Book Review and Giveaway! Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: July 8, 2014
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

When Georgie McCool tells her husband she can’t spare the time away from work to visit his family at Christmas, she never expects him to pack up the kids and go without her. Maybe she should have expected that. Maybe Neal, who’s always a little bit mad at Georgie, has finally had enough. Alone with her memories and unsure of their future, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but it might be her opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts…But what if Georgie and Neal would be better off if they never got married at all?

Oh, how I love Rainbow Rowell. I’m sure if I knew her personally, we would totally be BFFs. Landline is funny and heartwarming at the same time. I could relate to both Georgie and Neal. Georgie is an over-worked, stressed out television writer and Neal is a stay-at-home dad. The story was primarily set in the present day, showing Georgie and Neal’s strained relationship but also flashed back to the back to when they first met so the reader gets a clear idea of how they ended up in the state they’re in today. Even the secondary characters, like Seth and Georgie’s mom and sister are well drawn. And they have the most hilarious lines. I was laughing out loud several times. I love Rainbow’s sense of humor.

Georgie and Neal could have easily been caricatures. I’ve seen the working spouse vs. the stay at home spouse many times in other books and in TV and movies. But this book is a fresh and original take on that storyline. There is not much more I can say about the plot that I can say without spoiling it. There is one device that requires a heavy suspension of belief but it’s worth it and I didn’t have a problem doing that at all.

Call me Rainbow. Anytime. We can hang out.

I’m pleased to be able to givaway one copy of Landline to a lucky reader with a US mailing address. Just fill out the form below. I will take entries until 11:59pm CST on Sept 22, 2014. Good luck!

Other books I’ve reviewed by Rainbow Rowell:
Eleanor and Park

(I received my review copy of Landline courtesy of Amazon Vine and my giveaway copy from the publisher.)