Robin Alexander (1) (1965–)
Author of Pitifully Ugly
For other authors named Robin Alexander, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Image credit: Robin Alexander
Series
Works by Robin Alexander
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1965
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Members
Reviews
I just reread this yesterday and loved it even more the second time.
Adorable, sweet, funny and very well-written, Pitifully Ugly captures amazingly well all the insecurities, fears and frazzled nerves that come with trying to connect with someone you really like.
I can't say enough good things about Robin Alexander's books. They're consistently pleasing and get what so much of lesfic does not: that true love, the kind that both pulls you in and lasts, is based on friendship first, romance show more second and physical intimacy last.
Some of my favorite passages that I highlighted in my Kindle*:
"I fought the urge to cry when I realized I didn’t even want to date me."
"You always hear of people having epiphanies. One morning they wake up and have a moment of clarity. I thought I was having one of my own. I’d been so focused on having someone to share my life, that it made me kind of pathetic. “Love me, love me, please pick me and complete my life.” I suddenly had a mental image of myself as a pooch in the pound barking and pawing at my cage door as prospective owners came looking."
"There’s no pretense, no smooth-sounding lines, just a woman honestly offering her heart and hoping that it will be taken by someone who’ll cherish it.”
*If you have a Kindle, you can go to kindle.amazon.com to keep track of all books and passages you have highlighted. Another neat feature I like (that remains anonymous, obviously) is that you can see what other people have highlighted on both the website and in your Kindle (if you have that feature turned on.) show less
Adorable, sweet, funny and very well-written, Pitifully Ugly captures amazingly well all the insecurities, fears and frazzled nerves that come with trying to connect with someone you really like.
I can't say enough good things about Robin Alexander's books. They're consistently pleasing and get what so much of lesfic does not: that true love, the kind that both pulls you in and lasts, is based on friendship first, romance show more second and physical intimacy last.
Some of my favorite passages that I highlighted in my Kindle*:
"I fought the urge to cry when I realized I didn’t even want to date me."
"You always hear of people having epiphanies. One morning they wake up and have a moment of clarity. I thought I was having one of my own. I’d been so focused on having someone to share my life, that it made me kind of pathetic. “Love me, love me, please pick me and complete my life.” I suddenly had a mental image of myself as a pooch in the pound barking and pawing at my cage door as prospective owners came looking."
"There’s no pretense, no smooth-sounding lines, just a woman honestly offering her heart and hoping that it will be taken by someone who’ll cherish it.”
*If you have a Kindle, you can go to kindle.amazon.com to keep track of all books and passages you have highlighted. Another neat feature I like (that remains anonymous, obviously) is that you can see what other people have highlighted on both the website and in your Kindle (if you have that feature turned on.) show less
A very sad thing happened just moments ago – the book ended. I’m sad now.
It is rare for me to think and/or say this but I loved the characters in this book to the point that I want to know them in real life, and if they are based on real life people the author knows, then I’m jealous, I am.
There’s Shawna Haydel, 39, work-at-home (she also has a gas station, and is the reason for the ‘financial services’ shelf since she also works as an accountant) mother of 16 year old Alicia show more ‘Jet’ Haydel; and there's Ashton Guidry, 39, biology teacher and (reluctant temporary) color guard coach at the same school Jet attends. Both of them are the point of views in this book. And both are darn right lovable. The others, the non-point of view characters, are also lovable – though slightly less so depending on the character. There’s Jet, already mentioned, who is also a member of the color guard; and both of Shawna’s parents (Lou and Will) are also still alive and around (Will being the bald man (but for two hairs) who is there in the story, has a distinct personality, but hasn’t much to do with the book; and then there is Lou, another one with a distinct personality, though shown more through her interactions with her own mother – who just happens to live with Lou and Will), and grandmother (Janice, who had been the principal at the high school and is very prim and proper). Rounding out the first tier side characters is Patty – one of the four who were friends in high school (Shawna and Ashton being two of the others, while Cassie makes the fourth but isn’t around the town any longer). Filling in the second tier are those like the band leader Stiles, who is a pushy dick, his girl-friend Joann (who Shawna and the rest knew at high school – as a stuck up bitch), and . . . well, Janice probably goes on this level instead of first tier. Hmm. I kind of ‘ruined’ my tier system so let’s forget about that. Like, I should have had Meagan (Megan?) on the first tier but, like I said, let’s forget about tiers. Megan is Shawna’s 1) best friend; 2) ex-partner/wife (and referred to by Jet as Mom-Megan – one of Jet’s two mothers).
