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The Merry Widow's Diary
Saturday, September 22
1. Get a dog cat.
2. Get a man.
3. Get adventurous (go skinny-dipping!)
4. Get a life!
She'd been the pampered and protected wife. Now she was a widow with both daughters off at college and she was suddenly desperate to fill her empty nest with something— anything. So when Jill Townsend finds a mysterious key in her late husband's office she sets out to find the door it opens.
Saying so long to suburbia, she heads for the wilds of Manhattan, where new friends and career opportunities loom—and sexy men are hitting on her! But will Jill ever be able to step beyond the safe and secure world she's always known and take that leap into merry widowhood?
1. Get a dog cat.
2. Get a man.
3. Get adventurous (go skinny-dipping!)
4. Get a life!
She'd been the pampered and protected wife. Now she was a widow with both daughters off at college and she was suddenly desperate to fill her empty nest with something— anything. So when Jill Townsend finds a mysterious key in her late husband's office she sets out to find the door it opens.
Saying so long to suburbia, she heads for the wilds of Manhattan, where new friends and career opportunities loom—and sexy men are hitting on her! But will Jill ever be able to step beyond the safe and secure world she's always known and take that leap into merry widowhood?
- GenresRomance
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Susan Crosby
209 books30 followersAnd they lived happily ever after.
I’ve always loved that sentence. There is such hope in those words, such faith in the future and ever-after love. I’ve always been a believer, which led me to being a reader of romance novels long before I began to write them. The dance of courtship between a man and a woman, sometimes slow and bluesy, sometimes wild and uninhibited, is sheer bliss to me. And the best part about writing is creating these two dancers who find their perfect partners out of all the other people on the planet.
What brings them together? What could tear them apart? Why do they stick it out through the bad times? Why do they fall more in love with each other every day? Finding the answers to these questions intrigues me. Who are you? I ask them. Some characters give me an hour-long monologue; others clam up until I push the right buttons. Eventually, I get them all to talk, even if I have to torture them a little.
On my journey to becoming a writer, I did a lot of the usual things—married, had children, attended college a little later than the average coed and earned a B.A. in English. Some not-so-usual things happened, too. Life constantly changes, and so we must grow. It’s not a bad thing.
I’ve been fortunate enough to win some awards and receive some honors, which are listed elsewhere on this site. I’ve had the great privilege of working with an exceptional editor from my first book on. My community of writers spans the entire country—smart, funny and loyal people who share and give and support. Without them, this once-upon-a-time journey wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun.
I’ve always loved that sentence. There is such hope in those words, such faith in the future and ever-after love. I’ve always been a believer, which led me to being a reader of romance novels long before I began to write them. The dance of courtship between a man and a woman, sometimes slow and bluesy, sometimes wild and uninhibited, is sheer bliss to me. And the best part about writing is creating these two dancers who find their perfect partners out of all the other people on the planet.
What brings them together? What could tear them apart? Why do they stick it out through the bad times? Why do they fall more in love with each other every day? Finding the answers to these questions intrigues me. Who are you? I ask them. Some characters give me an hour-long monologue; others clam up until I push the right buttons. Eventually, I get them all to talk, even if I have to torture them a little.
On my journey to becoming a writer, I did a lot of the usual things—married, had children, attended college a little later than the average coed and earned a B.A. in English. Some not-so-usual things happened, too. Life constantly changes, and so we must grow. It’s not a bad thing.
I’ve been fortunate enough to win some awards and receive some honors, which are listed elsewhere on this site. I’ve had the great privilege of working with an exceptional editor from my first book on. My community of writers spans the entire country—smart, funny and loyal people who share and give and support. Without them, this once-upon-a-time journey wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 10, 2023
Saturday, September 22
1. Get a dog cat.
2. Get a man.
3. Get adventurous (go skinny-dipping!)
4. Get a life!
She'd been the pampered and protected wife. Now she was a widow with both daughters off at college and she was suddenly desperate to fill her empty nest with something—anything. So when Jill Townsend finds a mysterious key in her late husband's office she sets out to find the door it opens.
Saying so long to suburbia, she heads for the wilds of Manhattan, where new friends and career opportunities loom—and sexy men are hitting on her! But will Jill ever be able to step beyond the safe and secure world she's always known and take that leap into merry widowhood?
1. Get a dog cat.
2. Get a man.
3. Get adventurous (go skinny-dipping!)
4. Get a life!
She'd been the pampered and protected wife. Now she was a widow with both daughters off at college and she was suddenly desperate to fill her empty nest with something—anything. So when Jill Townsend finds a mysterious key in her late husband's office she sets out to find the door it opens.
Saying so long to suburbia, she heads for the wilds of Manhattan, where new friends and career opportunities loom—and sexy men are hitting on her! But will Jill ever be able to step beyond the safe and secure world she's always known and take that leap into merry widowhood?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2015
This book was different.
