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Happily Ever After?
Eleanor Cooper is a smart, attractive blonde with a successful career in marketing. Ellie has a finely tuned eye for human weakness and a steady supply of one liners, but that doesn't stop her from falling for the ultimate romantic cliché—a fairytale wedding to her very own Prince Charming.
When 'golden boy' Tony enters her life he appears straight out of central casting. 'He didn't quite arrive on a prancing white steed but a Boeing 737 is not a bad substitute.'
Unfortunately those old fairytales provide no instruction for married life and Ellie's marriage—and new husband—prove a lot more complicated than she bargained for. When the couple suffers a devastating loss a distance opens up between the two that has little to do with Tony's job as a long haul pilot.
Can Ellie and Tony survive their troubles? Can she forgive if not forget? Or should Ellie leave her prince for the love that is waiting for her? That's a choice only our heroine can make. And when she makes that choice can she be sure it's the right one?
In turns funny, sad, moving and sexy, Happily Ever After? is a novel for women who know the most interesting times of our lives usually happen after the wedding.
When 'golden boy' Tony enters her life he appears straight out of central casting. 'He didn't quite arrive on a prancing white steed but a Boeing 737 is not a bad substitute.'
Unfortunately those old fairytales provide no instruction for married life and Ellie's marriage—and new husband—prove a lot more complicated than she bargained for. When the couple suffers a devastating loss a distance opens up between the two that has little to do with Tony's job as a long haul pilot.
Can Ellie and Tony survive their troubles? Can she forgive if not forget? Or should Ellie leave her prince for the love that is waiting for her? That's a choice only our heroine can make. And when she makes that choice can she be sure it's the right one?
In turns funny, sad, moving and sexy, Happily Ever After? is a novel for women who know the most interesting times of our lives usually happen after the wedding.
- GenresFiction
215 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 28, 2011
The premise of this book is what happens next? What happens after the prince and princess ride off to “live happily ever after”? I think I’ve wondered that myself, how convenient, that the story ends after the interesting stuff happens, but you never find out how the prince and princess fared after that. Did they have lots of children? Did the prince provide handsomely for the family? Did the princess keep the castle clean and tidy? Did they remain happy forever, until they died of old age?
The author deals with this in her novel. Eleanor thinks she has found her handsome prince and marries him but uh oh, things don’t go exactly according to plan. Bad things happen. Things like a stillborn baby and infidelity and lots of time apart and a real breakdown of communication.
People grow and change and sometimes what we wanted back then is not what we want later. It happened to Eleanor, who thought she knew what she wanted but found out that having a handsome husband wasn’t enough, that handsome husband needed to be a little more attuned to her needs. It was clear from the outset, the husband, Tony, was selfish, unwilling to give. In the beginning I wanted Eleanor to grow a backbone, get angry at him, but she kept trying, trying until he did something really awful.
It starts out with Eleanor in the present, and she flashes back to the history of her relationship with Tony. I was hooked on this book from the beginning. I loved the story of her insecurities as a young girl and her blossoming relationship with Tony, and her marriage. I read this on my Kindle so I don’t know the exact size of the novel but it seemed to be fairly lengthy. I needed to exercise discipline in order not to waste the day away reading, so I limited myself to 5% per day, no more, but violated that a couple of times.
Some of this novel was so poignant, the story of the stillbirth and the way it feels to be in a new love affair, that I was quite moved by it. Ms. O’Reilly captures it very well, she has a fresh voice, tinged with just enough comedy to make it a delightful read, yet not one of those over-the-top-trying-to-be-funny novels. I like a smattering of comedy, enough to be real, but not enough to diminish the seriousness of the tale.
I liked that the characters weren’t stereotyped. A reader of classic romance might not like it, that the characters made mistakes, or did things at which people might shake their heads. The heroine wasn’t perfect, not like the wholesome good women in so many romance novels. That’s what I liked about it. Real-life, stuff-happens, kind of characters.
I noted the differences in language between the Australian and the American, and found that interesting too. I don’t think I realized there were so many dissimilarities. For example: words and phrases like “whilst”, “on holiday” (to us Americans “on vacation”), the ever-popular “bloody”, and my personal favorite, “shag”. The measurement of weight in kilos, and distance in kilometers, and kitchen counters are “benchtops” in Australia. And the word “pull” means something there it doesn’t mean here, as in “you were trying to pull the night of the dinner dance” which in context means “you were trying to score”.
I gave this book 4 stars. Really, it was 4½, but it has to be either 4 or 5. I reserve 5 for perfection, and there were a few editing errors I noticed in the book, words that I thought had been omitted. Other than that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, delightful read. I can’t wait for the next novel from this promising author.
The author deals with this in her novel. Eleanor thinks she has found her handsome prince and marries him but uh oh, things don’t go exactly according to plan. Bad things happen. Things like a stillborn baby and infidelity and lots of time apart and a real breakdown of communication.
People grow and change and sometimes what we wanted back then is not what we want later. It happened to Eleanor, who thought she knew what she wanted but found out that having a handsome husband wasn’t enough, that handsome husband needed to be a little more attuned to her needs. It was clear from the outset, the husband, Tony, was selfish, unwilling to give. In the beginning I wanted Eleanor to grow a backbone, get angry at him, but she kept trying, trying until he did something really awful.
