Book review: The Penny Pincher’s Club

“Living in suburban New Jersey, Kat has a pretty serious retail habit. Now it looks like her husband Griff is having an affair…and setting up a secret bank account in preparation for a divorce. Suspecting her spending habits may be driving him away, Kat’s determined to save her marriage by saving some money. But when her rich ex-fiancé turns up with a tempting bargain, she’ll have to decide whether love conquers mall…” –Amazon

Overall: A good book with a good plot and believable incidents. I like how Kat kept confronting her husband about her concerns regarding his possible affair and didn’t wait till the end to do so, like most traditional stories. Despite these confrontations, the story didn’t end or become less interesting. The author works in backstory appropriately and cleverly introducing her past flame and demonstrating how he comes to be a part of her life again. The husband comes across as a bit self-involved and egoistic to me, but this character flaw is never openly addressed or pointed out to him, which kind of irked me. The entire book is about his aspiration and his career and what he wants to achieve, leaving little to no focus on Kat or her aspirations. I felt that Kat should have made this argument somewhere in the story. Also, the story of Wade, the millionaire, seemed a bit farfetched to me and I still didn’t find a good justification for him using his girlfriend Libby to pay the bills.

Pros: This book starts at a middle point and then flashes back into the past, before bringing the reader to the present again. The author used this technique well and effectively. The first fifteen chapter or so passed fairly quick. The story progresses well and keeps the reader busy.

Cons: The first page of this book was a bit confusing and didn’t quite click. I had to read through it a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. There’s a character that’s referenced at the onset who’s later never introduced or again mentioned, yet the way the author talks about this character has the reader thinking that they will pop up in a later scene. At the end of the book, I found myself trying to tie the ending with the beginning and that was just one of the things that didn’t match up. There’s also a reference to a Project Graduation yard sale that’s never again mentioned. Also, after the first page, I assumed this would be a light, fun read, but that wasn’t the case. It was light at some points but not the laugh-out-loud light. The fact that Kat’s daughter is sexually active is posed as a concern, yet again, no mention or discussion of this with her daughter. The last few chapters of the book passed agonizingly slow, but that might have been because I was sleepy and ready for bed. I skimmed over most of the pages to get to the meat of what finally happens with Kat and her husband. The ending is cute and sweet but nothing impressive.

Verdict: 3/5 stars. A good airport read. If you’re looking for something that’ll make you chuckle hard, pass.