Perfect on Paper

by Janet Goss

Dana Mayo is a whiz at solving puzzles—but only the kind that appear in the daily newspaper. When it comes to matters of the heart, she doesn’t have a clue.

After a disastrous attempt to track down the former love of her life, Dana determines to take fate into her own hands and find a new Mr. Right—preferably one who’s not already married. Soon she’s spending time with Hank, a hunky contractor who is restoring a neighborhood brownstone to its former glory. Handsome and loyal, he’s almost too good to be true—but she just can’t shake the feeling he’s hiding something. Enter Billy, a sexy brainiac who shares her passion for crosswords. He would be perfect, too—if she weren’t old enough to be his aunt.

With crises looming on all fronts, Dana’s wits are about to be put to the ultimate test. Before she loses it all, she’ll have to figure out what she really wants—a puzzle that’s anything but black-and-white.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2012

Reviews

[Chris Elliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so terrible, it was impossible to read without wincing. This isn’t even chick-lit; it reads like the diary of a narcissistic 8th grader who flunked English.
The characters are shallow, the writing is awful, and the plot doesn’t exist. The ending is beyond ridiculous, and was done in a slapdash manner, as though the author had grown tired of writing and couldn’t wait to finish.
This book should be used to torture terrorists; after reading a chapter, they will cry for mercy. Brutal. Avoid even if offered free in an airport while you have a ten hour layover.

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I was fortunate enough to win a galley copy from Goodreads and once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.

This is a slice of life story about Dana, an artist and crossword enthusiast, who finds herself torn between three possible relationships. There's the older man she once had an affair with, the redneck sweetheart who seems to have some secrets, and the young, intelligent crossword writer whose age makes her nervous. Each of the characters in this story are very real and all are likable. There isn't a villain or an obvious bad choice. Everyone makes realistic choices and acts like normal adults would. Nobody is written as a caricature or stereotype and that is extremely refreshing. All the men are right for her in one way or another and they all love her.

Dana was a well-rounded, interesting lead and her relationships with her boss and best friend were endearing. While she was certainly flawed, it was easy to see how she made the choices she did. Dana's love of crossword puzzles was used as a neat theme, but it didn't overtake the story or become like a gimmick. There is sex in the story, but it isn't graphic. The author keeps you guessing the whole way through and I was thoroughly satisfied with ending.

I liked the short sections in this book and the writing just flowed. I measure a really good book on its ability to make time disappear and this one certainly qualifies. I can't wait to read more from this author. I am definitely a fan!

[Susan Scribner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough book to rate - it was fairly well written and clever in parts, but I couldn't get past the heroine's behavior. You could say it is the story of a woman facing a tough choice, or you could say it is the story of a selfish bitch cheating on her quite lovely boyfriend. Unfortunately, the author forgot to give the boyfriend much of a personality besides a Southern accent so it's hard to feel too outraged when the heroine keeps finding herself unable to resist a scruffy young crossword puzzle author. If we didn't see that the heroine is a decent friend she would seem completely unredeemable. There's no apparent reason that the heroine makes the final choice that she does, so again it's hard to feel any satisfaction at the book's conclusion.

[Billie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I like crosswords, so thought it would be interesting. I was wrong. I gave this 2 stars,but if possible it would have been 1.5 I really didn't like the voice and kept reading it with the hope that it would get more interesting. But I found myself not caring who Dana Mayo ends up with, thought the character was too self-involved to be interesting.

[Ed · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is nothing more than a dime novel, clearly just a diary of the author's life and delusions. Waste of time and the paper it was printed on.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a hard read. Draggy too.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated between 2 and 3 stars, so we'll say 2.5? This book sounds like a typical chick-lit type book. Usual premise. The woman wants to settle down, but can't get over her previous relationship. Finds herself torn between brains and brawn. Sounds good, right?

However, her first relationship is with a married man twice her age; brawn's life story has more holes than swiss cheese; and brain's half her age and won't respect her relationship with brawn.

Are there cute moments? Yes.
Are there steamy moments? Yes.
Are there moments when I wanted to quit reading because she was being so incredibly stupid it hurt? YES.

How many chapters show she have to pine over a relationship over 20 years in the past? How many chapters does she have to question whether brawn is shady? How many chapters does she have to convince herself that brain isn't right for her? The answer to all of these is far too many.

