REVIEW for Fire Me

A big thank you goes out to author Libby Malin for sending me a copy of her book!

TITLE: Fire Me

AUTHOR: Libby Malin

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars

I was in a perfect frame of mind for reading FIRE ME by Libby Malin, having just been "let go" myself. Malin has written a very funny and original story - asking the question - just how far would YOU go to get fired? if you knew that you would get a nice, interesting severance package at the end of it?

Anne, our wonderful main character is about to find out..... Anne has worked for Mitch for a long time (and feels even longer since she broke off a dead end relationship with him). Unfortunately, Anne found out the hard way that you should never date your boss :( and she decides that she needs a change - and finds it - in a new job in San Francisco. Just as she is about to announce her resignation, Mitch announces to his employees, that one of them will be laid off - and getting a nice severance package.

This sounds like a perfect solution to Anne - she will make sure that Mitch "fires her" and she will be able to leave with her head held up AND some nice $$$. The only thing is, someone else in the office has the same thought - her co-worker Sheila has started acting up - and Ken, who works with both of them, but has a secret crush on Anne is making sure that he "cleans up" any mistakes that Anne makes - as he is under the mistaken belief that Anne is making these silly mistakes because she is under too much pressure at her job.

What follows is a hilarious series of missteps, miscommunications and ridiculous situations that are both funny, funny and at the same time, strangely touching. None of the characters are horrible and you get the feeling that, on some level, everyone in this storyline is somehow trying to find their "real" place in life and that the "severance package" is almost like a golden opportunity for everyone to re-evaluate their lives and the direction they wish to take in the future.

There are a lot of hidden messages behind the laughter here and the author did a wonderful job of passing that along to the readers, while at the same time keeping the upbeat and funny thread of the storyline.

I really enjoyed this one.