The book opens with a bunch of 16 year olds giggling and writing on paper while 16 year old Patty made a ‘potion’ (not the drinking kind of potion, luckily, since . . . well, spit and stuff). The potion is some kind of love potion – the girls wrote down the person they loved and/or wanted to love them, and put that paper into the potion. Shawna is nervous about the whole thing because she wants to write the name of one of the other young women there, but doesn’t want anyone to know or see the paper. The ritual is concluded, the page is turned, and it’s now 23 years later.
Shawna works out of her home while overseeing her daughter Jet. The ‘present’ part of the book, which apparently takes place in 2015 based on a comment in the book (which literally said ‘it is 2015’), starts off with Jet being super annoyed. And wanting to drop out of the Color Guard team. Because there’s a new coach and she’s bitchy and mean and stuff. Coach Ashole (or Ashhole, I forget spelling now). I suppose I should interject two things here – Shawna and Ashton haven’t communicated in roughly 20 to 21 years, and Shawna has no clue that Ashton has moved back to the small town, so there’s no inherent reason for her to immediately hear ‘Ashole’ and think ‘Ashton’. And she doesn’t immediately realize this fact. But she does want Jet to remain on the team, for now, because of the promises Jet made (and the money spent on the ‘stuff’ associated with being a member of the color guard).
Ashton, meanwhile, has been forced to become the temporary color guard coach due to the current coach needing to step away for a while for emotional reasons (going through a divorce).
And, um, stuff.
There’s no way I can do this book justice so I’m going to move on from my normal rambling.
The book is super humorous, lovely, great book. Brought tears to my eyes several times (from laughter), and there were many humorous moments/scenes. Some of which are created by having the daughter (Jet) catch her mother (Shawna) doing things. Like dance around.
Ashton is also a lesbian )
Some of the humor scenes involve just Shawna and Ashton – like the time Shawna catches Ashton sleep walking andsleep fighting the vacuum cleaner , or the time Ashton catches Shawna drinking wine out of a pickle jar due to nerves. Things more humorous in context. Or, I should say, read in the book.
Several of the sex scenes are quite humorous as well. For . . . reasons.
I, relatively recently, read two Alexander books close-ish together and labeled one as the best romance book I’d ever read and the other the best humor book I’d read. Well, I’m pushing both books out of their positions and sliding this book here in their place. This book here is both the best romance book I’ve read and the best humor book I’ve read. I wish to put this book on my top tier, but, sadly, I have to wait until I reread this book to do that.
Rating: 5.99 (only rereads can be 6 star books)
May 4 2017 show less
It is rare for me to think and/or say this but I loved the characters in this book to the point that I want to know them in real life, and if they are based on real life people the author knows, then I’m jealous, I am.
