Carrie Gerlach Emily’s Reasons Why Not

Emily's Reasons Why Not

Carrie Gerlach

Avon, May, 2005, $12.95, 266 pp.

ISBN: 006059425X

In Los Angeles, nearing thirty with her bio clock ticking and gravity pulling at her body, Hollywood publicity guru Emily Sanders wonders why all her friends seem to have spouses, children, and the suburbs while she has not had a decent date lately. She analyzes with her psychologist "coach" Dr. D. how come she has failed to find Mr. Right, but has a lifetime of Mr. Wrongs. Dr. D suggests she draw up a top ten reasons of why these are Mr. Wrongs.

Emily begins evaluating the attributes of the hunks she dated to see what trait made them terrible spousal material. She begins to see a pattern of hooking up with womanizing rats starting with her boss and continuing with others including the baseball player. As she begins to realize she exists in the ooze beneath the lowest rung of the Hollywood food chain, with the help of her loving canine Sam and a couple of true friends, Emily begins to look inside to learn why she punishes herself with these losers because she now knows that to find the man who will love her she must first learn to love herself.

EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT is at times an amusing chick lit tale though the heroine is no Letterman or for that matter even a Jones and her whine can turn into a headache. The storyline focuses on Emily's analysis of her failed relationships and what she really expected from them. Die-hard genre readers will appreciate her lament as Emily provides solid reasons why fans should read her bemoaning bio on the men in her life; others take a pass.

Harriet Klausner