Friday, June 12, 2009

Early Birds Blog Tour: Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn


Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn [click HERE to browse inside]

Published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group

Publisher's description of the book:

Holly Frick has just endured the worst kind of breakup: the kind where you're still in love with the person leaving you. While her wounds are still dangerously close to the surface, her happily married best friend confesses over a bottle of wine that she is this close to having an affair. And another woman comes to Holly for advice about her love life--with Holly's ex!

Holly decides that if everyone around her can take pleasure wherever they find it, so will she. As any self-respecting 30ish New York woman would do, she brings two males into her life: a flawed but endearing dog, and a good natured, much younger lover. She's soon entangled in a web of emails, chance meetings, and misguided good intentions and must forge an entirely new path to Nirvana.

My review:

Secrets to Happiness is an interesting book that fluctuates between the discussion of superficial subject matters and deeper issues. The inclusion of more profound topics such as religion and fidelity is what really kept my interest and enhanced the overall reading experience. Although I didn't find any of the main characters particularly likeable, I still had to know what would happen to them next (despite being frustrated by their poor choices!).

This book provides an interesting look at relationships and explores them through the eyes of very different characters who ultimately just want to be happy. It was interesting to see how the plot unfolds and to read about how the characters respond when provoked and challenged.

Although the storyline didn't follow the progression that I had expected or even wanted it to, I felt satisfied in knowing that even the most shallow of characters gained some insight in the end. This book may not be for everyone, however for me, its concluding message makes it a really worthwhile read.


Author Bio:

Sarah Dunn has moved from Los Angeles to New York five times, and from New York back to Los Angeles four times, which means, at the moment, she is happily residing in New York. Her first novel, The Big Love, has been translated into 23 languages.



BIG THANKS to Miriam for organizing this fun tour and for sending along my review copy.


Here are the wonderful blogs who are also participating in this tour:

http://nevernotreading.blogspot.com/
http://www.writeforareader.blogspot.com/
http://www.acircleofbooks.blogspot.com/
http://abookishmom.blogspot.com/
http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/
http://zensanity.blogspot.com/
http://scribevibe.blogspot.com/
http://thereviewfromhere.wordpress.com/
http://www.iheartmonster.com/
http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
http://hiddenplace.wordpress.com/
http://books-movieschinesefood.blogspot.com/
http://thisbookforfree.com/
http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/
http://www.amberstults.com/
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/
http://confessionsofaromancebookaddict.wordpress.com/
http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/
http://chikune.com/blog
http://luanneabookwormsworld.blogspot.com/
http://www.foreigncircuslibrary.blogspot.com/
http://cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/
http://purplg8rsomanybooks.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/bookcase
http://www.readingwithmonie.com/
http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookthoughtsbylisa.blogspot.com/
http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/
http://danyssan.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/darbyscloset
http://epicrat.blogspot.com/
http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
http://jennsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
http://www.linussblanket.com/
http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/
http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/
http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/
http://everydayiwritethebook.typepad.com/
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/

3 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this book. Great review!

Darlene said...

Glad you enjoyed it Sheri. For the most part I did too. There were some parts I could have done without but I agree, the message of the book does come through and I did like Holly although I didn't always agree with what she was doing.

Anonymous said...

i like books with dynamic characters who grown and change as a result of their choices. i'm not sure if this book is for me, though i may check out dunn's first novel--i liked the blurb on amazon! thanks for the review.