4.5 Stars. Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s The Bro-Magnet is a refreshingly lighthearted romance that is highly entertaining and laugh out loud funny. To read my review in its entirety please visit http://www.bookreviewsandmorebykathy.com/2012/01/12/the-bro-magnet/ ( )

I loved this book, mostly because it's such a sweet and funny read, full of lovable characters, and perfect for a lazy rainy afternoon on the couch. It will definitely put a smile on your face!:) ( )

If I could describe this book in one word, I would have said "adorable". Perfect summer chick-lit, full of good humor and charm.

Yet again, this book caught my attention long time ago because of an excellent review from Dear Author and yet again I wasn't disappointed when I followed their recommendation.

Johnny Smith is an attractive, healthy guy in his mid-thirties with a steady income, but he's got a huge problem. All his life he's been a man's man: guys love him and want to be his best friends, women think he is an asshole, because he does and says awkward things around them all with good intentions, but they get completely misinterpreted by fair sex.

He is funny, clever, has a really quirky sense of humor and he is very good-natured, so when he meets District Attorney Helen Troy he is determined to turn the tide over, even if he needs to pretend to be a totally different person.

Johnny changes his name to John, buys a new wardrobe, Dating for Dummies manual, redecorates his house, gets a cat and ditches his sport magazines pretending to like opera instead.

...and it helps. Helen goes out with him and they hit it off marvelously. Only how far would you go with all the lies without letting a woman you love to get to know real you?

The book has plenty of hilarious situations, advice on dating, a charming ragtag supporting crew of secondary characters and beautiful happy ending. I recommend it wholeheartedly, especially to those of you who like romantic comedy. ( )

3.5 stars

When I started this book, I was super excited. It had a great premise that I hadn't ever read before. Plus, it was told first person, MALE narrative! I'm a sucker for getting into a guy's head, and I actually really love first person books.

I think in this particular piece, it HAD to be done that way. There's no way that Johnny's voice could have come through if this was done in third person. Let's talk about his voice a little, should we? I was laughing so. damn. hard. through the first half of this book. Loud, barking laughter that had my husband looking at me like I was crazy. The storyline was engaging, Johnny was engaging. The first half of this book gets a solid 5 stars from me. And I'd give that part 10 stars if I could.

His humor and personality had me hook, line and sinker. His relationship with Sam was amazing--one of my most favorite things about this book.

But then we got into the second half of the book.

Which, to be honest, was a great big letdown. I felt it dragged on unnecessarily, and it lost the humor that had me wowed in the first place. Through the last half, Johnny...er...John changes almost everything about himself to get the girl (name change, clothing change, complete condo redo, no sports, starts watching General Hospital (whert?), AND HE BUYS A CAT.).

You could see where the story was going from the half way point, which was probably why it was so frustrating. It wasn't hard to see what was going on with Helen, and I think that's why I was waiting for it to just get there already.

Finally, when we did "get there", it was at the end of the book. I had no warm & fuzzy time, as I like to call it--when I get to bask in the wonderfulness of the characters and their eternal love. I got half a page.

This is my not amused face.

So, while this one started out with a bang, it crashed and burned by the end. I'd give the second half of this book 2, maaaaaaaaybe 3 stars, because it was somewhere between being just ok and being likable. But the first half was so funny, so engaging, that I rounded my 3.5 overall rating to a 4 star on here. Who knows? Maybe the 2nd half won't drag for others, and I'd hate to have you miss out on this hilarious book because of how it bothered me. ( )

Fun. Believable. We have all known people like the protags.

Two people who saw the way their future was going and took steps to stop it. They tried to hide their "reality" but it came through for all the better.

The writing is interesting. I have not read anything else by this author so I am not sure how she writes. The inner dialogue and the spoken dialog seemed to fit the protags well. The H, a painter, not very well educated but certainly intelligent, had grammar issues and a certain inability to express himself. He did not sound like an idiot, nor was he an idiot; but the h, a DA, was well spoken whose grammar was fine. You really don't "hear" her inner dialogue since the story was told from the POV of the man, an interesting twist.

Overall, it was fun and enjoyable. I have reread it and didn't enjoy it as much the second time as I did the first, some parts of it seeming too too -- too too cute, too too precious, too too unbelievable in some parts.

But an enjoyable read if you don't look at it too too hard.

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