Holly Bishop had grown up on fairytales, and in the small Central California town where she lived, she definitely had learned to believe in happily-ever-after.
But when her gorgeous Cinderella-type wedding to handsome Frenchman Jean-Marc comes to a shocking end shortly afterwards, she is stunned. What happened? How did the fairytale betray her?
As she starts over in San Francisco as an event planner, and finds a cute single-girl apartment in a nice neighborhood, the answers elude her, even as she struggles to understand.
She really hates even telling people about the divorce, though. I like this excerpt in her voice:
“So now I don’t say anything about the divorce to anyone, and I just smile. Even though on the insides my eyes are stinging and my jaw aches because, honest to God, I don’t want my own apartment. I had a house—a home—with Jean-Marc. I had a squashy down-filled sofa and bookcases filled with books, yellow climbing roses on the trellis, flagstone pavers from the patio to the pool, and a perfect little gated side yard with lush green grass that would have been perfect for a child’s swing set.”
Before long, however, there is the push from others for her to start dating. Being set up on horrific dates with men who are boorish, self-centered, and just plain unappealing were situations that made me smile.
Her boss Olivia is a nightmare. Sometimes the critical tone she always seems to take is like that voice in your head when you don’t feel you are good enough. Will Holly be able to tune her out, and find her own thoughts?
When does starting over begin to feel like a new beginning? Was it the friendship with a really nice couple of work colleagues? Or the connection she feels with Brian, the newspaper journalist? Or perhaps it is the new voice clamoring to be heard. The one that reminds her that she deserves to be happy. What happens to finally turn things around for Holly? And how will she uncover the deceptive sabotage of someone out to derail her life?
Great and realistic characters grabbed my interest in The Frog Prince, and even the snarky ones, like Olivia, or Tessa, who felt as though they were real people, made me keep reading. This was a book that resonated with me for several reasons, including the familiarity of the settings, places I have lived in my life. 4.5 stars.
CURL UP AND READ 
Oh this sounds good! I love the sound of the characters – especially Holly. It sounds cute and fun without being fluffy. Adding to the TBR!
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I was really interested in the settings for the book…right in my neck of the woods; the MC came from here…and I also lived in SF for a while, a long time ago.
I see from Jane Porter’s bio that she grew up in California’s Central Valley, where I now live.
Thanks for stopping by, Katherine.
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First, I love snark and the realistic characters and premise have me adding this to my list 🙂
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I enjoyed it a lot, Kimberly, and I always love a book with characters that draw me in from the very first page.
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I’ve enjoyed a few of her books so I’ll put this one on my TBR list. Thanks for telling us about it!
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Thanks for stopping by, Mary, it was a nice book to lighten up my mood a bit, but there was still just enough conflict, etc., to keep me interested.
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Love Jane Porter’s books and this one is on my radar but it got ever so closer now after reading your post!
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Thanks! And I love her books, too, Kathryn, and I don’t know why it took me so long to read this one (since May 2015). Maybe I thought it would be too silly, with that title…LOL. I was pleasantly surprised. This book, more than her others, reminds me of how she grew up in the Central Valley of California…so her settings resonated with me, as I am also a homegrown Central California girl. Although I spent time in Northern California when I was young…and really love it there.
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I like snarky, realistic characters, and the premise sounds excellent too. Great review!
Majanka @ I Heart Reading
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Me, too, Majanka, and this one was a fun story. Thanks for stopping by.
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When I first read the title, it conjured up a fairy tale romance for me, but reading your review, I’m was surprised to see it a realistic story instead!
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So true, Sydney…I think I postponed my read of this one due to the “fairytale” angle, but I love how the author played with those fantasies little girls sometimes have…some of which last into adulthood. And she shows us what can turn the fairytales into a nightmare. But then she gives the characters an opportunity to make their own dreams come true.
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