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Consider Lily

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Lily Traywick thinks she must have been adopted. It’s easier than believing she’s actually related to Jane and Roland Traywick, her power-couple parents who own Traywick’s of San Francisco, the most chichi department store on the West Coast. While her parents party with Muccia in Milan and Gabbana in Paris, Lily hangs out at home in ratty jeans and an old T-shirt. She loves softball, guys, and Jesus, and she’s eager to make her own way in the world. Feeling that her life is on hold, she turns to her best friend Reagan Axness. Reagan, a fashionista who has it all, offers just the a major life makeover.

Lily is soon dressing in the latest must-have fashions and pursuing a writing career. She’s even dating the “perfect” guy. But does he love her for who she really is? And will he be able to resist the tempting seductress who has her eye on him? As Lily’s old friends question her new way of life, and public scandal, family drama, and technological disasters add to her confusion, Lily is forced to consider whether her quest to have it all will cause her to lose everything that matters.

Hot off their debut success, Emily Ever After , “good-girl” chick-lit trailblazers Dayton and Vanderbilt return with a witty, refreshingly real story of a young woman’s adventures in the high-powered world of San Francisco high fashion.

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2006

6 people are currently reading
284 people want to read

About the author

Anne Dayton

10 books54 followers

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5 stars
78 (18%)
4 stars
139 (32%)
3 stars
144 (33%)
2 stars
51 (11%)
1 star
19 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for Celestial.
105 reviews31 followers
September 19, 2016
I don't really know what to say about this book. It was actually a pretty normal book and I lot of people may like it, but I found it dull. To me the story was boring, but I can tell some people might very much like this.
I think I was in a reading slump of having just read a very good book, so that explains why I wasn't interested by this book. Once you read a great book every book that isn't just as good as the book you just read if not better suddenly doesn't seem good at all. Is this just me or is this a problem for every book addict?

Anyways it was good, just not that good. I didn't like it but I might like it more if I read it again, so you never know. I honestly don't know why I'm writing a review about this given that I don't even know how I feel about this book. This review is so random, I am sorry. :D

It depends on you. If you have read a really really good book recently than maybe you shouldn't read this. If you are desperate for anything to read because you haven't read anything in a while than this will probably be interesting to you. As for age limit there was one character who was a little secular, but I am pretty sure she got saved in the end. If you are sensitive to secular characters than maybe you shouldn't read this, but I wouldn't recommend that being your reason given that the book was really clean.

I found Lily's parents really funny because they reminded me of the Lorelai's parents from Gilmore Girls. I honestly don't know why I found that funny, but I did. This is so random!
Well I hope I helped you, or made you laugh out of wonder over this crazily random lady's questionable review and mental health. :D
Profile Image for Lanette.
35 reviews9 followers
July 2, 2009
This was a sweet book. I loved the love story. It was clean, moral and a fun story to follow. I really liked it!
Profile Image for Margaret.
581 reviews7 followers
October 27, 2018
Consider Lily--She is 28 and lives in San Francisco. She works in her parents' successful Traywick's Dept. store that sells high end fashion. Never mind that Lily, herself, hates fashion. She is a t-shirt, shorts, khaki pants, flip flops, sneakers kind of girl who loves to play co-ed softball. She has had only three dates in her life, and she lives at home with her parents who never seem satisfied with her. She is a Christian and she is looking for the right guy to make her life complete. In fact, she calls herself "boy crazy". I am not divulging her secrets here--she reveals all this and much more on her blog entitled Fashion Victim.

It is Lily's friend, Reagan, who loves fashion and happens to also work at Traywick's, who gets Lily to transform herself on the outside. All of a sudden, the girl who hates fashion, starts wearing cute skirts and dresses and stylish shoes, finds herself getting dates. Wow! Who knew? And...the one that could be The One comes along and boom! Lily's life is good.

But...don't forget that blog where she writes much more. It is there, anonymously, that she vents. She says rather unkind, unflattering, and perhaps unChristian-like comments about everyone in her life. Hey, it's harmless; and it even hooks her up with an editor from the San Francisco Chronicle as a freelance writer. He has discovered her true identity and is hoping that she will write about the dark and seedy side of the fashion world but will, for now, settle for more human interest stories about the San Francisco area. Problem is, more of her stories become edited and come across as mean and snarky. Bigger problem is, her identity and her blog site is revealed. Wow! Who knew? People who were unaware of the blog began searching it out and remember those unkind, unflattering, and perhaps unChristian-like comments about her friends? Yeah, they are no longer anonymous. Lily's life has fallen apart.