It starts out with Eleanor in the present, and she flashes back to the history of her relationship with Tony. I was hooked on this book from the beginning. I loved the story of her insecurities as a young girl and her blossoming relationship with Tony, and her marriage. I read this on my Kindle so I don’t know the exact size of the novel but it seemed to be fairly lengthy. I needed to exercise discipline in order not to waste the day away reading, so I limited myself to 5% per day, no more, but violated that a couple of times.
Some of this novel was so poignant, the story of the stillbirth and the way it feels to be in a new love affair, that I was quite moved by it. Ms. O’Reilly captures it very well, she has a fresh voice, tinged with just enough comedy to make it a delightful read, yet not one of those over-the-top-trying-to-be-funny novels. I like a smattering of comedy, enough to be real, but not enough to diminish the seriousness of the tale.
I liked that the characters weren’t stereotyped. A reader of classic romance might not like it, that the characters made mistakes, or did things at which people might shake their heads. The heroine wasn’t perfect, not like the wholesome good women in so many romance novels. That’s what I liked about it. Real-life, stuff-happens, kind of characters.
I noted the differences in language between the Australian and the American, and found that interesting too. I don’t think I realized there were so many dissimilarities. For example: words and phrases like “whilst”, “on holiday” (to us Americans “on vacation”), the ever-popular “bloody”, and my personal favorite, “shag”. The measurement of weight in kilos, and distance in kilometers, and kitchen counters are “benchtops” in Australia. And the word “pull” means something there it doesn’t mean here, as in “you were trying to pull the night of the dinner dance” which in context means “you were trying to score”.
I gave this book 4 stars. Really, it was 4½, but it has to be either 4 or 5. I reserve 5 for perfection, and there were a few editing errors I noticed in the book, words that I thought had been omitted. Other than that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, delightful read. I can’t wait for the next novel from this promising author.
May 17, 2014
First the positive - I thought the story was engaging and I kept reading to find out how it was resolved.
But -although I really wanted to like this book, I didn't really. The characters were all meant to be quite different, given they prioritised different things, did different things - and actually were discrete people, However, their voices - the words they used, their mannerisms, and so on - were all very similar. The way they all talked was quite stilted too - and very verbose, which to me didn't really fit the characters. And it took me a long time to 'take' to Eleanor, the 'hero' of the book, because of her constant focus on appearance (particularly weight) despite the fact that she was critical of others also caring about external approval (in some novels, this would work to show a flawed, or normal, individual, however, except for events that happen later - can't mention as this would be a spoiler, the book clearly paints her as the 'good guy' and someone with more depth).
These aspects detracted from the book for me, which was a pity since, as I said, the bones of the story were really good.
But -although I really wanted to like this book, I didn't really. The characters were all meant to be quite different, given they prioritised different things, did different things - and actually were discrete people, However, their voices - the words they used, their mannerisms, and so on - were all very similar. The way they all talked was quite stilted too - and very verbose, which to me didn't really fit the characters. And it took me a long time to 'take' to Eleanor, the 'hero' of the book, because of her constant focus on appearance (particularly weight) despite the fact that she was critical of others also caring about external approval (in some novels, this would work to show a flawed, or normal, individual, however, except for events that happen later - can't mention as this would be a spoiler, the book clearly paints her as the 'good guy' and someone with more depth).
These aspects detracted from the book for me, which was a pity since, as I said, the bones of the story were really good.
February 4, 2025
Ok. Not great but easy read.
April 5, 2015
For some reason I always find it hardest to write reviews of the books that I've really liked. Let me say at the outset that I LOVED this one. I often feel that chicklit novels are a bit "dumbed down", but this one felt so real that I kept wondering if it was non-fiction (it's not), just because every character felt so real and every situation seemed so plausible. It's light hearted and very funny in parts, more serious in others. It's a great read.
The fairytales that I read growing up always ended with "and they lived happily ever after", but this is a novel about the reality of marriage. When Ellie falls in love with and marries a handsome airline pilot called Tony, she has no inkling of the problems that may lie ahead. Like most idealistic young brides, she assumes that love can overcome anything. The story is about the way their marriage evolves and how problems develop along the way, eventually causing a marriage crisis.
Ellie narrates the book and it feels like she's talking to you. I was totally on her side and could absolutely understand how she felt and behaved. Some of the experiences she has are close to experiences that I have had and I can tell you, the author just nailed it. They say that writers should write what they know and it certainly felt like the author did that - it all felt so credible.
My only criticism is the one little wobble towards the end when she switches tense for a chapter, which didn't work for me.
If you like Marian Keyes or Alison Pearson - read this. It's funny, it's moving, it's thought provoking and it's so very real. I loved it. Have I mentioned that?
The fairytales that I read growing up always ended with "and they lived happily ever after", but this is a novel about the reality of marriage. When Ellie falls in love with and marries a handsome airline pilot called Tony, she has no inkling of the problems that may lie ahead. Like most idealistic young brides, she assumes that love can overcome anything. The story is about the way their marriage evolves and how problems develop along the way, eventually causing a marriage crisis.
Ellie narrates the book and it feels like she's talking to you. I was totally on her side and could absolutely understand how she felt and behaved. Some of the experiences she has are close to experiences that I have had and I can tell you, the author just nailed it. They say that writers should write what they know and it certainly felt like the author did that - it all felt so credible.
My only criticism is the one little wobble towards the end when she switches tense for a chapter, which didn't work for me.
If you like Marian Keyes or Alison Pearson - read this. It's funny, it's moving, it's thought provoking and it's so very real. I loved it. Have I mentioned that?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews