The Journal of Mortifying Moments
Robyn Harding
Ballantine, Oct 2004, $21.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 034547628X

In Seattle, Kerry Spence sees a psychiatrist to help her get over the loss of her boyfriend Sam the hunk, who shows up periodically when he needs a tryst in her bed. Finding no satisfaction with her boring job at Ferris and Shannon Advertising and even less in her personal life, Kerry takes her doctor's advice and begins to write a journal of her most mortifying moments, all of which involve males.

While going over her dysfunctional exploits, she starts when she was a preadolescent and was rejected for a kiss in a truth or dare game by a boy she desired; this memory makes Kerry feel even more pathetic. However, Nick of Shooting Star seems to want the real her, but she refuses to believe anyone would want the eccentric soul she hides behind a mask of cool aloofness. Nick vows to release the inner wonderful person he has seen in private and has fallen in love with, but Kerry expects one more mortifying moment to add to her diary of embarrassment.

This is an intriguing chick lit romance tale starring a wonderful protagonist whose confidence in herself proves negative numbers exist. Kerry has lived a series of rejections and humiliating embarrassments whenever she allows her true personality to surface so she has buried herself in a frozen tundra epidermis to keep the hurts away. Like Sam, Nick has glimpsed the warm soul of Kerry, but unlike the hunk, who could not care less, he likes what he observes. Though Kerry's lament can become irritating, Robyn Harding paints an amusing portrait of a woman seeking love, but not believing she is worthy.

Harriet Klausner