What Now?

I was happy to be back with Carly Cooper and her girls. And also delighted that there are 'chick-litty' books about women in their 40s. Normally this age-group features only in 'romance dramas' that are either melancholy, boring and/or have at least one heavy blow of fate. Well, Carly's life hasn't been exactly a breeze either, she had some heartaches to endure as well. And yes, they are dealt with in this book as well! But still, the whole book never lets you feel down, thanks to Shari Lows great writing style that I've become to adore over the past couple of years. This book is a sequel to Lows very first novel "What if", and although Carly sums up the necessary bits and pieces as she goes along, I would highly recommend reading the first part. Not There you get a better picture on who her friends are (character-wise) and what kind of character Sam really is. Because here he is very seldomly part of the story, which consists mainly of Carly lying on the pool and chatting to her friends, and here and there she throws in some flashbacks. There is not so much action going on. All the touristy things they do in L.A. are summarized in one paragraph! Yes, there is a trip to NYC, but I would have liked a little bit more. Also, the circumstances of how she gets into a very special situation that she mentions in the first chapter - and most importantly how she gets out of that situation - are too easily solved. After reading the whole book until finally coming back to the Carly from chapter 1 I expected more. However, I still highly enjoyed "What Now?", and wouldn't mind at all to meet the girls again a couple of years down the line. And what happens with Carly after she finally makes up her mind where life will take her next!