Happily married and very pregnant, Mormon housewife Becky Jack is in L.A. to sell a screenplay when celebrity actor Felix Callahan enters her life. And the sparks of friendship seem to ignite. Soon Felix is in Salt Lake City, Utah to visit. The phone calls start and they chat and laugh. Becky’s steadfast husband takes it in stride and Felix’s model wife Celeste seems to approve. And the friendship grows. Felix and Becky are there for each other, ultimate friends. And while the reader wonders at the probability of this, he/she is also buried under the details of pie baking, and children’s activities, and an avalanche of “G” rated opinions about behavior and movies. After a while Becky’s declarations to herself regarding her love for her husband grew tiresome and the story grew too long. ( )

Surprisingly enjoyable book. Not too predictable. An easy read.

This book was very different from Shannon Hale's other books. At first I thought the writing was a little too casual - almost like she was writing on her blog - but the story slowly grew on me and I ended up having a hard time putting it down. I really don't know what genre to mark it though.

Basically a Mormon housewife happens to go to Hollywood to sell a screenplay she wrote and meets a famous movie star who she thinks is gorgeous. They end up having dinner and then he contacts her in Utah later on and they realize they have some weird connection and become best friends. I had a hard time figuring out what the point of the novel would be. Usually there is a romance to root for, or some big problem the main character has to overcome. This is just an entertaining story about two people who make each other laugh. You aren't rooting for them to cheat on their spouses, so I guess you're rooting for their friendship.

It's an interesting read with some twists and turns along the way. It did not end how I thought it would. And I don't know how well it would be received by readers who aren't LDS. I prefer Hale's young adult fantasy books better, but this was a fun change. ( )

Since finishing this book (which I did very easily, it's a quick and entertaining read) I have been struggling with how to review it. On the one hand, it's a fun tale about a normal woman who has the unlikely good fortune to meet her celebrity crush and actually find a meaningful friendship with him. Their banter is witty and their improbable friendship weathers the occasional storm just like any relationship, with spousal jealousies, the demands of work and family and general differences of opinion getting in the way. The story is often laugh-out-loud funny, and the characters are endearing in their own strange ways.

On the other hand, there were many times while reading that I wanted to just shake the book, or the characters within it, for the completely unrealistic moral overtones that I found leaping from most of the pages. Are there really people out there who believe it impossible for married women to have male friends, or vice versa? Are there families out there who would stage minor interventions because a sibling had a friend and the rest feared for her moral soul? I have no problem with storylines that contain religion or spirituality, but I want the devotion to seem realistic, I want to believe that the characters are people of faith, but real people. With this book I'm just not sure I bought it.

All that being said, I definitely recommend this book - it's not your standard chick-lit, the main character being far less independent than most heroines of the genre - if nothing else you'll have a good laugh. ( )

I ate this book up (in 2 sittings) like a decadent piece of the best chocolate cake!
Totally unbelievable, but totally delightful!
A pregnant (with her 4th) Morman housewife who gets her first screenplay optioned meets Felix Callahan (think Hugh Jackman) and they become best buddies. Witty barbs, sarcastic wordplay and true friendship ensue. ( )