Hallie has been dumped. And not just dumped. Her husband of 21 years has left her- for the younger, perkier, cellulite free Ashlee. With her husband gone and children off to college, Hallie wallows her pain away in massive amounts of Oreo’s at her empty house. But she needs to snap out of it and move on. She is a successful lawyer living in New York City with a fabulous best friend and a handful of kooky neighbors, and moving on is exactly what she is going to do. By visiting her past.
Hallie gets the idea to go looking for her ex-boyfriends; the men she didn’t marry. Maybe that can help her figure out how she chose Bill, her soon to be ex-husband who doesn’t seem to realize that you can’t just have a ‘second act’ with a younger woman when you are married. First up is Eric, a college boyfriend who has now become an extremely rich investment broker, but he seems more interested in himself, his money, and his Blackberry. Next is Barry, who Hallie met while backpacking across Europe. His experience turned out to be on the …quiet side, and a whole lot different than Hallie could have imagined. And finally, Kevin. Hallie travels to the beautiful island of Virgin Gorda to find her high school boyfriend, and thinks she may have found love again.
The Men I Didn’t Marry by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger is ferociously funny, a fabulous and witty tale that will keep your interest until the end. The main character’s motivation to keep her head up and not give up on happiness is inspiring and thought provoking for readers. And the flair of mystery- what exactly did happen to Hallie’s sister and who is the mysterious fourth ex-boyfriend- will keep you wrapped up until you can happily mark this must read novel as finished.