Now Lily has to find a way to make amends, and maybe, transform herself again; only not on the outside this time.

Frankly, I found this book annoying. Lily was annoying. Her friends were annoying. The plot was annoying. It all seemed so juvenile to me in the conversation, the actions, the problems the characters faced. I just didn't connect to any of it. I don't know why I toughed it out to the end. Still, Lily put her life back together again. I hope she grows up.

I know I am in the minority here, but I was so disappointed after reading Emily Ever After by this pair of authors. I really enjoyed that one. Maybe because it was their second book and their rough edges were polished, but if I had read Consider Lily first, I wouldn't have gone on to meet Emily.

Profile Image for Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays).
5,152 reviews3,120 followers
May 22, 2019
2.5 stars
Lily Traywick has never really connected with her parents. They are fashion-conscious and own the most prestigious department store in San Francisco. Although Lily enjoys the perks of their success, she has never been a fashion maven - in fact, if her clothes match she calls it a good day. Lily loves her friends and loves Jesus, but has never had a date, much less a boyfriend. In desperation, she asks her best friend Reagan for help. Reagan is a fashion diva who knows exactly what clothes will make the woman.

Lily submits to Reagan's makeover, and she finds that this appearance improvement also gives her a confidence boost. She writes about all of these new experiences in her online blog, and through this medium she gets connected with a newspaper editor who offers her a freelance job. The guys start to notice her new look and attitude, and before she knows it, Lily has a date. Her life is looking up, but is everything as it appears on the surface?

Consider Lily is the second book by the chick lit writing team of Dayton and Vanderbilt. They have a wonderful way of capturing the life of a true Christian - not a watered down preachy version that some people may aspire to, yet never achieve, but a flaws-exposed look at Christianity in the real world. This makes the book refreshing and one that both Christian and non-Christian readers will be able to enjoy.

Lily's character is a bit unbelievable in that she is so incredibly naïve. She lives in San Francisco, she's been to college, but she doesn't seem to understand the world. She posts people's real names in her blog. She believes pretty much anything anyone tells her. The doormat attitude tends to grate on the nerves after a while.

The easy writing style takes this a cut above most chick lit. It's emotionally in-depth, yet still provides a great deal of humor, lightness, and fun. The pacing is excellent and flows extremely well. Even with Lily's shortcomings, Consider Lily is an enjoyable and pleasant read.
4 reviews
January 18, 2012
Consider Lily does a great job of expressing Christian morals without being overly churchy, which I really appreciate. I actually am able to relate to the main character in the novel and find myself nodding several times throughout the book, and I continue to do that every time I reread it. This book teaches a lesson in staying true to yourself while being open to changing cirumstances around you, and changing any perceptions you might have about certain people, a lesson we can all benefit from. I definitely recommend this book. You'll have fun reading it and maybe learn something too.
Profile Image for Melissa.
154 reviews
March 20, 2012
After reading Emily Ever After, I was so afraid that I wasn't going to like Consider Lily. I LOVED this book.

