Sonderbooks Book Review of An Ex to Grind

Reviewed September 13, 2005.
William Morrow (HarperCollins), New York, 2005. 369 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (MCN F HEL).

Here’s another funny romantic comedy from Jane Heller. Melanie Banks had a high-powered job and a wonderful marriage to a football star. Then, due to an injury, he lost his job. Not only did he not find another job, he didn’t try to find another job. Their marriage fell apart, and they got divorced.

Now Melanie is furious because she has to pay him “Maintenance” every month for seven years. She also has to bring her beloved dog to stay with him every other week. There is a loophole, however. If her ex-husband Dan remarries—or lives with a woman for ninety days—then Melanie is off the hook.

As her frustration mounts, her friend convinces her to try the best matchmaker in New York. She hires the woman to find a match for Dan—someone he’ll love enough to live with for three months.

There is a catch. The matchmaker does such a good job, Dan starts to pull his life back together. He starts getting dressed in the mornings. He goes looking for work. Melanie finds herself oddly attracted to him again. Could she have made a terrible mistake?

Here’s a funny look at the lengths to which a woman will go when she’s at her wit’s end.

Reviews of other books by Jane Heller:
Lucky Stars
The Secret Ingredient

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

****An Ex to Grind*

by Jane Heller