Rating: 
Summary: fun and insightful
Review: Delightful! Rare that you can find a novel that makes you laugh out loud-but that also has intelligence and wisdom behind it. The main characters-Lucy and Jess-are such very real people that by the end of the book, they feel like your best friends. The writing is quick and clever-but never obvious. Constant surprises in the story keep you turning the pages. I loved the ending. Recommended it to all my friends. Highest recommendation!!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite This Summer!!
Review: Everything about this book is terrific--it's funny and fast and filled with loveable characters. I laughed out loud and was also moved by the very real emotions and situations. The behind-the-scenes TV stories are the best and obviously written by authors who know what they're talking about. The reality TV show date had me laughing until tears rolled down my cheeks. Don't miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Let the Title Fool You
Review: I almost didn't read this book because the title led me to think it would be the chronicles or diaries of a woman getting botox treatments. In actuality, the book is a fairly typical story with central characters in their 40's.
I found the book was enjoyable and light reading - certainly not great literature, but it was entertaining and held my interest. I won't spoil the story, so suffice to say it has a little of everything in the mix. I think the author was trying to have a regular person we could all identify with as the main character - but who dealt with the rich and glitzy to give us a little glamour. The best way I can describe it is that most Chick Lit books are written about 20-somethings - and these characters seemed to be 20-somethings with a chronicle age of 40. Chick-Lit for the Middle Age market.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable
Review: I found this book to be a catchy title, sloppily written with many cliches. Could be a good bus read, but the advertisements may be more inventive.
Rating:
Summary: Harmless fun
Review: If you've put your mind in cold storage for the summer, this is the book for you. It appears to have been written from an outline of cliches. The writing is pleasant despite the trite characters and marginal yet predictable plot. A good beach book. Don't read it if your mind is engaged at all.
Rating:
Summary: An annoying friend ....
Review: is exactly how I would describe the self-absorbed, philandering character Lucy. I really did not care for this book at all. I felt that the plot was way too predictable and the behavior of the characters was extremely cliche. I probably would have been better off watching a Lifetime movie than wasting my time on this book. The book did have its funny moments but they were somewhat forced. I'd recommend taking a pass on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Injecting some fun
Review: It's no secret that most chick-lit books are for the twentysomething crowd -- a few are for thirtysomethings. But Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger aim a bit higher in "The Botox Diaries," an entertaining but flawed look at the lives of New York's fortysomething mothers and wives.
Single mom Jessica Taylor is trying to keep up with the deranged supermoms, while her flighty producer pal Lucy fixes her up on disastrous dates with horny plastic surgeons. And then Jessica realizes that Lucy is cheating on her lovable husband Dan, with a boorish TV host. Now Jessica is stuck between her two friends, as Lucy takes resort trips and tantric sex lessons with her new lover. What makes it even worse is that Lucy's "what he doesn't know won't hurt him" attitude is exactly like that of Jessica's ex-husband, Jacques.
Coincidentally, Jacques then reappears in Jessica's life, and seems to be trying to win her back. She allows herself to be swept along, but wonders what it is really up -- and if Jacques can learn to be faithful. Between reluctantly dating a gay surfer and attending a Botox party, Jessica struggles to fix both her own life and Lucy's disintegrating marriage.
Few books take a look at the female midlife crisis -- let's face it, women can panic as easily as men about turning forty. Even so, it's a bit hard not to cringe as Lucy blithely cheats on her husband, assuming that her side nookie won't be uncovered. At one point, the wit falls away in favor of drama, when it looks like Lucy's marriage is over forever.
But the book is about more than just midlife crises -- Kaplan and Schnurnberger also look at experienced romance, aging (and Botox), motherhood, and the pressure to keep up with deranged supermoms. Their style is witty and detailed, although the plot tends to meander. However, they have a witty, literate edge to their writing, without seeming to name-drop. Jessica's description of Chekhov as a Russian "Sex and the City" is hilarious.
Jessica is the "au naturel" one -- she's very unself-conscious and down to earth. She's a little too passive, however -- why couldn't she tip Dan off anonymously? Lucy is a stereotype of the shallow, overmoneyed woman, and Jacques a stereotype of the faithless French lover. Sadly, the book falls into the old chick-lit trap of providing a convenient love interest for Jessica, though they have zero chemistry and he appears less often than the Gen-X gay surfer.
