Grace Sorentino has never known the good from childhood hardships, to a marriage that began with lofty dreams and ended with all hopes shattered.Dealt bad hand after bad hand. Grace and Jackie, her rebellious teenage daughter, are now stuck in Florida, on the verge of poverty. Grace is underpaid and under appreciated cosmetician at Saks Fifth Avenue, and Jackie—when she is not spending her time with questionable boys—balances school and two jobs.Just when Grace things couldn’t get any worse, Grace is fired after accidentally insulting a snobby customer. However, it is a blessing in disguise. As she walks out the door, her boss offers her an invaluable piece of don’t look for a new job, but a vulnerable old rich widower who has just lost his wife; comfort him, and once his guard is down, seduce him.The keys to success and fortune are not a name tag and uniform, but a new last name and a ring on your finger. Marriage should be the number-one priority. At first Grace is appalled by the idea, but as rent, car payments, and credit card bills pile up, her despair turns to desperation.She begins looking through the obituaries for her last chance at a good life—after all, isn’t that something everyone deserves?
Warren Adler was an American author, playwright and poet. His novel The War of the Roses was turned into a dark comedy starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Adler was an essayist, short-story writer, poet and playwright, whose works have been translated into 25 languages.
Found this book difficult to rate ....I couldn't like any of the characters or the premise for that matter yet found that the writing style was interesting and the emotions of said unlikable characters believable .Curiosity about what would happen got me through to the end but not without some serious skimming. So while I really do hate doing 3 star reviews I found myself unable to do better . But its possible its just not my type of story ..I can be a bit of a fuss pot and always have been . And again the writing is quirky so there's that as a plus however that was pretty much the sell for me . Someone else may find it more entertaining. But if I ever do decide to take up gold digging this can be my guide book LOL .
I should have known that i would dislike this book so intensely as i despised War of the Roses. Although i sympathized with the heroine's plight her solution was thoroughly despicable. Also her daughter was so hateful one moment and loving the next that it was head snapping. I wound up skimming and skipping some of the conversations because they were thin.
Considering there aren't many reviews, I will do one. This may contain spoilers.
I found this book at a garage sale and picked it up because I thought it looked interesting. It has sat on my bookshelf for the last 5 years or so until finally, after reading heaven is for real and the fault in our stars back to back, I chose to pick up something that wouldn't make me go through a box of Kleenex.
This book started off really piquing my interest. I actually laughed out loud a few times while Grace was going to the funeral homes looking for suitors (I mean, who in the hell does that?!) it was quite entertaining. Especially considering how her daughter thought she was really looking for a job considering she would look at the paper every morning, get dressed up really nice, and then come home looking sad. Hahaha.
Then she met Sam. At one point I was sad that the funeral parlor days were over but then on the other hand I was curious to see if she would be able to talk Sam into marrying her.
But then things got wierd-- the daughter of course had her issues, she ends up finding out Sam's wife was having an affair, the crazy daughter's boyfriend, the list goes on...
Then Grace comes clean to Sam about everything, Sam is pissed, Grace then almost dies while in a scuffle with the crazy daughter's boyfriend, she ends up in the hospital, and then Sam wants to marry her. Seriously... That's how it ends. I wish Warren Adler would've added another chapter from Sam's point of view on what exactly changed his mind. I'm a bit confused.
I will end this review by saying I love books that tell the story from different points of view. With some stories you always wonder what a particular character is thinking. But with Grace & Sam you didn't have to wonder.... Until the crappy ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I read this many years ago, when I decided to start in the "A" section and read what looked interesting, to me. I was surprised that this funny book was written by a man. I did enjoy the story quite a bit. In fact, it was so good I think I will go find a used copy and buy it!
Got to page 60 and couldn't even will myself to read any further. Not written terribly, but the concept is awful. It was making my nauseous! If you're into non-motivated women marrying impotent widowers this is the book for you!
OK....I must have read it because I heard it was going to be made into a movie. Well...at least I know there's no need to wast time or money on going to see this one. I only finished it because it was on my nightstand and i was too lazy to go downstairs and get another