Rating: 
Summary: Chick novel -- what more can I say?
Review: I have defined "chick novel" on previous reviews. Chick novels are novels about women in either their twenties or thirties with unsatisfying jobs looking for Mr. Right -- or at least for Mr. He-would-do-because-of-the-whole-biological-clock-thing -- in cities such as New York, Boston and, in most cases, London. This novel falls into said category.Tracey is a twenty-four-year-old New Yorker who has a weight problem and has a menial job at an advertising agency. Desperate for reassurance from her otherwise aloof boyfriend, Tracey becomes clingy and needy -- that is until he leaves with a group of actors to pursue a career in theater without so much as giving Tracey a phone number to reach him. During the course of the nine months that he intends to be away, Tracey tries to reinvent and improve herself in readiness to her boyfriend's arrival and approval -- but, for Tracey, things start to take a different route that leads to self-discovery. This novel is fun and more realistic than most chick novels I've read. Nevertheless, it brings nothing new to the quite large volume of chick novels out there. Unlike Helen Fielding and Marian Keyes, Markham's single-gal anecdotes don't stand out. However, this is still a fantastic and fun little gem (that's published by Red Dress Ink -- which I have already read several books from, obviously a new publishing house for modern romance enthusiasts) and that is why I am giving it four starts. Definitely worth reading!
Rating:
Summary: Slightly Single~
Review: If you've ever had your heart-broken, been more into your relationship then your boyfriend is, wanted to lose weight, get your life organized or all of the above, then I think you will identify with Slightly Single. There are a lot of books out there about young twenty somethings, trying to make their way in the dating world and Wendy Markham does it with success. This novel is full of up-to-date anecdotes about today's popular icons as well as time old dilemmas that girls of every generation continue to face. How far will a girl go to keep her man and what is the price she'll pay with her dignity and self-respect? You'll learn about this and more in Slightly Single and have fun too.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it - hated it
Review: I really enjoyed the lead character and her troubles. The book was definitely hilarious at times. My one complaint, but it's a big one, is with the ending. I was so happy as Tracey really did seem to be getting control of her life, and the only thing that made me not want to scream out loud when she was still clinging to the horendous Will was that you could see where this was all going, but in the end, we never got there! When I turned the last page and realized what was about to happen, I was furious! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book immensely up until that final moment. I just felt cheated that I put up with Will for the whole book, but didn't get the satisfaction that I thought the story was moving towards all along.
Rating: 
Summary: New York Tale - Great Read!
Review: Tracey Spadolini is having the worst summer of her life - and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better. Nothing seems to be going right including her job, her apartment and her love life. It's time for drastic matter and that amazing tale is a great read. I really loved it and have added it my list of gift-giving books. I think that Wendy Markham is a gifted storyteller and I await more her tales. Great book - give it a shot!
Rating:
Summary: This book reminded me of my life.
Review: From the minute I picked up this book I felt I could relate to Tracey in many was. Tracey loves her boyfriend Will and trusts him when he leaves to go on summer stock. But deep in her heart she knows that things will never be the same. She decides to try and lose some weight and save some money that when Will comes back he will see a new Tracey and hopefully maybe be ready to finally commite to her, but during all of this she has some of her own problems. I loved Tracey's friends in this book. All her friends from work, Kate, Raphael, Buckley and her family. They helped her come to a lot of realizations in her life and make her see things diffrently. This book was wonderful and I can't wait for more from this author and more from Red Dress Ink.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, Pul-leez, PW! This book was great!
Review: The best of the Red Dress Ink, if you ask me. This book had it all. Fabulous cast of characters. A heroine you could root for. Laughs and a sympathetic tear or two Overall a great book. I LOVED it. Oh, and the best line of the book, BTW..."We-o pwayin' wock quawwy." You gotta love an author that can write kid-speak. Read the book. You'll laugh. I promise:)
Rating:
Summary: Anything but "shopworn"
Review: Yes, the heroine of SLIGHTLY SINGLE is, like Bridget Jones, overweight, single, neurotic, and trapped (or so she believes) in a nowhere job. But then, how many young women living in NYC -- or anywhere, for that matter -- fit that description? Or at least three out of four? Doesn't mean their stories mimic BJD, or their lives. And neither does Tracy's. Wendy Markham brings a fresh twist to the genre with a book that's at once insightful, smoothly written and wryly humorous. Tracy is an honestly neurotic heroine, even as the truth of her situation with her self-absorbed boyfriend only lurks on the fringes of her consciousness for much of the story. And this makes her appealing and loveable. Markham's prose manages to be fluid despite pages of one-sentence paragraphs depicting Tracy's inner turmoil and conflict as she comes to terms with not only who she is, but what she wants. . .and deserves. A strong, shining example of "chick-lit" at its best. Despite a beginning that perhaps could have been a little stronger, by page 50, I found myself rapidly turning the pages, thoroughly engrossed with Tracy's stumbling along her learning curves. Scenes with her family back home in upstate NY are priceless and very true-to-life. Loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Publisher's Weekly is ridiculous...
Review: I found this novel fresh and upbeat with a fastpaced storyline, likable characters and an uncanny insight for the foibles of dating in NYC. P.W. should be renamed P.U.
Rating:
Summary: The ending makes this one....
Review: This book was a great story and I was certainly able to relate; however, what made this book was the ending. Most books in this genre tend to conclude with the young single girl meeting the man of her dreams and living happily ever after. This ending is much more real and I appreciate that!
Rating:
Summary: Fun from Start to Finish
Review: Literary snobs aside, most of us understand sitting down with a book is done for pure entertainment and no one does it better than Wendy Corsi Staub - aka Wendy Markham. SLIGHTLY SINGLE is yet another fun read from the author of the chilling FADE TO BLACK and LONG WAY HOME. This is not formulaic writing, it's funny, touching real life - I don't know why she's using a pseudonym but Corsi Staub/Markham's long and diverse list of books make it clear this woman can write. Narcissitic twenty-somethings are hardly a thing of the past - and this 30-something enjoyed living vicariously through Tracy, cigarettes and all!
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