I think, and I could be wrong AND I'm way too lazy to verify this, but The Merry Widow's Diary might be my first women's fiction title this year...
Like I said, I could be totally wrong about that. By the end of the year I tend to forget most of the books I read in the first quarter. Just sayin'.
ANYWAYS back to the book review.
So this book...was fantastic.
Really different, like I said, to anything I've read this year (unless that isn't true, memory = shoddy, folks). It was definitely different than most of the romance I've been devouring.
Understandably because the main plot wasn't romantic.
Susan Crosby's The Merry Widow's Diary follows Jill Townsend, a mid-40s suburban housewife who's been recently widowed. The story unfolds Jill's journey to heal and re-brand herself from "suburban housewife-slash-merry widow*" to something new...something more appetizing to her well being.
Along the way she makes new friends, explores old relationships and somewhere in-between she reconciles who she is with who she should be and who she wants to be.
Super vague, I know. But it's meant to get you to BUY or BORROW the book from your friendly next-door book shop or library. Cool?
Moving on.
What I didn't like:
Honestly, I want to leave this blank. Only one thing bothered me, and Jill actually recognizes it in the book, so whatever. But she seemed so uppity. Because it was told in 1st-person, a lot of the times it felt like Jill judged EVERYONE. Even her daughters. Which all right, fine. But it annoyed the crap out of me.
Her realization happened pretty late, too. So maybe I'm suffering from belated damage control.
What I liked:
1. Jill and her friend, Ilene had a great relationship. Ilene isn't married, and she's a bit younger than Jill, and as a successful career woman I was expecting this she-has-this-I-don't-have-this-but-I-might-want-it vibe from Jill's narration. But after their introduction, the story moved on and their friendship was the better for it.
2. I'm totally shipping Jill and Alan. But if you want to know how that ends up in canon material, then GO PICK UP THE BOOK.
3. Jill and her daughters. Not exactly the most harmonious family, but then again who doesn't have ups-and-downs with their family? What's important to note here is that it was depicted realistically from beginning to end.
4. Jill and her career... the what's next, and how it was dealt with sans the crappy, sappy plot direction where the character triumphs over all adversity in this "AH-HA!" moment. Please.
Jill worked hard to find herself and heal herself and we got a glimpse of it on the page.
Simple as that.
If you enjoyed my summation of The Merry Widow's Diary by Susan Crosby please pick it up somewhere.
*NOTE: I didn't know what a "merry widow" was until I read this book.
I think, and I could be wrong AND I'm way too lazy to verify this, but The Merry Widow's Diary might be my first women's fiction title this year...
Like I said, I could be totally wrong about that. By the end of the year I tend to forget most of the books I read in the first quarter. Just sayin'.
ANYWAYS back to the book review.
So this book...was fantastic.
Really different, like I said, to anything I've read this year (unless that isn't true, memory = shoddy, folks). It was definitely different than most of the romance I've been devouring.
Understandably because the main plot wasn't romantic.
Susan Crosby's The Merry Widow's Diary follows Jill Townsend, a mid-40s suburban housewife who's been recently widowed. The story unfolds Jill's journey to heal and re-brand herself from "suburban housewife-slash-merry widow*" to something new...something more appetizing to her well being.
Along the way she makes new friends, explores old relationships and somewhere in-between she reconciles who she is with who she should be and who she wants to be.
Super vague, I know. But it's meant to get you to BUY or BORROW the book from your friendly next-door book shop or library. Cool?
Moving on.
What I didn't like:
Honestly, I want to leave this blank. Only one thing bothered me, and Jill actually recognizes it in the book, so whatever. But she seemed so uppity. Because it was told in 1st-person, a lot of the times it felt like Jill judged EVERYONE. Even her daughters. Which all right, fine. But it annoyed the crap out of me.
Her realization happened pretty late, too. So maybe I'm suffering from belated damage control.
What I liked:
1. Jill and her friend, Ilene had a great relationship. Ilene isn't married, and she's a bit younger than Jill, and as a successful career woman I was expecting this she-has-this-I-don't-have-this-but-I-might-want-it vibe from Jill's narration. But after their introduction, the story moved on and their friendship was the better for it.
2. I'm totally shipping Jill and Alan. But if you want to know how that ends up in canon material, then GO PICK UP THE BOOK.
3. Jill and her daughters. Not exactly the most harmonious family, but then again who doesn't have ups-and-downs with their family? What's important to note here is that it was depicted realistically from beginning to end.
4. Jill and her career... the what's next, and how it was dealt with sans the crappy, sappy plot direction where the character triumphs over all adversity in this "AH-HA!" moment. Please.
Jill worked hard to find herself and heal herself and we got a glimpse of it on the page.
Simple as that.
If you enjoyed my summation of The Merry Widow's Diary by Susan Crosby please pick it up somewhere.
*NOTE: I didn't know what a "merry widow" was until I read this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews