Really liked it. To see my full review, please check out my blog post here: http://amusedbybooks.blogspot.com/200... ( )

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty: the gorgeous princess, cursed by an evil sorceress, will sleep in her tower until a handsome prince wakes her with true love's first kiss. So we're all Sleeping Beauties, modern society might have us believe -- breathing but slumbering until our very own Prince Charming arrives to pull us from our life-long sleep so our "real life" can begin.

Well, Genie Michaels isn't buying it -- not anymore. After her boyfriend, famous novelist Hugh Spencer, proposes on national television -- to someone else -- Genie clambers to save face as friends, coworkers and family all assume, logically, that Hugh has proposed to her. Under the guidance of best friend Patty, the Sleeping Beauty Proposal is all iced up . . . they are to continue the charade of her supposed engagement to Hugh with the idea that eventually, everything will catch up with him -- and his career as a sappy novelist (think Nicholas Sparks) will come crashing down.

And there are the boons of a fake engagement, of course -- like all the presents (though she feels terribly guilty about it, of course). And the attention paid to Genie, an admissions officer for a college outside Boston, comes at just the right time -- in light of Hugh's confession that throughout their four year relationship, he's never really been attracted to her (what a jerk!). With the help of her brother Todd and Patty, Genie begins to rexamine her life -- what's gone into the creation of it, where it's taken her, how everything has made her feel. For the first time, she looks at herself as a person -- and not just as the frumpy girlfriend of Hugh Spencer, a man most see as infinitely "out of her league." And when a house she's loved for an eternity goes on the market, dreams of homeownership -- and the sexy contractor working on the place -- begin to occupy all of her thoughts.

Sarah Strohmeyer's The Sleeping Beauty Proposal is first and foremost about a fake engagement, sure, but it's really a commentary on just what I mentioned earlier: the Sleeping Beauty myth. This idea that we can dream and play and laugh and build friendships and work and travel for a while -- as long as we want -- but eventually, we need to "settle down" and get serious . . . with someone. And until we meet "The One," our lives to that point are just background information, good for anecdotes and dinner table conversation with the future in-laws.

Strohmeyer is a fantastic, grounded writer who definitely understands her characters. Like The Penny Pinchers Club, I felt I was reading about friends. Genie's buddies, coworkers and family members all felt fleshed-out, and I loved the unpredictable nature of the story! Trust me -- where we end up is far from where we started. Many plot twists took me by surprise, though plenty more I could spot way down the road. Still, that didn't bother me -- like Genie, it was all about the journey! ( )

Sweet, endearing, unrealistic, yet empowering. A fun read. ( )

Genie is an admissions counselor at Thoreau college. She's been dating Hugh for four years, helping him to polish his now-best-selling book, supporting him at every turn while hoping that someday he'll propose. Then, while he's being interviewed on live TV, he proposes---but poor Genie isn't the woman he calls. While she tries to process the fact that her boyfriend of four years just proposed to some other woman on national television, her best friend Patty medicates her with tequila and tells the people who start calling to congratulate her that yes, she really is marrying Hugh!

There are parts of Sarah Strohmeyer's The Sleeping Beauty Proposal that make it difficult to read. Genie constantly worries about how her secret might come out, and watches herself inadvertently sink deeper and deeper into the charade. If you're the kind of empathetic reader who easily identifies with a lead character, the constant threat of humiliation is a little daunting. That said, the setup makes the perfect vehicle for this story. The perspective on life is fresh and hilarious, and I was constantly laughing my butt off while reading this book. It perfectly skewers the insanity that is unmarried life after 30.

The dialogue is hilarious, and the characters—from Genie’s parents to her best friend Patty (a legal wizard with a gutter mouth) and hunky carpenter Nick—are terribly fun to spend time with. This is the perfect read for today’s independence-minded thirtysomethings who want love but resent some of the traditional views toward marriage.

For a longer version of this review, visit Errant Dreams. ( )

I liked this book! It seemed like it was about real people with real feelings. I can't remember it exactly, because it's been awhile since I read it, but I really felt like it made sense while I was reading it! ( )