Abandoned by Booklikes

So I tend to re-read this book a lot because it is a really long book. And I have to say it is not really the romance aspect of this book that causes me to still read it. It is the totally messed up circumstances that are going on in the main character's life that for some odd reason speak to me. Maybe it is because Eleanor is a flawed character that has many regrets. And it was nice to follow a character from the age of 22 to the age of 33 where they were finally starting to get their stuff together. A lot of times it makes me laugh when I read romance novels where the main character is 26 and lamenting that they are not engaged and married with two kids. Who are these people?

In Happily Ever After, we get to follow main character Eleanor Bee from the time she is 22 to when she is around 33 years old. Eleanor comes from a broken home and a mother who she is still making excuses for though all signs points to some serious issues with her mother. Practically estranged from her father and brother she throws herself headlong into the publishing business in London.

It was very interesting to see Eleanor as she was at 22 and to see how different life events had changed her over time. I think of myself at 22 (dumb as hell about a lot of things out there) and now at the age of 35 and wonder why did I find myself always giving other people so many chances to keep crapping on me. And that was what I related to a lot in this book. Eleanor seems to make up a lot of excuses for those around her and is blind to the point that her denial of what is going on in her mother's life was just sad. Eleanor is definitely flawed and that was great to see. I think a lot of times most romance novels make the heroine some perfect specimen that you don't understand how the person just does not have the perfect life.

However, besides Eleanor, the rest of the characters in the book really don't seem as well developed. For as long as this book is you would think that we could get some insight into many of the other characters mentioned. However, except for a few characters, we don't get a chance to follow them and see how they grow over time.

The writing I thought was and is still good. However, I thought the pacing was the biggest problem for me throughout this book. Things take a long time to get explained. We stick with certain plots longer than I think are needed. I think that if some sections of this book were cut out it would have made everything flow much nicer together.