The Younger Man

by Sarah Tucker

Can a lawyer who specializes in breaking up couples find her own happy ending?

Hazel Chamberlayne can. She's turning forty. And do you know what? She's excited about it. Successful by her own standards, flanked by a group of magnetic friends, she feels as if life is genuinely beginning for her.

Okay. Hazel would like a man. Though seeing the dregs of relationships every day as a divorce lawyer means she doesn't have much hope in men, much luck with men nor much time to look for them, period.

However, when fellow divorce lawyer Joe Ryan appears—a man ten years her junior, with a long-standing live-in girlfriend—he challenges Hazel's beliefs about who men are and what they want. And what will make her happy in life. Because this man may be different. May be.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2005

About the author

There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads.

British author Sarah Tucker is an award-winning travel journalist and broadcaster. She divides her time between England and France, and only has room for one man in her life: her four-year-old son, Thomas.

Reviews

[Collette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started a bit slow but picked up after awhile to the point I didn't want to put it down. It's your typical Chick lit where you have a strong woman who thinks she knows her own mind and how she wants to live life at age 40. Then she meets a man 10 years her junior who makes her take a second look at her life. She also has a varied group of girlfriends with their own confusing lives. It wasn't as humorous as some of the chick lit I have read but had a bit more sex than some too so trade-offs occured. :)

[Karielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The English really do do it better. I discovered the delightful Sarah Tucker when I first picked up her novel, The Last Year of Being Single. It didn't seem like my type of story, but after reading the first page, I was eager to find out what would happen by the last. When I finished it, I felt sort of changed. I felt like I had to do something; I felt like it wouldn't be quite right for me to just close the book and put it place it on my bookshelf and forget about it forever. So I went online and bought two of her other books. When I was through with them, I contacted her, telling her what a fan I was, and how much I enjoyed her stories. I also asked if she would mind "autographing" the books for me. She doesn't live in the country, so bookplates seemed to be a good idea. She enthusiastically agreed to send me a few, thanking me for being a reader on the way. Two weeks later, I received something in my mailbox, but it wasn't an envelope of bookplates. Sarah had sent me two of her books, two I didn't have, and they were SIGNED! That very same day, I started and finished The Younger Man, and I am thrilled to be able to share my review. It makes me so happy how generous and loving to readers that authors can be these days. This one is for Sarah Tucker.

Blurb: Does life really begin at forty?
Successful, divorced lawyer Hazel Chamberlayne is sexy, independent and about to hit forty. Hazel also has a group of friends she loves and trusts, who love and trust her...and she doesn't need a man.
Not, that is, until the intelligent, engaging and ten years younger Joe Ryan becomes a new partner in the law firm. It's one thing to spice things up with the occasional passionate indulgence, but in a job where the path of true love runs straight into the divorce courts, Hazel isn't sure she can believe in her own happy ever after.
Though, just like a bikini wax, isn't love supposed to be less painful the second time around?

The first idea you get when you read the blurb is "cougartown". It's an idea that seems to be overrated these days, called hot by tabloids like E!News and People magazine. I personally find it annoying because of how "cool" it's made out to be. Why should age differences in relationships be cool? After reading The Younger Man however, I could tell why.

Hazel Chamberlayne is me. I'm not Hazel Chamberlayne, but she's me, she's you, she's every girl who has ever gotten her heart broken. Her love life has been through hell and high water, so at forty, she knows what she wants in life, and it's definitely not a new husband. She's got a beautiful daughter going off to college soon, a tight-knit circle of friends that you and I would both die to have, and is a successful, confident woman with a fantastic high-salary job. She already has a happily-ever-after life, one that began when her marriage ended, so who the hell is Joe Ryan, showing up at her firm like nobody's business? Who the hell is he to make her forget all of that, and to make her want to start over again?

Well, for starters, he's eye candy. Major eye candy. Jaw-dropping, eye-popping, saliva-inducing eye candy. And you know what? This bastard is nice too! And dare I say it --funny! (collective gasp!!).

Before she can tell herself not to fall for this guy, she finds herself falling for him anyway. It's bad enough that's he's so darned perfect; why must he be ten years younger?

I winced, I smiled, I teared up, and I damn near fell off the sofa laughing, while reading The Younger Man. Tucker's charming, goofy British style is sure to make you as well. I have to warn you though, there was some pretty funny English lingo that I didn't quite understand, but it wasn't awful; I could figure out most of it by context. I love Sarah/Hazel's voice, though. British people are so suave and cynically hilarious. I enjoyed this one a lot. I also now love them Brits :)

Radical Rating: 9 hearts- One of my all-time favorites! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[Tanja Joubert Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sheds light on the issues in a romantic relationship between a forty year old woman and a twenty nine year old man. It was an eye-opener for me of the potential obstacles there can be in such a relationship, but I must add that the biggest obstacle is due to the difference in what different generations want from a relationship, specifically from the view of a forty year old ambitious, divorced lawyer.

I enjoyed the book and kept turning the pages until I reached the end.

[Catarina Trindade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Já li os anteriores livros da autora e gostei, mas não são nada de especial. São histórias comuns, que já li em imensos livros, ou seja, não trazem novidade nenhuma. No entanto, gosto da maneira como ela escreve e apresenta os personagens. Neste livro, porém, fiquei com a sensação que os personagens eram um pouco vazios, o rumo da história de certo modo confuso, muito corrido e, para finalizar, não gostei muito do final que ela deu à personagem principal. É uma leitura agradável para quem não tem mais nada de interessante para ler, mas há melhores.

[JenniferB · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book very much. Found the dialog very stilted, and the plot cliched.

[Nienke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a quick read. Not very deep tho.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choppy and silly, and totally unrealistic. Not the best fluff book out there.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

couldn't get past page 20 it was so icky!

[Sherri Bryant]

Wasn't able to get into this one. The dialogue seemed forced

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was slightly above the standard Chick-Lit book and was definately readable. It's easy to read and good for commuters.

[Maryellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty typical chick lit kind of stuff. Eh, wasn't impressed.

[Sylvie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, quick read, light.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average chick lit book. Quick easy read only took a couple of hours.