Just Finished: A Girl Like You

I loved reading A Girl Like You by Maria Geraci. The novel was sweet, fun, and heart-warming.

Here's the synopsis:

Every ugly ducking is a swan in waiting... 

Emma Frazier is smart, hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine. Emma knows she’s no great beauty, but she’s pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher—until Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the “ugly friend.” In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend, Trip Monroe. 

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it’s been fourteen years since they’ve spoken, Emma is certain she can score an interview with the elusive super star. But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined. Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shake up Emma’s views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.

I really liked Emma. She was a flawed protagonist without being completely broken or beat down. She didn't have a huge personal issue to overcome but she still had a realization by the end. Sometimes main characters are so troubled that it can be hard to follow and it can result in a plot that's just too heavy. With this novel, it was nice to read about someone who was pretty normal and who could easily be one of my friends!

It seems like I tend to favour books that have main characters who are writers - whether it's a journalist for a newspaper or magazine, a blogger, or a travel writer. Not sure what that says about me but the main point is that I seem to enjoy their stories more. Emma's job had quite a bit to do with this book. She's in love with her boss and is trying to impress him with getting a great story. It was interesting to see how everything turned out.

I like that this book had a little taste of everything. It wasn't strictly a career focused plot as Emma also had to come to terms with being called the "ugly friend." She had that personal issue and she had some excellent friends to help her through. She also had a strong family support system with her two moms. As in most chick lit, there was a romance - but with which guy? I loved that Geraci kept me guessing on that front. And the book was funny! Emma was clever and got herself in a lot of entertaining situations.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Girl Like You and think many other readers would as well. I didn't want to put it down! I've had another of Maria Geraci's novels, The Boyfriend of the Month Club, on my shelf for awhile and it will be moved up on my to-be-read list because I enjoyed this one so much!

Thanks to BookSparksPR for the copy to review!