Reinventing Mona

by Jennifer Coburn

Book Overview

With her gift for mixing sparkling humor with moments of true-to-life poignancy, the acclaimed author of The Wife of Reilly delivers a character-rich novel about following one's impulses, embracing change, and finally taking a chance on love.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758216408
• ISBN13: 9780758216403
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Funny & Sweet

This book was very sweet. I could see a lot of myself in Mona's character and that is what really attracted me to this book. Mona was very sweet, but also very shy and naïve. I liked all the other characters in the book especially Mikes sister Vicki, the stripper with a heart of gold. There were some parts of the book that were way over the top but overall a very fun way to spend a few hours. Happy Reading!!

Scheming, Fashion, and Exercise Oh My!

Thirty-year-old Mona Warren feels as if nothing is going her way for one very important reason: she is duller than dull. The bore in boring. A "mustard stain on a Sears tweed couch," so to speak. So Mona decides to change up her personality, attitude, and looks in order to win over the guy she's crushing on. But it's harder than it looks. First comes exercise, then carrot juice, white teeth, straight hair, clothes that actually fit, and voila, a brand new Mona. She's finally ready to get the guy of her dreams. The problem? She's clueless about winning him over, so she calls in Mike "The Dog" Dougherty. Mike is a writer for "Maximum for Him" magazine, penning the monthly column "The Dog House." While Mona despises him, and everything that he stands for, he seems to be the ideal person to coach her in snagging the man of her dreams. That is, until she realizes that Mike might just be the man of her dreams, throwing her completely off track. I adored Jennifer Coburn's THE WIFE OF REILLY, so it came as no shock to me that REINVENTING MONA rivaled her previous contribution to the writing world in many ways - humor, style, and characters. Mona is a hilarious character who is stylish, fashionable, and totally clueless, which is a nice combination, if I do say so myself. Her personality is wacky, at the same time as compassionate, and the crazy situations she gets herself into border on insane. Overall, this is a fabulous new addition to the chick lit genre that will be hard for all to put down. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

hilarious

This book was a lot of fun with outrageous plot twists and hilarious scenarios. Who hasn't wondered what life would look like if we could engineer it so we could seem bigger and brighter than we really are?  This is what 30-year-old Mona Warren sets out to do as she sets her sites on Adam Zigler, her family accountant.  She hires a string of actors, consultants and dancers to set the stage for her happily ever after.  Instead of the Hollywood ending, Mona finds herself in a romantic comedy of errors, fumbling every step of the way.  In the end, Mona gets far more than she bargained for.  I got a delightfully funny and charming story about life, love and loss.  Good fun chick-lit.  Equally, if not as funny as Coburn's first book, The Wife of Reilly!

Even more fun than the first one!

A total romp! I loved this very human and fun tale of a woman who tries to make over her life, only to learn that there is beauty and completion in imperfection. Like Coburn's first book, this was extremely funny and easy-to-read, but I found myself laughing out loud more at this one. I enjoyed the story immensely and would recommend to anyone looking for an edgy, feel-good novel about the crazy extremes a girl can go to when she's searching for love.

An amusing yet serious character study

In Coronado, California Mona Warren summarizes her life as a big no; having nothing in terms of personal relationships not even in the closet. For most of her life, she did not care, but now her strategic long term goal is to marry Adam Ziegler and have children with this hunk so that she can PTA her way through the next decade or two. However, at thirty in spite of her former boss (she grabbed the downsizing check) thinking she is forty, Mona has not gotten to the batter's box with Adam. Knowing she needs help if she is to hit a home run and not believing her psychiatrist best friend Greta can assist her in swinging the bat, Mona concludes she needs male advice. She turns to Mike "the Dog" Dougherty, author of a guy's monthly advice column that is a chauvinists dream. However, instead of help, she finds herself within two inches of falling in love with Mike; thus Mona is more confused on getting to the plate. REINVENTING MONA is an amusing yet serious character study that digs deep and shallow into relationships due to a fabulous cast ready to advice magnificent Mona, who begins to learn that relationships start solo by being true to yourself. The story line is very entertaining while also leading the audience to think about what is happiness and how is that intricate in a strong relationship. Jennifer Coburn provides a deep humorous tale. Harriet Klausner