"Love or Something Like It," by Deirdre Shaw (Random House, $22)
Deirdre Shaw's debut novel may appear to be a quick-read romance at first glance. It is a quick read, and it is a romance, but the story's heroine, Lacey Brennan, is a charming and delightful character whose gentle humor and insight makes reading pure pleasure.
Lacey moves from Manhattan to Los Angeles for love. For Toby. Toby is working in the Hollywood entertainment industry, so the social life is different from anything Lacey has ever experienced, but she navigates it more or less successfully.
Then she loses her job. And Toby leaves her. She has the distinct "pleasure" of overhearing him talk to his mother about how Lacey never knew how to take care of him like a wife should. She realizes Toby was more likely looking for a mother than a wife, but it's a lesson learned too late.
Lacey confronts Toby: "While we were splitting up, I'd thought Toby was careless. Why had he married me, I asked him, if he was only going to turn around and leave a year later? He didn't understand my question and looked at me, blinking, for a moment. 'Well, I wanted to at the time,' he said, as if that explained everything."
Lacey's story - her short marriage, her divorce, her career upheaval and her evolution - is treated with humor and grace. It may be a little more involved than the standard beach novel, but well worth the effort.
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