, the title is what first caught my attention - I love it. But, I didn't want to purchase it just because it had a catchy title so I jumped down to the reviews. I don't typically read reviews that give away the story and this wasn't an exception but what I discovered was that an overwhelming majority of the reviewers loved the book. The only concern I had was that it appeared to be part of a series, and not the first one. If I know a book is part of a series, my preference is to read them in order. So, I checked into the first book. It didn't seem bad but it didn't intrigue me as much as Cabernet did. Kind of broke my own rule when I started with the second book.Anyway, I really liked this book a lot. It's about a woman making it on her own. She's got quirky and interesting people in her life and ridiculously funny things happen to her. I've said before that the heroine may not know who the hero is but that I want it to be clear to the reader because if it's not clear to me, I don't enjoy the story as much.Well, this book makes an exception to that theory because I had no idea who the hero was supposed to be but I didn't care. I was enjoying the journey Charlie (the heroine) was on and I was looking forward to seeing where it took her.And I loved the characters in the book. In particular, I loved Drew - Charlie's boss. She's his assistant. He's like a little boy that doesn't know about "boundaries". Honestly, I was rooting for him to be the hero because they kind of complemented each other. She'd probably want to kill him in a year or two but the book doesn't take it that far so they would've been fine. ;)Now, I've said I loved the book but there was something that bothered me from early on. Cabernet is what I'm going to call an independent book. I don't mean stand alone as in one of a series of books that continues the story but it stands on its own. I mean independent as in - in my opinion - the beginning and ending of the book don't allow for a satisfying story before or after the story in this book. To me, this book opened in the exact right place and had a satisfying ending. Thing is, what I know about the first book, it also had a satisfying ending. Had I read it first (and assuming it is as good as this one) I probably would've snatched this one up in a heartbeat, thinking it would be a continuation of the satisfying ending. Of course, that's making assumptions on my part but I just can't see myself reading the first book now without being annoyed by it. The same would go for a book that would follow this one. Sad too because I really did love this book.So, bottom line is, I loved this book. Definitely will read other books by this author . . . just not necessarily ones that follow this same character's story. :)

Ms. Gruenenfelder did a fabulous job re-introducing us to her hilarious cast of characters in this sequel to "A Total Waste Of Make-up."In "Misery Loves Cabernet" Charlie Edwards is still writing her book of advice to her future great-granddaughter. And it's still laugh out loud funny advice, usually jotted down after failing to live by the code of ethics she's trying to pass on. Only now she's got some friends and family throwing in their two cents every once in a while as well.The characters in this book are absolutely hysterical. It goes without saying that if you loved Drew Stanton in the last book, you will not be disappointed in what Charlie has to deal with for her boss this time around. (Being covered in hippo poop is just another day at the office for Charlie!) The banter between these two characters keeps getting better and better. Theirs is a very believable relationship. Her best friends are a riot and her family- especially her brother, Jaime, and her parents- kept me laughing out loud and propelled me to read this in just over a day, since I couldn't put it down!Charlie's quest for love has been a roller-coaster ride for these two books, and it's nice to see a character come into her own, regardless of who she is or isn't dating. That's the kind of advice she could be proud to pass on to her future relatives!I can only hope that Ms. Gruenenfelder is busy writing the third book about Charlie and her crazy life as I write this review!Noreen Riley is the author of  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Her Brother's Shotgun Wedding .

The only reason this book gets a 2, is because of the bizarrely abrupt ending. I was amused and interested all the way to the last few pages, and then suddenly, I'm at the end; no warning! One more chapter would have tied the loose ends nicely and there were plenty of them.

Loved this book, loved the characters (especially Drew, he made me laugh out loud quite a few times). This is a great summer read. I did not know at the time that this was a continuation of her first book, I would have loved to have read it first (just for the entertainment) but it is not a "must" for this book.

It wasn't a bad reading. Entertaining, but there is definitely better books of the same genre out there. If you like books by Emily Giffin, you will probably like this book.

The ending was not what I was expecting. I throught that were would be more exitement to this book.The book Misery Loves Cabernet made me feel like I needed a glass of Cabernet to get my spirits backup after reading this book.

De nuevo, un libro de Kim Gruenenfelder que merece la pena leer. Los personajes son magníficos y, aunque no es tan bueno como el primero (pero es que el primero era sencillamente maravilloso), lo recomiendo para quien le guste este tipo de lecturas amenas y fáciles