Book started off slow, and the middle was painful. The ending is what garnered the 2.5 stars, and it was rushed. Probably needed an epilogue or another few pages to feel complete. I could have used another few chapters even. I had to reread the ending to figure out which guy she picks. 🤦‍♀️

I'm glad to be on to the next read.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I did not know if I was going to like this book or not. But the more I got into it the more I was able to enjoy it. I don’t know if it is everyone’s cup of tea, but it was a good read.
Dana is living in New York City. She has been though multiple failing relationships including one with a married man. She loves to paint and solve the NY Times crossword puzzles every day. She is definitely the type of person who has no clue what she wants except that she does not like being single.
Dana went to an open house and found out that the man she was having an affair with was newly single. She tried to track him down but gave up after she met a man named Hank with a pet pig.
She found out that Hank was not is real name and that he was not who he said he was. While she was trying to figure out what to do about being lied to, she met another man, Billy, on the subway. Apparently he makes the crossword puzzles she loves to do so much. They share email address and she helps him out with some of his clues. They meet face to face a couple of times. Dana finds out that she really enjoys his company, but is feeling conflicted because she is still together with Hank.
While this is going on, Dana keeps getting hang-up phone calls. Her phone rings, she answers and ‘click’ goes the other end. She thinks it’s her old beau, because he used to do the same thing when she was seeing him. But she is not definitely sure. But she will not stop trying to figure it out.
In the end, she found out who was calling her phone, which happened to be her father. He was calling at specific times to make sure she was ok. Dana also realized that she was not in love with Hank but in love with Billy. She actually invited him to meet her parents at her father’s birthday. All in all, she could not be any happier.
Throughout the whole book, there was a little bit of comedy. It was put in the right places and made the book more interesting. The remarks about how she is when she solves the puzzles to the name of her cat were funny.
The book was completely written for today’s world. It was written for the people who believe that they cannot find happiness. It proves that everyone has the same feelings when it comes to love.
I do not know if I would recommend this book to everyone. I can recommend it to those who need a little different pace from what they normally read. But I am not sure if this can be an enjoyable read for everyone.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Perfect On Paper” by Janet Goss utilizes a unique structure in is story to write about after an unfortunate attempt of her former love relationship, Dana Mayo determines to take fate into her own hands and find a new Mr. Right.

Dana Mayo is the type of women you will see in front of a coffee shop drinking coffee, solving puzzles but only the type that appears on the newspaper but she doesn’t just solve puzzles anytime the way she works on puzzles are according to time. This might seem very romantic and sophisticated but when it comes to the matter of love she has no clue. But that’s only because once was one of the most important person of her life have been gone forever. Afterwards, she meets this handsome men name Hank who’s a contractor. Since she always preferably wants her future life partner to not prier marriage experience. She soon been spending a lot of time with him and thinking that she may have fallen in love with him.
“Under ordinary circumcises, I could ring the doorbell as well as anyone. Nothing to it – one push, mission accomplished.” (1) And at the last page of the story “So… which one of us gets to solve it?” (332) This two quote shows that the author utilizes unique structure by starting the story with a mission and ending the story with life is just like a puzzle that appears in every morning newspaper and is also adding on to what Dana Mayo likes to do in afternoons which is solving puzzle. And the quote “’I thought you’d be on the Thruway by now,’ I said. He’d told me he was going to New Paltz to have dinner with former client.” (61) This kind of hints that Dana really listens to what Hank tells her and really pay attention to Hank to show their love relationship. “Even if he did have beautiful gray-green eyes and impressively large feet” (60) And “I giggled and gave him a thumbs-up. Now I was flirting.” (60) Finally, this shows the emotion and the engagement within the two in love couple, by giving him a thumbs-up that’s an action to prove that she wasn’t flirting to other people.

To conclude, this story shows the process of a person going through terrible things in life and walking out of that memories plus find a new life to look forward to. Just like when Dana Mayo had his former lover’s passing she was in great pain and a lot of negative opinions about life but now once she finds the second love of her life, she is willing to start over again with this new person.

[Katelynn Gianoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I thought the beginning of the novel was a little slow, by about halfway through I couldn't get enough of it. This novel is about a middle-aged women who can't get over a past relationship she had when she was in her 20's with a much older, married man. Dana Mayo lives in New York City, although her family lives in Florida. She is an avid painter and loves to do crossword puzzles in her spare time. Although she hasn't seen her past lover in two decades, she is still hung up on him and finds herself aimlessly searching for both him and the love she gave up many years ago. Not too long after finding out that Ray Devine is still alive, Dana meets a man named Hank who is a contractor. Several of Hank's behaviors initially throw Dana off, such as his pet pig, his inability to make a tree stand, and his frequent hiring of workers to complete the Brownstone house he is renovating. These red flags remain in the back of Dana's mind, but she likes Hank and the fact that he treats her how she has always wanted to be treated. One day, on a bus on her way to Kutztown to visit her best friend Elinor Ann, she meets the young, sexy Billy Moody, who she soon finds out writes a lot of the difficult crossword puzzles. She is immediately draw to Billy, but knows that she should stay faithful to Hank. After Ray dies on the day they were supposed to reunite at a local dive-bar, Dana is questioning what she really wants in life. She faces an internal struggle that only she knows the answer to. Should she be with Hank or should she take the risk and be with Billy?