There’s Shawna Haydel, 39, work-at-home (she also has a gas station, and is the reason for the ‘financial services’ shelf since she also works as an accountant) mother of 16 year old Alicia show more ‘Jet’ Haydel; and there's Ashton Guidry, 39, biology teacher and (reluctant temporary) color guard coach at the same school Jet attends. Both of them are the point of views in this book. And both are darn right lovable. The others, the non-point of view characters, are also lovable – though slightly less so depending on the character. There’s Jet, already mentioned, who is also a member of the color guard; and both of Shawna’s parents (Lou and Will) are also still alive and around (Will being the bald man (but for two hairs) who is there in the story, has a distinct personality, but hasn’t much to do with the book; and then there is Lou, another one with a distinct personality, though shown more through her interactions with her own mother – who just happens to live with Lou and Will), and grandmother (Janice, who had been the principal at the high school and is very prim and proper). Rounding out the first tier side characters is Patty – one of the four who were friends in high school (Shawna and Ashton being two of the others, while Cassie makes the fourth but isn’t around the town any longer). Filling in the second tier are those like the band leader Stiles, who is a pushy dick, his girl-friend Joann (who Shawna and the rest knew at high school – as a stuck up bitch), and . . . well, Janice probably goes on this level instead of first tier. Hmm. I kind of ‘ruined’ my tier system so let’s forget about that. Like, I should have had Meagan (Megan?) on the first tier but, like I said, let’s forget about tiers. Megan is Shawna’s 1) best friend; 2) ex-partner/wife (and referred to by Jet as Mom-Megan – one of Jet’s two mothers).
The book opens with a bunch of 16 year olds giggling and writing on paper while 16 year old Patty made a ‘potion’ (not the drinking kind of potion, luckily, since . . . well, spit and stuff). The potion is some kind of love potion – the girls wrote down the person they loved and/or wanted to love them, and put that paper into the potion. Shawna is nervous about the whole thing because she wants to write the name of one of the other young women there, but doesn’t want anyone to know or see the paper. The ritual is concluded, the page is turned, and it’s now 23 years later.
Shawna works out of her home while overseeing her daughter Jet. The ‘present’ part of the book, which apparently takes place in 2015 based on a comment in the book (which literally said ‘it is 2015’), starts off with Jet being super annoyed. And wanting to drop out of the Color Guard team. Because there’s a new coach and she’s bitchy and mean and stuff. Coach Ashole (or Ashhole, I forget spelling now). I suppose I should interject two things here – Shawna and Ashton haven’t communicated in roughly 20 to 21 years, and Shawna has no clue that Ashton has moved back to the small town, so there’s no inherent reason for her to immediately hear ‘Ashole’ and think ‘Ashton’. And she doesn’t immediately realize this fact. But she does want Jet to remain on the team, for now, because of the promises Jet made (and the money spent on the ‘stuff’ associated with being a member of the color guard).
Ashton, meanwhile, has been forced to become the temporary color guard coach due to the current coach needing to step away for a while for emotional reasons (going through a divorce).
And, um, stuff.
There’s no way I can do this book justice so I’m going to move on from my normal rambling.
The book is super humorous, lovely, great book. Brought tears to my eyes several times (from laughter), and there were many humorous moments/scenes. Some of which are created by having the daughter (Jet) catch her mother (Shawna) doing things. Like dance around.
“Were you backing it up on the fridge?” [Jet]- 24% into the book. Jet catches Shawna dancing for joy when she reconnects with Ashton (and this also might be the scene after Shawna learned that
“I was…uh…was…removing smudges with my butt. Did you forget something?” [Shawna]
“My laptop. I have a paper due Monday for English. I’ll just go get that now,” Jet said, still looking disconcerted as she left the room.
“I saw a smudge, and I rubbed my butt on it. That’s perfectly normal,” Shawna called after her."
Some of the humor scenes involve just Shawna and Ashton – like the time Shawna catches Ashton sleep walking and
"You're having wine...in a pickle jar. Why is that?" Ashton asked, looking confused.
"Oh." Shawna looked closely at it. "I didn't even notice. I just grabbed it."
Several of the sex scenes are quite humorous as well. For . . . reasons.
I, relatively recently, read two Alexander books close-ish together and labeled one as the best romance book I’d ever read and the other the best humor book I’d read. Well, I’m pushing both books out of their positions and sliding this book here in their place. This book here is both the best romance book I’ve read and the best humor book I’ve read. I wish to put this book on my top tier, but, sadly, I have to wait until I reread this book to do that.
