This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Zoe Lea
Jane Lockart
is a struggling writer, with her novel finished she has yet to find a publisher
and after a series of rejection letters, small publishing house Tristesse
decides to take on her book. Tom Duval, the owner of Tristesse, has a reputation
of being ruthless with his writers; pushing them to their limits and stretching
their abilities, so when Jane accepts a two book deal she does so with an air
of trepidation. Tom and Jane begin work on her novel and they slowly turn it
into a masterpiece. By the time the novel is ready to go out into the world, their working relationship has turned into something altogether more serious,
but that all falls away when Jane receives her copy of the book and sees that
Tom has changed the title without consulting her.
Furious, Jane resolves to leave his publishing company and have nothing more to do with him, but under contract she owes him a second book. Jane gets to the end of the second book and is almost free but then…she hits writers block. Meanwhile, with only a chapter to go, Tom can’t wait for Jane to complete her book and save his failing business which, after a series of bad investments, is resting on the next Jane Lockart novel. When he finds out Jane is suffering from writers block, he becomes convinced that it’s due to her happiness at her success with the first novel and the only way to get her writing again is to make her miserable.
So he starts on a mission to make her unhappy and restore her writing. He begins a madcap plan that involves lots of hilarious and quirky events. I laughed out loud on a few occasions when reading this novel and really enjoyed the fast paced flow of the narrative. The book is taken from the film of the same name, and luckily, I hadn’t seen the film or heard about it so it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Not Another Happy Ending is a quick read with all the elements of a good romantic comedy. I loved the characters, the snappy dialogue and the way the plot unravelled. Since reading, I’m now searching out the film, which can only be a testament of how much I enjoyed the book.
8/10