Sonderbooks Book Review of Every Boy's Got One

Reviewed February 5, 2005.
Avon Trade (HarperCollins), New York, 2005. 328 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (MCN F CAB).
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2005 (#9, Light-hearted Fiction)

I’m afraid I loved this book. Why afraid? Because it’s complete fluff. It’s light, funny, sexy (a little risqué, but not explicit), and doesn’t ponder any great issues of life except questions of love. This is a romantic comedy movie in book form. If you’re in the mood for such a book, it does the job perfectly.

Jane Harris, creator of the internationally famous cartoon Wondercat, is accompanying her best friend Holly to Italy. Holly and her boyfriend Mark are eloping, and are bringing Jane along as a witness. Mark’s best friend, Cal Langdon, is also coming along. Cal has been traveling the world for the last few years, and just got a big fat bestseller published about Saudi oil.

Naturally, Jane and Cal despise each other when they meet. Cal’s an intellectual, always typing away on his Blackberry. Jane seems most impressed with Rome’s Colosseum because Britney Spears did a concert there.

When things start going wrong, Jane’s worried that Holly’s going to back out of the marriage. She finds out Cal doesn’t even believe in marriage, so she tries to keep him away from Holly and Mark. When a big obstacle of Italian bureaucracy comes up and only Jane and Cal can fix it, Jane has to get Cal to cooperate, despite his antipathy to marriage.

The story is told through the viewpoint of e-mails, journal entries, and official documents. The difference of perspective between the characters is hilarious. The Italian setting added to the fun. Based on my own trip to Italy, the details sounded completely authentic. I wasn’t surprised by the author’s word at the back telling how she based the story on her own Italian elopement. Some of the funniest details actually happened.

This book has the same up-beat humorous flavor as Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries, but this time we have characters who are grown-ups trying to figure out what real love means and what kind of relationship makes a marriage that lasts.

Reviews of other books by Meg Cabot:
Size 12 Is Not Fat
The Boy Next Door
Princess in the Spotlight
Princess in Love
Princess in Waiting
Princess in Pink
Princess Lessons
All-American Girl

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

*****Every Boy's Got One*

by Meg Cabot