Rating: 5.99 (only rereads can be 6 star books)
May 4 2017 show less
This is the third book that I’ve read (listened to) by this author. One, the first one I tried (Temporary Girl) I quit partway through due to annoyance at the characters and getting sick of hearing lowkey transphobic comments constantly. (iirc, the queer mc and her queer friend did SO many variations on “ew penis is gross” from the queer woman and “ew vaginas are gross” from the queer man just… constantly, that I finally just rage quit). But I gave her another try and listened to show more The Lure of White Oak and largely loved it.
This one was somewhere in the middle for me. Not in terms of offense, but enjoyment. The main characters were both pretty great, and despite not really liking instalove tropes, I enjoyed their dynamic. I think that some of the comedy stuff just got to be too much for me. It felt like trying really hard to be funny and odd, rather than having any of it happen organically. It might just be that I didn’t quite connect with the side characters as much as I enjoyed the ones in White Oak. Who knows. Lori Prince narrates a lot of her books, and I like her, so I’ll probably try a few other titles. show less
This one was somewhere in the middle for me. Not in terms of offense, but enjoyment. The main characters were both pretty great, and despite not really liking instalove tropes, I enjoyed their dynamic. I think that some of the comedy stuff just got to be too much for me. It felt like trying really hard to be funny and odd, rather than having any of it happen organically. It might just be that I didn’t quite connect with the side characters as much as I enjoyed the ones in White Oak. Who knows. Lori Prince narrates a lot of her books, and I like her, so I’ll probably try a few other titles. show less
Never thought I would get teary-eyed with one of Robin’s books. Her more current stories (my past reads) are laced with humor; however, her past stories (my current reads) are much more emotional, and Half to Death is a prime example. (This story has a few emotional triggers eating disorder and molestation .)
As the blurb states, Sloan has a near death experience resulting in a...tangible...effect that becomes a blessing and a curse. She is never in want of support because she is surrounded show more by an awesome group of women she calls family. Miranda is the most significant out of the bunch and the type of person who stays with Sloan through thick and thin.
While trying to move past her traumatic experience, Sloan meets the mysterious Jade, a.k.a “Perfection Personified.” Through Sloan’s eyes, I felt their magnetic pull strengthen as the story progressed. I like that Robin did not go the insta-love route with Sloan and Jade but chose to build their relationship under unique circumstances.
My only wish is that since the story is told from Sloan’s POV, it would have been nice (for lack of a better word) to experience more of what she was like before the accident. There is no doubt in my mind the near death experience changed Sloan; however, I would have liked to experience that change rather than be told she changed. (I guess that’s what imaginations are for, right?)
Overall this is a great story about human strengths and weaknesses along with the importance of persistence, communication, and patience. It is also one I am sure to reread before the year is over. show less
As the blurb states, Sloan has a near death experience resulting in a...tangible...effect that becomes a blessing and a curse. She is never in want of support because she is surrounded show more by an awesome group of women she calls family. Miranda is the most significant out of the bunch and the type of person who stays with Sloan through thick and thin.
While trying to move past her traumatic experience, Sloan meets the mysterious Jade, a.k.a “Perfection Personified.” Through Sloan’s eyes, I felt their magnetic pull strengthen as the story progressed. I like that Robin did not go the insta-love route with Sloan and Jade but chose to build their relationship under unique circumstances.
My only wish is that since the story is told from Sloan’s POV, it would have been nice (for lack of a better word) to experience more of what she was like before the accident. There is no doubt in my mind the near death experience changed Sloan; however, I would have liked to experience that change rather than be told she changed. (I guess that’s what imaginations are for, right?)
Overall this is a great story about human strengths and weaknesses along with the importance of persistence, communication, and patience. It is also one I am sure to reread before the year is over. show less
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- Works
- 36
- Also by
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- Members
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- #40,586
- Rating
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- Reviews
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