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dana Mayo is a crossword puzzle addict and she's really good at solving them in record time. She also seemed to be good at finding men in record time. In the beginning of the story, 40 something Dana is on a quest to find the "love of her life"; a married man she had an affair with 20 years earlier. I found it sad that she hadn't moved on with her life and not much is revealed about Dana's life other than she likes to work crossword puzzles and she likes to paint. Upon learning of her former lover's death (or is he really dead?), she meets Hank, a handsome and age appropriate, not to mention single, contractor. (Or is he really who he says he is?) She thinks she is in love, but on the way to visit a friend via the subway, she makes eye contact with a young and handsome guy working a crossword puzzle. Zing! She is in love again. (Or is she?) She can't seem to make up her mind about the men in her life and waffles back and forth until I was ready to choose the man for her. In the end, I still wasn't sure who was the chosen man and I really didn't care anymore. The only redeeming quality I found in Dana was her sincere concern for her childhood friend Elinor Ann. The only other redeeming quality I found in the book was in the character of Dinner, Hank's pet pig, who was hilarious.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book ARC via First Reads on Good Reads.

Perfect on Paper is a delightful light and breezy story about a fortyish female suffering from “reverse Goldilocks syndrome”. Her list of suitors contains three swoon-worthy men: one’s too old, one’s too young, and one’s just right (age wise anyway). But Dana Mayo is still confused, and rightfully so. What determining factor defines “Just right” anyway? Its fun to watch the crossword puzzle enthusiast and artist, Dana take the reins of her romantic future in her quest to find Mr. Right. Dana is a very quirky, funny, and loveable character. The eerie situations she found herself in with one her beaus had me doubled over in laughter. With another beau, I just wanted to shake her out of frustration. With the third beau, I found myself sighing a lot, because he was so almost perfect. Dana’s selections were likeable characters that it’s hard to figure out who she would choose. The supporting characters of this story also collectively contributed to this enjoyable read. I would recommend this to all fans of Chick-Lit and romance.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this on amazing book on Goodreads. What a cute, fun read. Normally the back cover of a book gets you enticed with a story and you find yourself vaguely let down by the time you're done reading. In this case that did not happen. In fact I think the back cover was a let down for how good this novel actually was.

It is a rare author indeed who can juggle two romantic suitors for their heroine and make them both so likeable, and truely great people that you have no idea who she will choose, and honestly won't be disappointed with either. Janet Gross manages to do that with Billy and Hank and you like the both well enough that you wish that Dana could somehow keep juggling them both.

The rest of the supporting cast of characters are also well written and not just brought in to fill out the story. I really, really liked this book and have already have a waiting list of friends ready to read it.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Perfect on Paper" tells the story of Dana Mayo, an artist living in New York City trying to make sense of her messy love life. Dana has never been able to let go of her first love, Ray, a married man she was dating after she graduated from college. Now, 20 years later, Dana has begun dating Hank, a contractor who is fixing up a neighboring house. Throughout the novel, Dana tries to make sense of her feelings for Hank and why she is still so attached to Ray long after their romance ended. To complicate matters, Dana has begun a flirtation with a 25 year old crossword puzzle writer named Billy, who she has an instant connection with.

"Perfect on Paper" has a charming cast of characters, and its fun to read Dana puzzle her way through her romances and eccentric job. I would recommend this book to readers who like their romance novels with a touch of comedy.

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

[Nawnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Dana Mayo, an artist with a love for crossword puzzles. Dana has never been able to let go of her first love, Ray, a married man she was dating after she graduated from college. Now, 20 years later, Dana has begun dating Hank. To complicate matters, Dana has begun a flirtation with a 25 year old crossword puzzle writer named Billy, who she has an instant connection to. Through out the book Dana is trying to decide what to do with her messy love life. She gets into some comical situations, backed by a charming supporting cast of characters. Its fun to follow Dana while she puzzles her way through her romances and eccentric job. I would recommend this book to readers who like their romance novels with a side of comedy.

