A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelde

ISBN: 0-312-34872-x

359 pages

Charlize “Charlie” Edwards certainly knows, in theory, what it takes to lead a successful and happy life. She owns a nice house in Silverlake, LA.’s trendiest neighborhood. She has glamorous and loyal friends who accompany her to the hottest clubs in town. And she works as the personal assistant to Drew Stanton, Hollywood’s sexiest movie star. But she’s turning thirty, chronically single, and faced with serving as maid of honor at her younger sister’s wedding. Charlie finds herself struggling to juggle the chaos of wedding planning (while wondering if she’ll ever wear the white dress herself), her all-consuming job for lunatic boss Stanton, and a serious crush on Jordan, a photographer on the set of Drew’s latest feature- a man who might actually return her feelings. And while the drama unfolds around her, Charlie tries to hold on to her sanity by writing a book of advice to her great-grandniece-since she fears she may never have kids of her own – sharing words of wisdom she has learned over the years, and passing along lessons like “Don’t wait by the phone!”, “Never chase a man!”, and “Every action has a consequence.” But you can’t always live by the rules – and face it, some days are just a total waste of makeup…

This was a cute story. I think it would fall into the genre of “Chick Lit”, but since I don’t normally read that genre I could be wrong. I found it to be light & humorous but not so much so that it made you want to puke or throw the book away because there was nothing to it. I liked the story & the characters. I believe the next installment in the life of Charlie comes out later this year & I will be anxious to see what else happens. If this is a genre that you read frequently I would suggest this book to you. And if you have never read this genre before this is one of a few that I would recommend. Unfortunately this isn’t my number 1 recommended read for this genre, but it is still up there.

Finished March 30, 2009