An Ex to Grind
A Novel
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3.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $0.99
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
The battle of the sexes rages on in this smart, witty, and extremely timely comedy from the phenomenally popular Jane Heller
At first, Manhattan financial planner Melanie Banks adores Dan Swain, her pro football player husband who's got a sexy Oklahoma drawl to go with his athletic good looks. But then his career comes to a screeching halt and he spends the next few years out of a job, seemingly unconcerned about it. Suddenly, she's the one bringing home the bacon and falling out of love with the paycheck-devouring, couch-sitting mooch. Divorce is the answer, she decides -- only to learn she has to fork over alimony while he lives like a prince on her income and she has to share custody of their precious dog, Buster. Consumed with the unfairness of it all, she plays dirty, hiring a high-profile matchmaker to find some unsuspecting female she can dump on Dan for ninety days and cause him to violate their cohabitation clause.
But then Melanie's scheme backfires. Her ex's new love revitalizes him, miraculously transforming him into the focused, responsible go-getter she always hoped he'd be. And now, with the ninety-day clock about to chime, she realizes she wants him back.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nowadays, a woman might bring home more bacon than the lazy pig she married does an idea Heller (Best Enemies, etc.) runs with in her latest breezy, easy read. Melanie Banks, wedded to her job as a financial planner and freshly divorced from former football star Dan Swain, hates writing him that monthly alimony check, which he spends on Cristal and Gucci moccasins as he languishes in their fancy apartment, while she must settle for dingier digs. Since he's sworn off remarriage and a new career, nursing old injuries to his knee and his pride, Melanie's only out is a bit of legal fine print: if Dan shacks up with a woman for 90 days, he forfeits his right to Melanie's money. Her scheme to find him his ideal woman works all too well: Dan falls for a vixen veterinarian, invites her to move in and shapes up into the man who first stole Melanie's heart. Catastrophically obsessed with the new couple and hell-bent on winning Dan back, Melanie lets her work slide and deflects the advances of her heartthrob neighbor. Readers drawn to Heller's zippy style and culturally astute wit will forgive the ham-fisted plot, which rollicks toward a reassuringly happy ending.
Customer Reviews
Main character is fundamentally unlikable
Other characters are drawn superficially.