REVIEW for Meet Delaney

TITLE: Meet Delaney

AUTHOR: Jackie Mahaney

GENRE: Self-help/chick lit

RATING: 4 stars

This is the exact type of book that I enjoy although it was not clear to me, at the beginning, whether this was a biography or a novel. No matter, it is partly self-help, partly chick lit and part memoir.

Meet Delaney, written by Jackie Mahaney is an honest, painful and funny look at the life that awaits the single women today! Delaney, the main character, has just been unceremoniously dumped by her husband of 8 years and she never saw it coming. Her story of the break up is painful to read "stay in line Delaney" OUCH~ and immediately made me hate her soon-to-be ex-husband.

After quite alot of crying, Delaney slowly starts picking up the pieces of her life and realizes that she wants to date, to fall in love, to have a first kiss with someone and to maybe eventually find "the guy" - but not necessarily in that order. So, her new life begins. Along the way, she will meet some wonderful female friends. The author's description of Delaney's first meeting with Jen was both scary and hysterically funny (run Abigail!!!).

I really enjoyed the way the author tells Delaney story, although some of it can be brutal (I mean, cruising in the bars for her boy toy?), I felt myself cheering her on all the time. It was also interesting to compare the women's stories as they were living them - each having their own personalities and therefore each looking for love in different ways and for different reasons.

BUT what I LOVED the most about this book and what worked best for me was the wonderfully warm, touching relationship Delaney had with Abigail. I loved reading about Delaney's most loving relationship - and the story towards the end of the book actually made me cry (which was quite embarrassing as I was sitting in the subway).

This is a great read for any single or divorced women out there! Apparently, there is hope. Who knew?