I felt the characters were well developed, and the story line was cute...even if Lily was a little naive. I loved the quirky characters in the singles group. I loved that they made me feel for Lily...the poor little rich girl. Very cute and easy read.
Profile Image for Allyn Reid.
19 reviews5 followers
February 12, 2008
True to my pattern of liking light-hearted books, I enjoyed this one immensely. Its a late-bloomer's coming of age story. I liked that it was someone in their twenties. I really identified with one of her "crazy girlfriend" and best friend scenarios and had me cracking up. A must-read girls!
Profile Image for Melissa.
134 reviews4 followers
June 29, 2010
Um, was interesting but finished soft. I didn't get her having to apologize to everyone and make reparations when she was telling the truth. i did like the relationship that evolved with lilly and her mom.
Profile Image for Princess.
3 reviews
Read
October 24, 2007
Wonderful book about womanhood, maturity, friendships and trusting God in ALL things!
Profile Image for Louise.
304 reviews
December 5, 2009
I am liking these good girl chick-lit reads but I liked The Book of Jane more than this one. I am trying Emily Ever After next.
Profile Image for Karina.
Author 20 books1,108 followers
October 9, 2010
Dan's good friend's wife wrote this book... it's a very humorous Christian chic-lit book!
1,026 reviews3 followers
July 16, 2020
DNF
This is the first book in a while that I've put down with the intent of not finishing. I don't like the main character - I'm finding her mean, fickle and not relatable. In one scene she's unhappy that a guy she has a crush on is dating someone else; and then in the next scene she's talking about wanting to date another guy from the same group. In one scene, she's talking about how shy she is, and then in the next she's dancing on camera at a hockey game. She's writing an anonymous, cranky blog and calling her friends by their real names. Anyway - it's not the book for me.
32 reviews3 followers
April 30, 2021
Cute, predicable, easy read. I have had this book on my shelves for a very long time. It was fun to read something that is from 2006. All the references to current events of the time was a good flashback!
Profile Image for Karin.
Author 8 books162 followers
Read
January 15, 2024
I gave it several chapters, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe because I was a sports-loving, fashion-ignorant woman at 27 who managed to fall in love and get married without having to do a big makeover and without trying to change myself. For whatever reason, I didn't connect with it.
Profile Image for Jane Yang.
1 review
July 24, 2024
To put it simply, the main character is unlikeable and so are the people around her. Lily is 28 years old, but she and her friends seem extremely juvenile based on their behavior. Another reviewer called the book dull and that is the most accurate description ever. I hate that she ended up with the horrible guy she was dating. Honestly, once she got in that relationship, I considered DNF-ing this book. There were some heartwarming moments towards the end, especially with her parents and grandmother
Profile Image for Amber Moore.
763 reviews3 followers
August 1, 2021
Cute sweet read.. We have all done or said something dumb and hurt people or pa person. This is right up that alley
41 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2022
Yikes, it’s bad. I normally make it past 46 pages but not this time.
Profile Image for Cindi.
295 reviews25 followers
July 1, 2011
Consider Lily by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt is set in beautiful San Francisco. Readers will recognize landmarks such as Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, and Russian Hill. Readers will also recognize the description of the main character's family department store, the chi-chi Traywick's. The authors could easily be describing Saks Fifth Avenue or Bloomingdale's.

Lily Traywick is the only child of Joan and Roland Traywick, and while she works in the department store they own, she doesn't really feel connected to her parents or her job. She would rather be a writer for The Chronicle. She is also 27, lives at home, and has never been on a real date. After a disastrous fashion show at the store, Lily's best friend Reagan, talks her into a makeover.

Read more of this review:

http://www.examiner.com/christian-fic...
191 reviews18 followers
April 4, 2012
Consider Lily was one of the worst books I have read in a long time. It was so bad that I actually stopped in the middle. I found the plot slow and the characters insufferable. I thought Lily complained too much and either gave too much or too little credit to her family and friends. She'll go on and on about how someone is amazing and then go on and on some more about how another character is terrible and boring and blah blah blah. It drove me up the wall that Lily, whose parents own a department store filled with gorgeous clothes, couldn't care less about fashion and actually insulted her parents for caring. True, her mom may have bugged her a little too much, but seriously-if you're not going to wear all that clothes then give it to me!!

Profile Image for Cathy.
1,237 reviews78 followers
July 21, 2012
I really enjoy the writing and humor at times. I did not enjoy how Lily was treated at times by her family and friends. I thought the guy was an unstable jerk. And Lily was made out to be a weirdo for not wanting her boyfriend to essentially date some other chick! She was right and he never did acknowledge or really apologize for it. Just "lily needs to be more trusting". Eh. Not my favorite.
Profile Image for Lisa.
81 reviews
June 5, 2014
When I began this book I never thought I would end up giving it 5 stars. It is Christian chick-lit, but didn't force the churchy stuff. It was just a woman's personal experience dealing with faith, dating, career, and friendships. I thought the characters were extremely well developed , even the minor ones. I might explore other books by these authors (there are 2). Funny, engaging read!
Profile Image for Laura Ellison.
734 reviews18 followers
August 26, 2014
Very realistic view of a single, upper twenties, Christian experience in terms of dating and dealing with the special characters involved in a church single's group. Witty and humorous, real life issues are dealt with realistically and for that I really enjoyed the book. The ending was a little too wrapped up and rushed but overall, I enjoyed the book a lot.
Profile Image for Cindi.
295 reviews25 followers
September 5, 2010
Good story, liked the characters for the most part. Didn't particularly like some of the actions by the main charcters. A full review can be read in my column for Examiner.com. http://tinyurl.com/24vnw3n
Profile Image for Gabrielle Louise.
17 reviews1 follower
July 27, 2012
I really enjoyed this Christian-Fiction book. It has all of the romance of any YA fiction, but it appeals to those who are active in the Christian community. Not EVERY teen book has to be about sex in order to be good!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews

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