Rating: 
Summary: You must read this book
Review: This book is the most humorous novel I have ever read. Every friend I have loaned this book to has agreed. We loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: If this is reality- I should be a divorce attorney
Review: Although I really thought this book was funny- My reccomendation to anyone reading it is- THIS IS NOT REAL LIFE. At least I hope not. I am in the process of getting married, and I am experiencing none of this.I think that if all women went through these feelings getting married, there would be an awful lot of divorces. Regardless of my feelings on the engagement process, I found the book laugh out loud funny. It made me glad to be me, and glad that all of this stuff was happening to someone else! Enjoy it for what it is- a light weight read.
Rating:
Summary: Funny because it's honest and thoughtful (not crazy)
Review: As I write this review, 186 other people have reviewed this thing- so the question is: What incremental contribution can I make over and above the other 186 people who've had something to say about this book. Well, I'll try and be helpful by summarizing what everyone else has said, dispel some myths, and help set expectations: I avoided reading this book because based on what reviews I had read, I was afraid it was this "madcap romp through the bridal world"- I was scared it was going to be Bridget Jones Gets Married. I like Bridget, but "being engaged" and weddings are already superficial enough in this culture without the added bonus of slapstick. This book is honest, genuine and really has very little to do with ordering flowers (don't even think i saw the word "florist," actually) or invitations (she does talk about addressing them and picking them out, but it's fairly quick). It's more about a person going through a transition in life and coping with the fears associated with those changes than it is about being engaged. I found it to be very similar to "Welcome to My Planet" by Shannon Olsen- Eve (from this book) and Shannon (from "Welcome...") both are transitioning and having to grow up and realize that they have to stop looking backward and give up certain things in order to gain certain things. I'm not engaged and never have been married, and I still very much related to that kind of emotional growth. I also liked the fact that she's not a screw up at work- It seems a lot of these 30-year-old-woman books (Lucy Sullivan, Welcome to my Planet, Getting over it) are about a woman who's a mess at work and in her personal life- This woman is successful at work (six figures no less), and I could really relate to her a lot more- I'm a little maxed out on screwups. It is a fairly quick read but- I've read other reviews that said it's a superficial book. They are reading it too fast, which isn't necessarily wrong- it's just that they are sorta being like those dogs who gulp their food down without tasting it. This book is hilarious. Partly because of its honesty, but also because of some one-liners. For example, she's discussing the fact that Michael (her fiance, obviously) has been married before and discussing her feelings about being a second wife: "First wife, second wife. I will always be second. Even if his first wife dies, I don't move up the ladder. It's not like being an understudy. It's so much more complicated. Second. It's so Nancy Kerrigan." So far, I think this is one of the better of this 30-year-old-woman books, for what it's worth. Thanks Suzanne- Do we get a book on the next stage of life too?
Rating:
Summary: A laugh out loud book
Review: Suzanne Finnamore's OTHERWISE ENGAGED is a funny, yet poignant and real look at the metamorphosis of Eve, a thirty-six year old, desperate to be married woman, into an anxiou bride-to-be. Witty and engaging, OTHERWISE ENGAGED is a right on the money account of the doubt and fear that plague women on the road to death us do part. So, for all you brides-to-be out there, throw away those MODERN BRIDE magazines and read OTHERWISE ENGAGED.
Rating:
Summary: Am artful look at preparing for marriage
Review: When I first picked up this book, I was expecting a Bridget Jones clone: silly, slapstick humour, a heroine who was a bit inaccessible on account of her shallowness. As I had just read the second Bridget Jones book, I was not expecting much. What I found was Eve, who is an apparently shallow character (she forces her boyfriend to propose and to buy her a $7000 ring -- ugh!) who grows and develops as the book goes. In comparison to Bridget, Eve has depth, art, wit. She is a real person, and you come to see, through the book, that she really does love Michael. The earlier shallowness is forgivable, somehow. There are no forced, awkward scenes. No odd bits of slapstick, no striving for a joke. The book goes into the emotional state of a woman preparing for marriage -- and a little bit into the details of the wedding. You get to share Eve's doubts about spending the REST OF HER LIFE with Michael, and to deal with her emerging grief for her dead father and stepmother. The book is not a hard read -- I finished it in a few hours. It is not deeply intellectual. But it is very well done, and I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Not all that after all.
Review: Aside from a handful of passages, I really didn't find all that much humor in this. Just a story about a woman getting married and her reflections on her life as it once was and projections on how it will be after marriage - if in fact she can ever get up the courage to go through with it. A quick read and sometimes funny but not hilarious and not terribly insightful either.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This book was a riot. Sadly, these are some of the same bitter thoughts that my girlfriends and I share in our relationships. But bitter in a good way. It was a quick (one sitting) and very entertaining read. It was almost as good as a book about my favorite herione, Bridget Jones.
Rating: 
Summary: Whiny and Immature
Review: I had a hard time sympathizing with the main character, who came across as whiny and self-absorbed. The only enjoyable aspect of the book were occasional statements other brides could relate to. However, it's not worth the read just so you can have a chuckle here and there about how you both love to watch the prisms of light dance through your diamond. Also, I was painfully aware of how hard it was trying to be so "San Francisco".
Rating:
Summary: I AGREE
Review: The good reviews from the media almost convinced me to buy thisbook in hardcover; then my neighborhood bookstore ( ) in San Francisco recommended it as a St aff Pick and I succumbed to the paperback on Amazon. Within five minutes of reading it I knew that I had spent wisely. It was gripping, incisive, honest, and uniquely drawn. Some of the phrases and dialog were astounding. I was interested in all the characters. Can hardly wait for the author's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Like Eve, I experienced many wild and groundless fears during my second engagement. Women are getting married in their mid thirties with more frequency and I think this book reflects the huge mental transition it takes to go from being single to married. I know from being married that you cannot really know someone until you have been engaged/married AND have had children (the acid test). I think this book sheds light on some of these discoveries many joyous, some of them dubious. I applaud honesty in literature and I loved this first effort by a talented author...plus she made me laugh out loud at least once a chapter.
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