Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Good Life: Jodie Beau
Twenty-two year old
Roxie Golightly is a fun and carefree spirit...until she marries a
wealthy man and her role as a trophy wife leaves her isolated in a condo
with an ironing board and an obsessive desire to impress people.
When
her marriage ends after seven years, Roxie's identity is buried under
layers of furniture polish and piles of designer shoes. She doubts she
can ever be the person she once was.
But when Roxie's charmed
life is turned upside down, her best-friend creates The Good Life List
to help turn it back around. The instructions are simple: Complete each
task on the Good Life List by the end of the summer.
With list in
hand and the help of a sexy and charismatic guy from her past, Roxie is
only a few check marks away from living the good life, even if it means
getting thrown out of a bar or skinny-dipping in the neighbor's pool at
3am.
"On the top line she had written The Good Wife. Then she crossed out the word Wife and wrote Life. The Good Life. Underneath the title was the list of challenges she wanted me to complete this summer."
"Wow. That was quite a list. Some things were disgusting. Some things sounded kind of fun. But there were some that really pushed my boundaries. Those things took guts-guts I didn't have. "
I really enjoyed the premises of this story. The Good Life is a "bucket list" of sorts given to Roxie by her friend Hope. Roxie was lost; she became this shadow of a person no one recognized any longer. She forgot what it is like to be spontaneous and have fun, so Hope gave her this quirky list of things to do over the summer. I absolutely adored this! I truly adored Hope's character, maybe even more than I adored Jake. She knew exactly what Roxie needed, and she found a way to give Roxie her dignity back, not to mention what you saw was what you got with Hope. She didn't pull punches. This list was creative, silly, and I thought it was a perfect way for Roxie to come out of the “empty shell" she created within herself.
"Wow. That was quite a list. Some things were disgusting. Some things sounded kind of fun. But there were some that really pushed my boundaries. Those things took guts-guts I didn't have. "
I really enjoyed the premises of this story. The Good Life is a "bucket list" of sorts given to Roxie by her friend Hope. Roxie was lost; she became this shadow of a person no one recognized any longer. She forgot what it is like to be spontaneous and have fun, so Hope gave her this quirky list of things to do over the summer. I absolutely adored this! I truly adored Hope's character, maybe even more than I adored Jake. She knew exactly what Roxie needed, and she found a way to give Roxie her dignity back, not to mention what you saw was what you got with Hope. She didn't pull punches. This list was creative, silly, and I thought it was a perfect way for Roxie to come out of the “empty shell" she created within herself.
"I knew my heart was safe with him. I figured if I was going to fall in love with him, I would have already done so sometime in the last 15 years. That's why I called him my safety guy. The whole point of a safety net was to catch you when you fell. I fell. He caught me. But he wasn't going to let me fall any further, which was exactly what I needed that summer."
I think part of the reason I struggled with this read is the fact that I am in a book funk and the other half was the heroine. I could not connect with her. She was hard to take at times, although she did grow on me a bit around 75% when she came face to face with her hubby again. I found myself cracking up. Not sure why, it just caught me off guard as I am sure it did her and I actually giggled out loud. Roxie wasn't all bad though, she had some great lines, and I loved her sense of humor. It was a trip being in that chicks mind sometimes. I also enjoyed the moments of her journey where she was exploring new boundaries and finding "her" again. I understand that Rox needed to keep things light while she rediscovered herself after the disaster with her hubby, but I really hated how it felt as though she was "using" Jake. I didn't enjoy their push and pull as much as I have some other books. I kind of wanted her to treat him better. Not sure how to explain it. I think this was the main reason I just couldn't connect more with her. So I guess what I am trying to say is I had a love/hate relationship with our heroine which affected my view of the book.
"I'm in love with you, Roxie. The reason I didn't have girlfriends was because I didn't want to waste my time on the wrong ones. I've known who I wanted all along. If you think I am some kind of womanizer, you're wrong. I don't want an endless string of one night stands, I want you. Only you."
At times, I felt just as lost as Jake did. I couldn't understand for the life of me why Roxie treated him the way she did. He was wicked sweet and he would do absolutely anything for her. He proved time and time again that for him it was more than "friendship,” but she just looked the gift horse in the mouth and ran to her "safe guy" when things got tough. Ugh, it annoyed me so much. Must move on. However, I loved them together, when she wasn't putting up all her walls and pushing him away. Jake fricken rocked, especially at the end when he put aside a major fear of his to stand by her side and offer his support during a traumatic moment. While reading the story all I could think about as I got to know more and more about him was that saying...I married my best friend...for me he was that type of guy. The guy who would move heaven and earth for the right one while sitting next to you on the couch enduring chick flicks.
Jodie has been writing fiction since she was a child and it was only natural she would pursue it as a career.
While studying at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, she took every writing class offered before she received a BA in Media Arts. After graduation she moved to Wilmington, NC, with big dreams of one day
writing for movies and TV.Then she met a boy…and there was a wedding. A few years later came another boy, this one even cuter. She gave up her “pipe dream” of being a Hollywood screenwriter and moved back to Detroit to be a wife mom and career waitress. But babies sleep a lot and she got bored and it was either write or clean the house. So she wrote.She began with a pregnancy/mom blog(http://underthebigmac.blogspot.com/), but she dreamed of doing more with her writing than making people laugh with stories of baby poop. So she decided to take a chance, to see if success wasn’t just a pipe dream. The Good Life is her first novel.
While studying at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, she took every writing class offered before she received a BA in Media Arts. After graduation she moved to Wilmington, NC, with big dreams of one day
writing for movies and TV.Then she met a boy…and there was a wedding. A few years later came another boy, this one even cuter. She gave up her “pipe dream” of being a Hollywood screenwriter and moved back to Detroit to be a wife mom and career waitress. But babies sleep a lot and she got bored and it was either write or clean the house. So she wrote.She began with a pregnancy/mom blog(http://underthebigmac.blogspot.com/), but she dreamed of doing more with her writing than making people laugh with stories of baby poop. So she decided to take a chance, to see if success wasn’t just a pipe dream. The Good Life is her first novel.
Giveaway Info: Up for grabs are two ebookcopies (open internationally) of The Good Life and the grandprize winner will receive a signed paperback copy (US only) of The Good Life.
4 comments
I love these books with bucket lists for the main character. It's always awesome to watch them explore and get out of their comfort zone. Adding this to my Goodreads, thanks! :D
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy!
DeleteMy friend recently read this and also liked it. I'll have to add it to my TBR. Great review! The last bit about "I married my best friend" sold me on it. Tammy, you're in a book funk? You should read Shark Bait by Jenn Cooksey. So good!
ReplyDeleteMegan, thanks girl I will definitely check it out. You told me to read a few different books that I ended up liking so I trust your opinion. :)
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