On The Rocks by Erin Duffy
This book is so refreshing. When I first picked it up, I thought it was going to be a typical beach read with the same old story of girl's life turns upside down and her trying to find love. And although that general idea was there, it has very dramatically different turns which I loved.
Abby is the main character in this story. She's in the middle of trying on wedding dresses when she discovers her fiancé changes his status on Facebook to single. I can't even imagine having to deal with that. On top of it, the next day, she finds out her younger sister is engaged. Just guess the drama and heartache that ensues for Abby after that.
This book is about Abby trying to get back to her old self. She's trying to figure out the dating world and discovering how social media really does interfere with our dating lives.
THIS BOOK DOES NOT END THE WAY YOU THINK IT DOES. I was so happy with the ending, to be honest. I know it left some people disappointed but I thought it was such a good change of pace.
This book will make you laugh, you'll find it relatable if you're single and trying to date, and you'll be glad you're in a relationship if you are. The quotes I picked out were my favorite upon favorites. Abby's personality with her witty and sarcastic banter makes me want to become her best friend. But that position is filled by Grace, who is facing her own set of issues, since she's dating a married man.
At $13.57 this book is a steal. Summer might be over, but it's really a state of mind. Pick up the book and reminisce of when the weather was hotter and pour yourself a cocktail. On the rocks, of course.
Favorite Quotes:
"I wanted to hate her for her God-given beauty, but I loved her too much. I have, however, stopped standing next to her in pictures."
"Six months was more than enough time to plan the wedding because I was planning on sticking to the basics: dress, band, church, flowers, guests, add champagne, stir, and bam-o, instant wife. Just like instant cookie mix, but slightly more expensive."
"'No, calculus is hard for me to understand. Quantum physics is hard for me to understand. The Kardashians' fame is hard for me to understand. This isn't hard to understand. This is insane.'"
"Deep down, we all want the fairy tale, and if I have to fault anyone for being able to single-handedly combat all of the progress of the women's movement and still convince little girls that the proverbial dream life begins at the end of an aisle standing next to a man, I blame Walt Disney. Feminism may have come a long way since our grandmothers' time, but Gloria Steinem is no match for Cinderella, which I'm sure is hugely frustrating for her. It has to be painful admitting that your biggest adversary is actually a cartoon wearing one shoe whose only friends are a pack of mice. Whatever. As far as I'm concerned, Cinderella can suck it."
"Fate can be a finicky bitch."
"It was unreal how quickly one person could make me feel so inadequate."
"'There's a reason those fairy tales are geared toward little girls and not grown women who know better,' she said with the authority of a woman who was wise enough to have relinquished the concept of perfection a long time ago. 'In real life that hair is a toupee and that smile is a veneer. And for the record, the princess in that story is wearing Spanx and a Wonderbra. That's why those stories are called fairy tales and are not the headlines on the six o'clock news.'"
"Our generations idea of a love letter is a late-night drunk text asking if you have any more beer in the fridge. You heard it here first, kids. Romance is dead."
"'Look,' he continued, 'I'm thirty-three, single, and currently in between jobs. Do you think when I graduated law school this is where I thought I'd be? You can't plan everything in life. Stop looking at what's gone wrong and start appreciating what you've done right.'"
We were educated women in our early thirties, and we were debating the merits of high-fiving a guy at the end of a date. Something was seriously wrong with us."
"On the rocks: my cocktails, my personal life, my mental state. If I had a car I'd make that my vanity plate."
"When you really love someone, you don't let more than a day go by before you say you're sorry, and if you're really smart, you bring food with you when you do."