Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Book Review - The Day I Shot Cupid

CymLowell



The Day I Shot Cupid: Hello, My Name is Jennifer Love Hewitt and I'm a Love-aholic by  Jennifer Love Hewitt or Love as her friends call her, or JLH as she signs off in the book.


First, I am a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan and was an avid viewer of Party of Five and Ghost Whisper, plus, she is one of my husband's favorites if you know what I mean.

Honestly, I was hard up for a book and saw this at the library. The cover is cute, it is written by an actress I like and she and her finance' had just broken up as the book was released so I was curious to see what she wrote about him.

Product Description
For any woman who has ever bought a self-help book and wondered why she bothered. (P.S. Now that I know he's just not that into me, where do I go from there? Yeah, thanks for that advice.)

Jennifer Love Hewitt is a self-proclaimed "love-aholic" and hopeless romantic (her middle name is Love, after all!). She has been lucky and unlucky in love, and lived to tell--and she's done it all in the spotlight. Much has been written about her love life--some true, most made up to sell magazines. Now Hewitt shares the real story of what she's learned navigating the dangerous dating waters.

In The Day I Shot Cupid, Hewitt offers her hard-won wisdom and tells us how to embrace love with both feet on the ground. First, we have to shoot Cupid. We have to believe that happily-ever-after is hard work--it's not all flowers and symphonies and floating hearts.

Wise and wry and refreshingly honest, Hewitt talks about how to pick the right guy and how to know when to let the wrong ones go free, and she offers some surprising truths about the opposite sex.

From twenty things to do after a breakup, to ten things to do before a date, to the perils of text flirting (Note: You are waiting. By the phone. For his response.), Hewitt uses stories and dating secrets to illustrate the idiotic, romantic, crazy, depressing, hilarious, awkward, glorious moments we all experience in relationships. Funny, quirky, and empowering, The Day I Shot Cupid deserves a place on every woman's nightstand, bookshelf, or coffee table, or tucked inside her oversized designer handbag.

What I Can Tell You: The book is a fast read, 1 night. Jennifer is likable and obviously a complete romantic.  Obviously one of those girls that writes her name with his last name by date two and starts buying Bride magazine after the 3rd date. That's fine, I don't judge just making a statement.

The book is a dating advice book for woman, however, with passages like this:

 “OMG, let me just embarrass myself right now. I spent three hours once making his and her toiletry kids. One for my house and one for his house. At the time, I thought it was the most amazing gift. When I presented them I thought I would receive the Greatest Romantic Award. Uh, not what happened. Instead, I received awkward silence, followed by more awkward miles, and never heard from him again.”

 “Like a Velcro monkey, I will suck to the back of my cuddle partner, creating the ultimate spoon. But — and it’s no secret — guys hate to spoon. They prefer to fork, lol! … So here’s the trick: Play it cool until he falls asleep and then Velcro yourself to him, quickly and with very little motion (think Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible). And then, if and when he wakes, turn quickly, like you were just stretching, and wait. When the little lamb sleeps again One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Velcro!!!!!!!!!”
It was a bit of a let down. I really wanted to like it.

The sections were short, some of them less than two paragraphs. Some of them were just randomness or just scattered thoughts, it is as if she took her diary and scanned for little passages. Or, has a journal of rambling rants that were included.

Some sections like, When Your Relationship Comes to a Skid Mark where she talks about doing laundry and finding skid marks in your guys underwear. Umm...yes...we have all seen them, throughout our lives, but just toss them in the wash and move on honey. There is no need to run around the house screaming before taking thongs and using the Rocky theme in your head to throw them in the machine. BTW...this little heroic feat made her feel like a "real woman" before making him do the laundry for the remainder of your relationship.

I believe her to be a very sweet woman who tried really hard to be profound and witty, it just came off short and believe this book should be read for the fun of it. Maybe it's me, maybe she was really witty and profound but it was lost on me. My expectations weren't high, and I don't think any less of her, she's not an author and this was a good attempt.

JLH, if you are out there, because you did say negative press hurts your heart, I want you to know, I still love you honey, just giving my honest review because that is what I do here and as you can see in my labels, it does say this is an amateur book review, so really....what the hell do I know.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds fun...First-time visitor.

    I am stopping from Cym Lowell's Book Review Party.

    Stop by mine if you like.

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

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  2. Maria, I LOVE how you are so honest but caring in everything you do. Even in a book review, you want to let people know your true feelings, but you don't want to hurt JLH's feelings because you truly care about her. You are one of the kindest people I have ever known.
    I still want to read this book because as you said, I'll read it for the fun of it and I adore JLH.
    BTW, I just saw her appearance in Law & Order, SVU - talk about an inspired performance, she was AMAZING!!!

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