The Blonde Theory

by Kristin Harmel

Harper Roberts is a corporate attorney in Manhattan. She’s smart, attractive, and funny. So why can’t she find a date? Men flock to her at parties when they think she’s a dumb blonde. But, as soon as they realise she’s a Harvard-educated lawyer, they flee.

Harper’s best friend is a magazine editor who suggests Harper go on assignment for a month as a 'dumb blonde' and see if it changes her dating perspective. So, for two weeks, Harper goes undercover. She changes her wardrobe, her conversation, her body language. The result is a series of comical encounters. Soon, Harper must take a good look in the mirror and realise that it’s not just men who judge people on their looks.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Humor, Young Adult, Book Club

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2007

About the author

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Daughter, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and are sold all over the world.

Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. In addition to a long magazine writing career, primarily writing and reporting for PEOPLE magazine (as well as articles published in numerous other magazines, including American Baby, Men’s Health, Woman’s Day, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz. She sold her first novel in 2004, and it debuted in February 2006.

Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Worthington, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She is also the co-founder and co-host of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

Reviews

[Yoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, how much I wanted to love this one. I probably over hyped it in my head. It wasn´t a bad book just the plot felt a bit "overused". I didn´t really understand the "blond theory" in the end. I did enjoy some moments and it was entertaining at times but definitely not as good as I expected.

[Abida's Book Adventures · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a great concept but it was executed terribly.

[Kala · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review also posted on my blog at:
Kala's Book Blog

Picked this one up from the library because I've read a few others by this author and thought they were decent.

What a mistake!

I despised this book!

The female lead (Harper) is a rich and powerful 35-year-old attorney. The book starts off with her boyfriend dumping her because she made partner at her law firm and he expected her to quit her job and pop out babies. Not sure how something like that could stay hidden for a year in a relationship, but okay.

After the boyfriend dumps her, she can't find another one. She dates, but everyone is scared away by her powerful profession and her wealth. She never makes it past 3-4 dates and she's pretty upset that she is in her mid-30's and alone.

Harper and her friends (three of them, so it makes a very Sex and the City-ish foursome) then come up with the great idea for her to dress like a slut and act stupid in order to attract more men (aka The Blonde Theory). So Harper starts wearing skin-tight red dresses instead of Armani suits and starts saying "Like" in between every word and suddenly she's getting tons of dates!

But of course, they aren't the kind of guy Harper wants (DUH). Who would have thought that pretending to be something you're not would attract guys that you don't want?

A sexy handyman enters the picture and she pretty much treats him like garbage the entire novel. At the end she realizes he's not so bad and despite her treating him like garbage, he asks her out and you THINK it's going to be a happily ever after...

But ...

NOPE! Can't have that!

Epilogue comes and Harper says she only dated him for 6 weeks, but they just weren't meant to be. So she's alone. Don't get me wrong, there are some situations where the heroine ending up alone is the best, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way. I was tricked in to believing we were getting a HEA, then it was grabbed away.

First, I find it really hard to believe that she would have that hard of a time finding a man. She's a gorgeous blonde and she's a lawyer. The author makes it seem like every single successful man wants a submissive stay at home wife. There are probably thousands (tens of thousands) of successful men in NYC who would have no problem dating a successful, hot female lawyer. It's just idiotic to me that the only guy who can accept Harper for her is a guy she's not even attracted to.

Second, the concept of Harper figuring out she wants a guy who likes her for her is great. I love it! But that epilogue was fucking stupid. Without the epilogue, we could still have had the same realization AND a happy ending AND it would have been a better story.

At this point, I'm just going to avoid this author in the future. I've read three of her books and none blew me away. The other two were kind of "meh" and this one is just terrible.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter crap. The main character is supposed to be smart but is continuously self-sabotaging and bizarrely (and uncharacteristicly from what the author tells you) rudely sarcastic with every guy that dares say something pleasant to her. The guys in this book are either complete a$$holes or "nice" guys who keep coming back even after she is really nasty to them. This isn't even a fun/fluffy beach read, it's just a waste of time.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was painful. First, because the main character kept doing really stupid things just like in a bad movie where you just keep groaning and eventually turn it off or walk out of teh theater...secondly, because she was oblivious the entire time to what a snobby bitch she really was. Chick Lit at its worst.

[stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

stereotypical characters, kind of trying to be a rip-off of sex and the city (though it acknowledges it), the plot is utterly predictable and any attempt at humor falls flat. the point is not a happy one (most successful men don't like successful women - especially smart ones), and a premise i don't really believe. it was a little too man-hating for me, with cheating people all over the place.

man, the more i think about it, the more i really didn't like it. huh.

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

So marking "I'm finished" on this is a lie because I only made it about 70 pages.

So it's um, like, an interesting concept and stuff...but like um....don't read it if you actually have a degree in Chemical Engineering cause the description of what that means is the beginning of the end for you, and um, like guys aren't breaking up with you because you're too smart, they're like breaking up with you because you're like a dumbass with nauseating friends. That is all.

[Elley Murray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trite, repetitive, predictable, and not very fun to read. Spent most of the book wanted to smack Harper for being such a whiney brat, and the rest it rolling my eyes because I really don't need every breakthrough realization repeated twice.

[the.bookish.kingdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
It was a light and fun book, I laughed a lot through the reading. Although the book was (mostly) predictable, I still enjoyed it. I loved the friendship and the massage this book tried to convey. You can totally finish this book in one day💁🏼‍♀️🧠
Format:📓

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review also found at https://kristineandterri.blogspot.com...

I have read two of Harmel's more recent work and loved it. I decided that I would see what else she had out there since I adored what I have read from her so far. I went on to my public library app to look to see what e-books were available by Harmel. Unfortunately their stock was limited compared to what titles I see on Goodreads. I am prone to binge reading authors and I will get through the available titles quickly. I chose this story as it looked like a relatively light read and I just finished a heavier read and I am currently listening to a heavier read.

I have to admit, I was so disappointed with this book. I actually disliked most of it. This book is about a blonde who is intelligent and successful in her job, up to this point, it describes me. That is where the similarities end. I struggled with how someone so intelligent could be so stupid with real life and her perception of what a man would bring to her life. Ok, maybe I was a little like that as a teenager but as a full blown adult? No way. Harper was so insecure and IMO a whiner. I also found her to be a snob by saying she was too intimidating to men. I found myself saying get over yourself so many times it wasn't funny. Even though she realized the err of her ways it was too late to be redeemed. I really did not enjoy this book at all.

The good news is that it looks like this was one of her earlier works as it was published in 2007. The two books I have read by her, How To Save a Life and The Sweetness of Forgetting were published in 2016 and 2012 respectively. It appears that she has completely changed genres since this story was written and it was a very good move on her part. I will not let this one story dissuade me from pursuing her other works

[רות אופק · Rating 4 out of 5]

מלצת ספר לאסקפיזם מהמצב - התיאוריה הבלונדינית - קריסטין הרמל.
ספר חמוד, קליל ומהנה.
כבר המלצתי פה בעבר על הספרים של קריסטין הרמל ונראה שהבחורה בהחלט יודעת לכתוב מהמם. רוב הספרים שקראתי היו רומנים תקופתיים מתקופת מלחמת העולם השניה אבל יש לה גם רומנים יפים שלא מדברים על השואה. חתיכת דיסוננס. וזה אחד מהם.
הספר עוסק בהרפר - עורכת דין מצליחה מאוד, שלא מוצאת לעצמה בן זוג, כי כל הגברים שהיא מכירה נרתעים מההצלחה שלה.
בעצת חברה, היא פוצחת במבצע דייטים שבהם היא מציגה עצמה כבלונדינית רדודה, העלילה כמובן מתפתלת, ותוך כדי כך מגיעה לכמה תובנות על עצמה, על עולם הדייטים ועל החיים.
ספר שחייב מתישהו להפוך לקומדיה רומנטית, כי הייתי צופה בה בשמחה.
נהניתי מהקריאה. הוא לא היה ארוך מדי ולכן הצלחתי לסיים אותו עוד הבוקר (התחלתי אתמול בלילה, כדי לנקות את הראש כאמור).
כתוב היטב ומהנה באופן הכי קליל שיש.
בקיצור - מומלץ בחום.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to the Barbie movie, this is feminism 100; don’t go looking for deeper truths or else you’ll find that it tried so hard to be empowering that it ended up back at not good to women. I actually really liked the ending, though — I feel like it struck a good balance between finding happiness and still staying independent.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blonde Theory
As the title suggests, this is a comical look at 21st century dating. A successful female corporate lawyer in her 30s is unable to maintain a romantic connection with men. She believes that she intimidates them with her high powered, high paying profession. So she signs up on a dating site, acts like a ditzy blonde and she immediately has many men interested in her. She however is not interested in any man who would find the dumb blonde act a possible marriage partner. This would be a fun book for a book club to discuss.

[Racheli Zusiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

הרפר היא בת 35, שותפה במשרד עו"ד גדול, ועדיין רווקה. כל הגברים שיצאה איתם בעבר היו מאוימים מההצלחה שלה ונפרדו ממנה כי היתה יותר חכמה ומצליחה מהם. חברתה מג, עורכת במגזין נשים, מציעה לה לעשות ניסוי - היא תעמיד פנים שהיא בלונדינית טיפשה ולא המצליחנית שהיא באמת, ותראה אם היא יותר מצליחה להכיר ככה גברים.
ספר קליל וממש כיפי, והרפר היא דמות נהדרת. נהניתי מאוד לקרוא.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted something easy and uncomplicated to read, preferrably something in the romance genre, and this was perfect for that. While this story is far from deep, it still has more substance than a lot of the books targeted at women where the main goal seems to be to get yourself a man (which is a really stupid notion if you ask me).

It was a fun read — lots of ugly cackling happened — and it was interesting to see that it actually pulled off some twists these kinds of books usually don't. Like actually admitting that no one — not even the main character — is perfect, but we all learn from our mistakes and move on. I also liked that the side characters got their own side plots, however small. It made it feel more real, like this genuinely was a group of friends occasionally meeting up to tell each other what has happened in their lives rather than one main protagonist with a couple of support characters.

So yeah. Less corny than I suspected and a good read if you want to busy yourself with something fairly uncomplicated yet entertaining. The language is simple and easily accessible, which makes it an even smoother read.

[Noreen Anastasia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I'd take a break from reading "literature" to read something fun and lighthearted. This book was not it. Wholly unlikable and frustrating protagonist. I'm not sure how she found any man to date her, let alone make friends. The only thing I liked about this book was when she ended up alone.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As many reviewers noticed, the 'dumb' scenes are really, really dumb and annoying. To the point that you want to punch things. But the cast of characters are interesting. The twist is nicely twisted, but ultimately less satisfying than if things had been predictable.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much, but it was just executed poorly with an unlikable protagonist. It's difficult when you start reading and you realize all of her dating troubles stem from her bitchy unlikable personality rather than the fact that she has a high paying job

[Nicole Blais · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found proof that I took this out from the library in late 2008, but I don't remember it. I think I enjoyed it! Usually I remember books that I don't like and why I didn't. :)

[Mary Johnson]

I enjoyed but so different than her historical fiction books.

[Pamela Benyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good!

Despite the title, I read this, because being an accomplished, pretty blond HAD changed my dating pool. Being a research scientist and clinical psychologist, I liked the idea of seeing if there was, indeed, an actual theory involved. The theory turned out to dumb ( literally) with a subject of only 1, not enough to be considered even slightly scientific.
It did however make for a very fun, laugh out loud, read. It made me think about my own pre-conceived and limited thoughts, and made some important points.
It ended up being so simple, that I had to laugh at my own stupidity.
As a psychologist, I could help others objectively, but when it came to me, I was blind.
I had tried to be someone I wasn’t, not because I was too confident, but because I wasn’t, so I faked it. The man who saw through it became my husband after a year and 1/2 of dating. I had to look at all the ways I faked it, and was often furious when he saw something I hadn’t.
At the risk of offending my brilliant colleagues, some of whom are letting their hair turn grey to be “ authentic “ but aren’t happy with the aging process, I am going to recommend this book.
Professions, incomes, and the way we look and feel really do affect ALL of our relationships, not just the romantic ones, and especially the way we feel about ourselves.

[Jody · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty ridiculous. I find Harper's character very unbelievable and contradictory. After specifically stating that she is not one to whine in the first part of the book, Harper spends THE REST OF THE BOOK WHINING! Also, there is no way that she would have gotten all googly-eyed over Matt when all he said was that he liked her for who she was not despite it in her living room, after she had spent so much time being so suspicious of him, and then starting the deluded thoughts of dating and falling in love the next morning! And she was such a b**** to Sean, if I were him, I would have told Molly to f off. And, no 35-year-old blonde woman says like and acts like a teenager like that, no matter how ditzy she is. I have never met a guy in my life who could put up with that level of idiocy. Plus, how is a 35-year-old going to pull off that she is an NBA dancer? No one would believe that for a second. Harper is also really immature, which I find hard to believe from a woman who is partner at a law firm. Despite a few funny parts, the whole book was very unbelievable, especially Harper's character who was kind yet a total snob, funny yet without a sense of humor, and a very book-smart person, yet a total idiot when it comes to life. Don't waste your time.

