Book list
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Maxted's fourth novel centers around Hannah Lovekin, who has a few issues with commitment and marriage. Her boyfriend, Jason, has just proposed, but she turns him down. It's a move she regrets when he rebounds quickly with another woman, and Hannah tracks him down to tell him she wants him back. Jason still loves her, but he wants her to get over her hang-ups about marriage by contacting her first husband, Jack, and putting their differences behind them. Hannah hasn't spoken to Jack in more than a decade, when a minor indiscretion on her part ended their five-month union. When Hannah does track down Jack, he is obviously still angry with her over the way their marriage ended, which complicates things when Hannah realizes that it's Jack and not Jason that she so desperately wants to win back. Told in Hannah's engaging voice, the novel bounds toward a conclusion sure to make romantics grin, as Hannah learns to better understand her family, friends, and herself. --Kristine Huntley Copyright 2004 Booklist

Library Journal
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When 31-year-old Hannah turns down her longtime boyfriend Jason's marriage proposal, she is stunned by his dismay after all, he's the one "who'd blown [their] future by asking such a stupid question." Readers of chick lit may find it difficult to warm to Maxted's (Running in Heels) heroine, who might charitably be called difficult, but one must admit that she has a point when, accused by her would-be fianc? of having no empathy, she asks why, then, he would want to marry her. One month later, Jason is engaged to Lucy, and Hannah wants him back. He has conditions the most important being that Hannah come to terms with her ex-husband, Jack. Jason blames the failure of this brief, youthful marriage on Hannah's inability to commit. As soon as we meet Jack, we know that Jason is wrong; the rude and abrasive Jack is perfect for Hannah, and the story really starts moving along when he is introduced. Readers of the genre will enjoy this entertaining, if predictable, novel by one of the more sophisticated chick-lit authors. Recommended for popular fiction collections. Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly
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Sometimes it isn't snaring a man that's the problem but keeping him. In this deliciously snarky fourth novel, bestselling Maxted (Getting Over It; Running in Heels; etc.) introduces readers to Hannah Lovekin, a 30-year-old London private investigator with commitment issues and a breezy lack of sensitivity and feminine graces. At the start of the novel, Jason, Hannah's adorable boyfriend of five years-he's "enthusiastic, without cynicism, like a new puppy," the polar opposite of Hannah-pops the question and Hannah turns him down, only to realize that she wants him after all. Jason agrees to give Hannah another chance if she promises to resolve her intimacy issues, visit a therapist and make amends with Jack, her ex-husband, who's now a successful theater agent. Reluctantly embarking on the path to enlightenment ("I've been married before. When I was twenty. For five months. I'm a raddled old divorcee consumed with bitterness and regret. Is that relevant?"), Hannah is forced to realize why her marriage with Jack crumbled, as well as face the family secrets she shelved away as a little girl. Maxted tosses barbs like a champion darts player, and she paints a scathingly hilarious picture of her misguided but appealingly frank heroine. Witty, sarcastic, self-deprecating and clever, this is platinum-class chick lit. Agent, Deborah Schneider at Gelfman Schneider . (Aug.) Forecast: Maxted doesn't need an early summer release date to get books moving-expect this to hit bestseller lists as well as beach towels. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved