ENTERTAINMENT REALM

by Sue Margolis

Forget Me Knot is the type of book you read in one day at the pool or at the café and then forget about in a few days. Abby runs her own business Fabulous Flowers and is engaged to Toby. She’s from a working-class background and he’s very much not. In the UK, this is a huge deal. At thirty-four, Toby was a real grown-up. Abby had dated too many men who, even as they hit their mid-thirties, were still trying to work out what they wanted from life and where they were going. They were frustrated, tormented types who—often for good reason—yearned to give up jobs that gave them no satisfaction and take off round the world on a Harley. Her best friends are her school-mate Sophie and Martin, who works at her shop. Toby and Abby haven’t had sex in a while because Toby just can’t get it up. Sophie and Martin [who is gay] suspect Toby is gay but Abby just will not see it in her fiancé. In the meantime, a film decides to use Abby’s shop as a shooting location and the director, Dan is quite cute. As Toby and Abby fall apart, Dan and Abby, predictably begin a romance. Recently, I saw the fabulous documentary Paper Heart which examines love from all angles. In it, Charlyne Yi talks to romance novelist Sarah Baker who explains that the key to any good romance is HEA—happily ever after and that there must be one half of a couple who makes a sacrifice for the other. So expect that to happen in Forget Me Knot which is fairly predictable. It’s a very easy read. Everything is clearly laid out right in front of you. Margolis lays the clues out for the reader and uses simple words. She creates characters you know or quickly recognize. This book is the definition of chick lit in every sense of the word. The sex scenes are so graphic it’s a cross between a watered down Anais Nin and Penthouse Forum. There are misunderstandings over silly movie-style things: something looks one way but in actuality is another. One party seethes while the other cries or broods. The couple comes back together. Then all is well in the end. Happy. Happy. There’s no depth in Forget Me Knot. Which I suppose many people desire in a summer read. For me, it is just to light for reading fare.

Bantam Books
Trade Paperback

Grade: C+