An awkward love story mars this story of love, motherhood, infidelity and botulism. But "The Botox Diaries" is still an entertaining read, especially for the forty-plus set -- really, aren't you sick of all chick-lit heroines being the same age?
Rating:
Summary: Smooth Read, Moderate Entertainment Value
Review: Jess Taylor is a 41 year old divorced mom trying to deal with the onslaught of wrinkles and sagging body parts but unlike the other women in her life they aren't her greatest misery. Harder still is her increasing awareness of her daughter's transformation into a woman and the knowledge of her best friend's marital infidelity. To liven her life up even more, her sex pot ex-husband drops in and smothers her with French compliments, French wine and French kisses.
Jess leads an otherwise humdrum existence. She works for Art's Council for Kids and this year the rich mothers want her to organize "My Fair Lady" in an attempt to bring together the rich and poor kids in one extravagant production. She lives in a nice neighborhood and owns her own home in a New York suburb.
I was pleasantly surprised by this amusing read. It was easy to fall in love with Jess' character. She has a Bridget Jones wrong place at the wrong time quality, especially when it comes to her boss Joshua Gordon. She either has food on her face or her clothes twisted around in an inappropriate fashion implying she's not the sophisticated, intelligent woman she is. Despite her brains in being able to organize a troupe of rich bitches she falls short in a parents' sex-ed class when she peels her demonstration banana (yes to eat it) and then is disciplined for it. This scene was such a hoot but do they really make parents take sex-ed classes before their kids?
The story didn't go where I thought it was moving and where I wanted it to go. The character of Joshua Gordon (Jess' uptight, business oriented, no manners boss. Who also happens to be gorgeous) seemed to be introduced too late to care about or want him involved with Jess. He was more of an inconvenience despite his pathetic divorce from a two timing wife.
The excitement in Jess' life comes from her very rich producer friend Lucy Baldor. Lucy has been having an affair with a TV egomaniac, Hunter Green, whose show she's producing. Jess feels incredibly guilty about the affair because she's best friends with Lucy's husband Dan and their kids are also best friends. On numerous occasions Lucy turns Jess into her alibi. Jess allows her to buy her silence with trips, spa days, shopping sprees and invitations to botox parties. Lucy is a terrible friend and not a likeable character. Her self absorption is perfect for her current lover Hunter Green. The book descriptions describe their friendship as "the one true thing they can count on." I didn't see it, feel it or believe it. Jess seemed more to tolerate Lucy as a distraction or form of entertainment. This is supposed to be the story about two women but really it's the story about Jess Taylor and her adventures in the world of the rich and insane oops, I mean rich and famous.
Anyone who doesn't watch the TV and isn't up with the latest couture fashions may have trouble with the name and product dropping but this is only mildly distracting.
The characters offer an interesting peek into the life of the rich and sort of famous though often scary and definitely not all the tube makes them out to be. I was kind of disappointed by the whole women can't be happy without a man scenario yet again but overall the book is a quick, smooth read balanced with a moderate entertainment value.
Rating:
Summary: Great Summer read
Review: Just finished The Botox Diaries! It was one of those books that I couldn't put down. Thank you for delivering a light, humorous read for the start of my summer!The Botox Diaries was perfect for a mom on the move like me (and Jess and Lucy!). I could read a chapter, change the baby, read some more while he played in the sandbox,...pick up the mess, grab the girls from school,...read a little as I prepared dinner...bathe the kids, and then relax while reading in bed. I loved the characters and the humor. I found myself chuckling out loud and getting looks from my husband! As I approach forty, and I look at the wrinkles forming around my eyes and my hands aging, I can't help wondering if I'd ever do botox! I think not. Like Jess, I'm a bit more "au naturelle". Bravo to the authors! I'm passing the book along to my girlfriend, and telling all about it. I might even get my (60+)Mom to read it! This is a great beach or vacation book. I was very entertained!!!
Rating:
Summary: Letdown
Review: Not that I was expecting "the next biggest thing" but I had hoped for a fun, light summer read. What I got what a dull book that I had to force myself to finish. Every now and then I like reading a "beach read".. something that's fun and flirty like The Devil Wears Prada or anything by Sophie Kinsella. This book is terrible. It drags on and I really didn't find there to be too much of an story to it. Pass on this one.
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