Easy on the Eyes

In Jane Porter's 3rd book of the loosely related "Odd Mom Out" series, Marta's best friend, Tiana Tomlinson, takes the front stage to narrate her glamourous life as anchor of the celebrity expose "America Tonight". Tiana is struggling with her advanced age of 38 as the show producers are threatening to replace her as anchor if she doesn't get "a little work done". Additionally, Tiana is still grieving the loss of her husband, also a journalist, who died several years before. When her boy toy actor boyfriend is caught hooking up with the lead actress on the set of his new movie, Tiana is forced to confront who she is and what is most important to her. Enter celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Sullivan, a man whom Tiana most despises show more and can't seem to avoid. After following him to Africa for a documentary on his volunteer charity work, Tiana learns that she can learn to love herself despite her traumatic past and find passion in her work and in Michael. While somewhat predictable, Jane Porter's novel is a fun exploration into the shallow world of celebrity, while still bringing in the values of love, family, courage and trust prevalent in her other novels. show less

More On The Story & My Review

In Jane’s latest Chick Lit novel, we get to read the story of Tiana’s life. For those of you who read Odd Mom Out, you may remember this character. Tiana is 38 years old and at the height of her career as the host of a national television show called America Tonight. Tiana developed this show to be more of a special interest and current topics show rather than the glossy Hollywood Gossip show (i.e. Entertainment Tonight). Although Tiana has experienced significant loss in her past, her current career keeps her charged and she remains focused on it.

Tiana’s love, that perfect career, is threatened when the executives of her show inform her that her ratings are down and that the 28-year-old host of their show more weekend edition show is slated to become her new co-host. Another topic that is raised is that in order to appear young and fresh, she may need to consider getting “work done.” For Tiana, who has spent the better part of her adult life building her career, is faced with losing it due to her age. That has got to suck!

Each one of Jane Porter’s heroines has a different obstacle to face and for Tiana it is being challenged with a reinvention in her life just as she’s settled into her success. When a woman has based her identity on her career accomplishments, watching them careen is the equivalent of losing her identity. For Tiana, was all of that hard work just disposable to her network executives because there’s always somebody younger and “more fresh” to replace you? Perhaps if Tiana had a husband and/or kids that gave her a balance to her work-life, she could have handled this disappointment better. She considers this concept however realizes that this is a topic of major loss in her life. The man of her dreams, her husband Keith, died in Afghanistan before they could reach their one-year anniversary. She remains in love with his ghost.

As Tiana navigates her way through her social commitments and work-related appearances, she continues to run into Michael O’Sullivan aka Dr. Hollywood. You guessed it, he’s a plastic surgeon who once had a television show. Being generally opposed to cosmetic surgery for unnessecary means, she views Dr. Sullivan as something that represents everything that she doesn’t. Their bickering and bantering causes considerable sexual tension between them and she can no longer deny that there that unexplainable force pulling her towards him. But, he’s all wrong for her and nothing like Keith, so she resists the temptation.

After doing her damnest to bring up her ratings and revive her career, she discovers that it’s too late to avoid the fate that the executives have determined for her. This is coupled with the fact that her famous actor, long-distance boyfriend is not what she expected. She needs change in her life and the means to find her true path to happiness.

Tiana’s suffering from her past and it repeatedly haunts her to the point that she’s hit her low. In ways, I could connect with that. In other aspects, I wanted to shake her and say, “Girl, you got options and you’re beautiful, single and financially secure!” I mean, how bad is that? Not! Her tears are sometimes met with my dismay throughout the story. However, when she begins her path to self-discovery, my emotional attachment to her character strengthens.

I believe that Porter provides her reader with a great summer read and a continuation of a character that we’d like a glimpse into the life of. Of course, Porter is a great Chick Lit writer and she doesn’t disappoint in this novel. She does add those layers to Tiana that we need to relate to her. A woman’s past can be the remaining darkness of her heart and I understand that, despite my wish for Tiana to release it and live more for the moment. For Tiana, letting go of loss is something that is tremendously difficult to achieve and starting her new life is not easy. Porter reminds women of these truths in this novel and reminds the reader to be grateful for the love and support that do surround you in your life, exactly the way it sits today.

This is the fifth of five books by Jane Porter which I have read and reviewed. If you’re a fan of ChickLit, check out these reviews for other memorable reads by Jane Porter: The Frog Prince, Mrs. Perfect, Odd Mom Out and Flirting With Forty.

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

I was very excited to read this book and held a high level of expectations for it. I know that Jane Porter really put her heart and soul into providing us her next novel. The difficult part for me is that I find myself comparing Easy on The Eyes to her 4 other books that I’ve reviewed. In thinking about it, I realize that it really is the heroine that I most connect to that determines my favorite. To explain, for me I found that the more I related to the heroine, the more I loved the story. I most related to Mara in Odd Mom Out and Jackie in Flirting With Forty. Therefore, those two books remain my “Jane Porter Favorites.” I actually hate that I feel this way because it’s comparable to picking a favorite child; they are all so different and each one has something unique to offer.

So, taking off my “preferential glasses” and looking at this book as it stands on its own, for the genre Fiction:Women’s Fiction/ChickLit, I am going to rate this book an 8.5 OUT OF 10. show less

I’m a big fan of Jane Porter. Her books are always so addictive, lush with detail and characters that are so three dimensional. This book dealt a lot with inner and outer beauty, self confidence and self love, learning to trust and learning to throw away past notions and embrace the future. It was, in short, really really good.

Initially when I first heard about Ms. Porter latest novel, Easy on the Eyes, I had no idea it would feature a character I first read about in Odd Mom Out. For those of you who are familiar with this book, Tiana is one of Marta’s best friends. I absolutely loved Odd Mom Out and was excited to read more about these characters (and yes, Marta does appear in this book and it’s great to learn what she has been up to!).

I immediately liked Tiana. She’s very talented and smart and yes, quite beautiful. She doesn’t give much thought to her looks though. She believes she’s moved up the ladder based on her skills and determination. Other people, however will argue this point with her. Yes, she’s intelligent and good at what she does, show more but it also helps that she’s well. . . “easy on the eyes”.

When her show’s ratings begin to fall, the producers are forced to consider revamping her show and adding a co-anchor. They want to draw a much younger crowd and turn the show into a “entertainment, gossip about celebrities’ lives” kind of show. Tiana is faced with reevaluating her career and the direction it’s headed. She wants to stay true to herself, even if that means giving up her show that made her famous.

At times Easy on the Eyes is a bit repetitive. The reader knows early on that Tiana lost her husband early in their marriage and has not dated seriously since. She’s had several flings, but will not allow herself to become emotionally attached to another man as her feelings for her late husband are still raw. Despite the frequent mentioning of why she’s not currently involved, the story continues to move at steady pace when Michael O’Sullivan enters the scene. Although, a bit predictable, it’s fun to read about their chemistry and watch their relationship blossom.

Easy on the Eyes can be read as a stand alone novel. I also recommend Odd Mom Out and Mrs. Perfect as well. She’s Gone Country, featuring Shey—Marta’s other best friend—will be released this summer. show less

The book's well-written, but for some reason I couldn't really emphasize with the heroine or enjoy the story, it's not because of her glamourous life or anything she says or does, the narrative just felt cold and robotic to me, partly because she was supposed to go through a transformation of sorts in the book and had to become more human or maybe the book's just not my preferred writing style.