The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

If you have not been able to tell from several other postings I am a very big fan of Jennifer Weiner's novels and short lived TV show.  I have been following Jennifer Weiner on facebook and twitter for years. Unlike some authors she responds to comments, posts and even emails personally. Despite following her for so long I am always shocked when I receive a response from her. Shortly after I shared that she had a free ebook available entitled Swim she sent me a message saying as a thank you she would like to send me an advanced reader copy to read and review. I soon received a box expecting to find a paperback book with the cover marked "advanced reader copy" like most ARC's I have received, instead I find a book so new it has a spiral spine.

Swim turned out to be a republication of a previous story from her book Guy Not Taken that led to a the full novel entitled The Next Best Thing. Once again we follow the life of Ruth Saunders as she leaves her childhood home and follows her dream to Hollywood, CA where she becomes a screen writer. After several years she has created her own show which has been picked up by network tv. We see Ruth as she begins to bring her show to life, but it does not go as she had planned.

This story was great. It was nice to see closure for the character's I fell in love with when I first read Guy Not Taken. Throughout the story I could not help but wonder how much of it is true and based on Ms. Weiner's relationship with the production studio for her show State of Georgia, which stared Raven Symone and the fantastic Loretta Devine. There are a number of scenes in the book that an outsider could see a possible relationship between the two.  I truly enjoyed this story and I hope that everyone else will too.

I would once again like to thank Jennifer Weiner and Simon & Schuster for sending me the book.  This book will be published on July 3, 2012 and is currently available for pre-order.

~I received a free ebook or book to review. ~

~I was not be compensated in any way for my honest review~