I wasn’t entirely convinced by Megan Crane’s debut novel, English as a Second Language, so I picked up Everyone Else’s Girl with a bit of trepidation. I needn’t have worried though, the writing was just as great as Megan’s first book, but the main character, Meredith, was nicer, the love interest hotter and ... well, I’m getting ahead of myself.
When Meredith McKay goes home to New Jersey for the hen night/bachelorette party of her brother’s fiance (and Meredith’s former best friend), Jeannie, she has no plans to stay any longer than strictly necessary. She’s got her own life in Atlanta with an apartment, job and boyfriend she loves.
But when her father has a car accident on the way back from driving Meredith’s mother to the airport for a dream trip to Europe ... and neither Meredith’s older brother nor younger sister have any intention of looking after him (or his collection of tropical fish), Meredith finds herself stuck in the life she’d tried so hard to escape.
The funny thing is, not much seems to have changed since she left. All of Meredith’s old high school embarrassments, tensions and humiliations are just waiting to catch up with her. As is Scott, formerly the butt of the McKay family’s jokes (which he knows all about, by the way), now a seriously sexy lawyer out for revenge on Meredith (sexy revenge, as Homer Simpson would say)!
But Meredith’s already got a life in Atlanta, she wouldn’t be interested in making one in New Jersey, would she?
I LOVED Everyone Else’s Girl. Meredith is sweet without being a pushover (most of the time) and I totally identified with her mixed feelings about her home town, her family, even her former friends. Every part of the book felt realistic and true to me. The supporting characters are great (particularly Meredith’s cooler sister, Hope who should get her own book) and it’s funny and painful and have I already said true? Loved it.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Like this? Try Why Moms are Weird by Pamela Ribon
Read our interview with Megan Crane