21 Steps to Happiness

by F.G. Gerson

Lynn Blanchett's Steps to

Step 1: Find a job. (Done! I'm doing PR for hotshot young designer Muriel B. — which I'm totally unqualified for.)

Step 2: Find a man. (Check! There's a rich, gorgeous man chasing me…so what if I find him infinitely less appealing than my charming, possibly gay, French coworker?)

Step 3: Find a translator. (Hmm? I do have that French-English dictionary…but it so doesn't help with the language of love. )

Step 4: Find a shower. (I did just fly in from New York.… I can't be fabulous all the time!)

Dropped into a ridiculously cushy job in Paris by her distant fashion-icon mother, all Lynn has to do to prove she's not a fraud (which she is!) is figure out what exactly her job entails, how she got involved in something that can only be described as fashion treason and how to untangle her love life in time to make Muriel B.'s next runway show the event of the season. With time running short and expertise running low, Lynn has little to guide her but a self-help manual that promises twenty steps to happiness.

Written by a fashion insider, 21 Steps to Happiness is a dishy must-read whose narrator boldly and hilariously goes where no young American in Paris has gone before — behind the seams.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

I was born in Paris and grew up in a family of (crazy yet ultra talented) international fashion designers.
Early on, I turned to writing and traveling - I spent most of my youth in planes trains and automobiles, dragging around my notepads, a laptop and my over-sized red suitcase. I lived and worked in many different countries, like Poland, England, France, The Netherlands, and New Zealand, among others.
Nowadays, I live in Antibes, in the French Riviera.
Like most of my fictional characters, I have a passion for paranormal activities, a devotion to ice cold ginger ale and I can't resist cycling through Paris whenever possible.

Reviews

[Eli · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 stars

[Shavon Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Lynn might not be my favorite lead in a book and I don't know how she picked Nick over Hubert?!? This book was a quick and easy read and not as bad as some reviews say it is.

[Melanie is on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I've been looking forward to reading and was kind of disappointed with. It could have benefited from a really good editor - there were so many typos I gave up counting, and there were a couple continuity issues that bugged me... I think it could have been so much better if it was just well-edited.

[chambejd / Joy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was horrible. I think men should not venture into the chick-lit arena. Lynn takes the cake as the worst female lead character. She is shallow and her character was so two dimensional. You could not connect with her or any of the other people in the book. They all made me want to bang my head against the wall.

[Susan Gillespie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not as bad as a lot of people claim it is.
I'd give it a 3.5 stars but we cant do that.
i thought it read well. I did get confused with some of the charactors that the author decided were important to mention but not have a huge part in the book, there seemed to be a lot of them.
Still I thought this bok was good

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than I expected. I agree with other reviews that the editing could of been done waaaaay better, but the story was cute and I loved how it had to do with Paris and fashion.....some of my faves! A good introduction to the Red Dress Ink books:)

[Aparna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book -- it was funny and managed to keep me interested so much so i didn't keep the book down till the end. Though interesting not in the riveting sort of way.

Good for a single read.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ideally, I'd give this one two and a half stars (another shout out to finally install such a feature!) but it wasn't good enough for me to earn three.

It was a really fast read, hilarious at times and very sweet at others but just a little too light.

[April Joy Lee]

Lynn really annoyed me up to the very end. She seemed so shallow and self-centered. The story could have been great if approached in a different way-- a more likable heroine, perhaps?



I was not satisfied. But it does have its good parts.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the best RDI book I ever read, but it was still ok. It lagged a bit in a lot of spots and I found it hard to get really wrapped up in it.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, quick chick-lit read. I needed something that I could put down in a day and this fit the bill. It was cute but in no way the BEST book of this genre I have read.

[♥ Auntie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very cute book.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An "okay" contemporary romance which ended up being rather unbelievable.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

easy read. cute story.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really liking this book so far.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an okay diversion but a not too deep.

[Raquel]

Quick read a lil too young for my taste

[Michelle Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another book that I had high hopes for when I picked it up. I enjoyed the main character and the situations she got herself into. Some of the writing was awkward but the story was fun.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. I would recommend it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

21 Stpes To Happiness
F.G. Gerson
Chic Lit
314 pages
copyright: 2006
isbn: 0-373-89583-6

[Roesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS GREAT AND IS A MUST READ!!!1

[Martha Florin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow but entertaining.