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a mishmash for me. I liked the storyline of seeing an old flame (interesting that it was an affair) again after so many years and being in a good pace in her life. I also like the storyline of choosing between the age appropriate guy and the young guy. I did not like them together. This novel was bogged down with too much going on and not enough development to make me care about any of the characters. They were all just cardboard cut outs with stereotypes like crazy. I also pretty much hate Dana. She was supposed to be around 42 but acted as if she was in her 20s. And it wasn't just a single girl the city thing. She acted and talked like a cliche. The back and forth between the phone calls and flashbacks worked for like a chapter but then got very annoying. Not my favorite novel or even chick lit.

[Julie F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this as a first-reads book. Thanks to GoodReads and Penguin Books.
This was a fun and well-written romance with a little comedy mixed in. The main character, Dana, has to choose between three men in her life. Each has his own charm and flaws. It was fun to tag along with Dana and the colorful cast of characters in her life as she tries to make the right decision. My one big beef with the story is the end. I'm not going to give away her final choice. My problem is that even though she is on good/great terms with both of her final choices, she never explains herself to the guy she DOESN'T choose. I felt like he was a huge loose end just left hanging in the wind.

Overall I give this a 3.5 stars for fun and style. Just wish the very end had been wrapped up a bit neater.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book as a Goodreads giveaway

I loved this book. It's a fun book about a woman named Dana who is looking for Mr. Right and has 3 men in the running. It's about her trying to figure out which one she should choose. One is a former love she's never gotten over, one is a contracter working next door and the last is a man who loves crossword puzzles as much as she does. Each has some problem that is holding her back from making her decision.

I found the book held my interest well and was written well. I would recommend highly to anyone who likes romance and humor in their reading.

[Adel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for the intelligent woman who loves a romantic drama. The writing is clever, the characters are likable, and the plot keeps the reader engaged and hoping that Dana will make the right choices and find happiness. You will be immediately hooked on the bright and charming people who inhabit this book. Girls, we have all been there! Enjoy the complicated love life of a clever woman. You will definitely see yourself in this book and you won't be able to put it down!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not sure if I would like this book or not, but I actually ended up rather enjoying it. It was a very easy read filled with "oh boys" from me, and at the same time, some laughter. Dana is flawed in so many ways that most individuals can probably relate to her one way or another. I appreciated that she finally found herself and what would make her happy. It showed that it is never too late to do so.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky light read about a downtown Manhattan painter in her late 30s who's torn between a guy between her own age and a much younger guy she has more in common with (they bond over writing crossword puzzles). Quirky and funny, but with a lot of dithering and some mixed messages about life and love. The back cover art asks "What's an eight-letter word for Dana Mayo?" and shows a crossword filled in with CONFUSED. I was a bit, too.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win a galley copy from Goodreads , I just love getting free books that are really good reads. I absolutely loved this book, and once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It really is a fun read, I was laughing out loud, and loved the end too !!! Thanks so much Janet Goss ...........

[Allison Smith steffenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fast read, something that I'd call "brain candy" just an easy book to distress with. However, the ending didn't make sense to me, it all wrapped up too quickly. Also I found all of the crossword jargon a bit tedious and mostly unnecessary. For the most part, it went down easily and was a good break from everyday life.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads win.

Perfect on Paper is a super cute romance story. The beginning was a bit slow for me,but once all the characters were laid out and the story really began,I was in love with it.

[Nicky · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. I read it because of good reviews on this site, but clearly they were written by the authors friends. Very hard to believe a book that was this badly written was able to get published. Couldn't finish it. Just terrible.

[Jenny Brenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, quirky, and fast read that keeps you rooting for the occasionally wayward portagonist. Part chick-lit, part intellectual fiction, this book combines colorful characters and NYisms with cougar moments with crazy crosswords constructions and clues. A great read for just about anyone!

[Marya Kowal · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you love the "which hero will she choose" novels, this is the one.

I was hoping for a more complex novel with deeper relationships...although I do like the heroine, and her job is an ingenious plot twist! Very unique and fun.

[Stefi Chelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a pointless, forgettable, and very easy read between intense books, then this is the book for you! It was very mediocre. It ended very abruptly, as if the writer had a deadline and just made something up right before the bell rang for class. Would not recommend it to anyone.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very lighthearted and enjoyable!
Typical "always picking the wrong kinda men" till in her 40s when she finally meets a regular guy who is a construction worker. Story basically takes you through her being too picky to the way the relationship grows.

[Leah]

Hated it.