[Lenore Kuipers-Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It's nice to be included in people's fantasies, but you also like to be accepted for your own sake."
Marilyn Monroe 1955

I've read several of Kristin Harmel's books (this is her second one), and have always enjoyed them. This book is quite different than what I expected, because her later ones seem more serious. This is the answer (or one of them) to the question, "Do Gentlemen prefer blondes?". I grew up in a time when a good portion of women truly believed that, including me.
This is about Harper, 35 years old, a partner in the law firm she works for, and the oldest one to remain unmarried. It seems like men are always running away from her because of her status at the law firm, a very expensive law school education, and her salary. Her 3 best friends talk her into trying out, for 2 weeks, "The Blonde Theory", based on 4 precepts. In order to find out what they are, and whether gentlemen do prefer blondes, you will have to read the book, which is a good one.

[Shari Bera · Rating 2 out of 5]

A case of mistaken identity, twice. First, I’ve read another book by an author with the exact same name and was expecting a historical fiction. I don’t read the blurbs of books and maybe I should have. Second, Harper is a lawyer who is convinced her job and her intellect is turning guys off. But it’s a preconceived notion that was strengthened by the handful of serious relationships she’s had. She’s an incredibly smart chemical engineer trained patent lawyer but is completely blind to how she treats others. She’s rude, she’s judgey, she’s an uppity bitch. It takes acting like a dumb blonde and people trying to tell her, her truth before she finally takes a step back and performs some healthy self analysis.

This book was frustrating at best and sure, there’s some growth in the character arc but damn if this woman isn’t just too self absorbed to like.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harper Roberts is a smart Ivie League graduate with a job as a junior partner in a powerful law firm. Her problem is that men are not attracted to her. Her last boyfriend left her because she was making more money than he was and he felt she didn't need him. Harper dresses as a conservative lawyer. Her friends dare her to test the Blonde theory that men like dumb women. She takes the date. Her actress friend dresses her in a skimpy dress with very high heels and teaches her how to act like a dumb blonde. Harper finds that she meets some very smart men that she would have liked while being a dumb blonde but those men don't want a smart women. This book is a little silly but Harper finds what makes her happy in the end.

[Coco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Malísimo. El personaje principal es insoportable y soberbio. Hay mucho sexismo, odio y discriminación mujer/mujer y mujer/hombre.
Esta obsesionada con encontrar pareja. El punto de fingir ser una "rubia tonta" sería probar que a los hombres no les atraen mujeres fuertes e inteligentes porque se sienten menos hombres al no estar al mando pero Harper literalmente lo uso para tener más citas que por supuesto termina mal si tiene que pretender ser alguien que no es y atrae hombres embebidos en masculinidad tóxica.
El final es malos y redundante.

[Carol Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an educated blonde, I found the book’s premise to be seriously dumb. A blond lawyer gets together with her friends to try an experiment. After her boyfriend of several years breaks up with her, and she is made junior partner, she realizes that she intimidates strong men. The experiment includes her pretending to be a blond, bartending bimbo online, and going on dates. Of course it doesn’t work, bc she’s not being herself. All the guys want is to sleep with her. Really the worst Kristen Harmel book I’ve read.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harper just can’t seem to get a date! Men don’t date strong, independent woman according to Harper! Harper and her friends want to find out what men want by trying out the “ the blonde theory “ Harper goes out on dates not being who she really is and not truly finding the right guy either! The book is telling the right theory of being who you are in. Fun way! I enjoyed following along with the different friends

[Jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't enamored with this book, but I liked it enough to finish it. It seemed like the lesson...you need to be who you are...was too obvious. I did appreciate that at the end the girl didn't have a guy in her life, that's a different twist on the usual chick lit. Her growth and understanding of herself seemed natural, but I just think she would have already known that and would never have pursued the blonde theory.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading a long list of very good novels, this stood out early as not so but I persisted. Implausible on so many counts and written like a bad rom com. The whole premise of this is illogical - “pretend I am someone not me to pick up a guy who wants to be with an airhead.” The central character is meant to be such a strong person but bends and twists through this and remains unlikeable and unlikely which eats away at any care for what happens.