Not my favorite book of Jane Green, but it served it's purpose (does not require the reader to think AT ALL!). Very predictable, but if you do not mind skipping through entire chunks/paragraphs, you may enjoy. ( )

Twenty-seven-year-old Libby Mason is determined that a recent "fling" with novelist Nick will stay just that -- a fling. She's not serious about him, she says, and though they have a great time spending time together, he's not exactly husband material. And what Libby wants, more than anything, is a husband.

So when she and Nick inevitably part ways, Libby's slightly distraught -- until Ed McMann (McMann, that is, not McMahon!) arrives on the scene. Ed is just another awkward British guy chatting her up until she learns, from a friend, about Mr. McMann's padded checkbook. The guy is rich -- like, seriously loaded. Memories of Nick's disgusting flat fade into oblivion the first time Libby walks into Ed's posh London home, and as Ed begins his swift courtship of Libby, she finds herself falling more and more in love . . . with his dough.

Jane Green's Mr. Maybe is basically an exercise in how far can Libby seriously take this whole "relationship" before calling uncle? Seriously, it was kind of like watching a slow-motion train derailment. I couldn't believe Libby would even entertain the thought of being with someone like boring, pedantic and clingy Ed -- and neither could anyone else in her life, save her mother. But somehow Libby is drawn into this world of wealth and minor fame, basking in the glow of Ed's attention and lavish gift-giving.

Very little of Mr. Maybe sat right with me. Despite the fact that we're to believe Libby is an empowered PR representative who hob-knobs with celebrities, has tons of friends and many contacts in the media world, she comes across as weak, shallow and, frankly, uninteresting. Her banter with Nick is believable and fresh, but the entire mess with Ed felt sticky and terrible. As she let things drag on and on, I kind of . . . started to hate her.

Maybe I related too much to the whole "single girl" on the town -- and felt a little irked that for Libby, having a night by herself to watch TV and eat Chinese was like a fate worse than death. Um, personally, I call that Tuesday. Should I down a bottle of poison now or wait until after I've watched three back-to-back episodes of "Gossip Girl," Libby?

Of course, our narrator eventually changes her tune on that front -- and has undergone quite a transformation by the end of the novel. And I could appreciate that she'd changed. In fact, she became quite self-aware at the conclusion of the novel . . . and I genuinely believed she'd become a better -- and bigger -- person. But getting to that point? Unpleasant. ( )

Pretty much a typical British chick lit - a woman pushing 30 is dating all these men trying to find her ideal guy and settle down and get married. I really enjoyed the character of LIbby, and her journey through the book finding out that what you think you want in a 'perfect' man isn't always really what you need. ( )

This book lost me halfway and I think it is because I did not like the main character at all. I just could not connect with Libby and as result I could not compete this book. ( )

I don't often buy used books, particularly since 99.5% of my book-buying these days is done online, and the difference in price between used and new really shrinks when you add in shipping costs (I always get enough new books to get free shipping). But when there's an out-of-print book I really, really want, I browse through the seller's other books to see if they have anything else I might want--in particular, some new-to-me author that I'm not yet ready to take a chance on buying new. And that's how Mr. Maybe ended up in my TBR pile.

Libby Mason's Mr. Right is wealthy, gorgeous, and willing to support her in the style to which she'd like to become accustomed. So when she meets Nick, who is gorgeous, but who's also a struggling unemployed writer "on the dole" (why does that sound better than "welfare" or "unemployment"?), she knows he can't be The One. But he's so fun and sexy that she can't resist spending time with him. They embark on a relationship that they keep reassuring each other isn't serious, but it turns out to be such a great relationship that Libby's starting to reassess her criteria, and despite her denial, she's starting to fall in love with him.

And then Nick breaks up with her.

Out with her girlfriend in an attempt to cheer up, she meets Ed McMann (I know I'm not the only one taken aback by his name--the PW review spelled it McMahon!), who's everything she thought she wanted. Okay, so he's not gorgeous, but he is sweet, and one of Britain's most eligible bachelors, and he's definitely willing to spend money on her.

And so maybe he gets on her nerves, and the sex is terrible, but it'll get better over time, right?

I had such a difficult time with this book at first. Libby is unabashedly materialistic--wearing designer clothes, going to the best restaurants and clubs, all in the search of her wealthy Mr. Right. And Nick wasn't much better--blame my Puritan American background, but I had a very hard time sympathizing with a young, healthy, intelligent person choosing to go on welfare rather than work.

But along the way, they grew on me. Mostly because they grew--or Libby did, at least. Nick redeemed himself in the end. Eh--the story is about Libby, growing, changing, learning--that's why it's chick lit (or women's fiction--I still prefer the chick lit label) and not romance.

I loved how Libby changed while she was with Nick, and then I loved how she tried very hard to make the relationship with Ed work. The format was great--she grew in the relationship with Nick, and those changes were evident in her relationship with Ed. And boy, could I relate to her determination to make it work, as well as to her decision that since it didn't work out with the man she loved, she was going to settle for the one who met her old criteria.

And unlike other stories with this plot, Libby did care about Ed and worried about hurting him.

I believe I have another one of Green's books in my TBR pile. I look forward to reading it. ( )