Stupid and Contagious

I just finished reading 'Stupid and Contagious'. On a Saturday night. Okay. So I'm a 20 year old guy reading a romance novel on a Saturday night instead of drinking and partying somewhere else. Please don't make me feel any worse than I currently do.

Anyway.

So yeah. I finished the book and I had to say it was good. I was actually prepared to be disappointed. I mean, of course we already knew the lead female character is going to end up with the lead male character. But although I know how the story is going to develop, it turns out to be way better than I imagined it would be. WAYYY better.

Directly ctrl+c ctrl+v-ed from 'http://www.capricecrane.com/books':

Twenty-six-year-old Heaven Albright is a failed PR executive turned embittered waitress. Twenty-nine-year-old Brady Gilbert is a struggling independent music producer with no bands and a get-rich quick product idea: “Cinnamilk”–a delicious beverage derived from leaving cereal in the bowl too long. What do these two people have in common?

That's what Caprice Crane -- the author -- wrote, and honestly I think it's a bit too vague for a summary. So here is my version of a summary. Of course, a bit of spoiler ensues.

Heaven Albright is a 26 year old woman who just got fired and on to maintain her living, she opts to be a waitress. Brady Gilbert is a 29 year old failed music producer with no band who has a crazy ex. Like, really crazy. His ex kicks him out of his apartment and in his quest to find another place to live, he winds up to be Heaven's next-door neighbor. At first they hate each other, but as the story develops...

When I first read the novel and saw the name, I was like, "Heaven? Really? Can't you be any cheesier than this?" and then an hour later I fell for Heaven. I fell for her hard. I know she is fictional and all, and I feel really pathetic for falling for a novel character (trust me, I really do). But I did anyway. Several reasons why I like her: Heaven is funny, she is smart, she likes rock music (I'll overlook the fact that she has a dog instead of a cat), and her name is Heaven.

Ahem. Sorry for trailing off. The first one-third of the book is somewhat tedious and boring (and to some lesser extent, cheesy). So if you decide to read it, please give Caprice Crane a chance and read more than the first one-third of the book, I promise you will get hooked in no time.

The novel is written in both Heaven's and Brady's point of view. And I enjoyed it a lot. I get to know how both of them react and feel in the same situation. It's definitely what makes it different than the other romance novels.

Although I said that this is a romance novel, I think it's really more of a comedy novel than a romance novel.

“Yesterday I had a woman ask me what kind of salad dressings we have. I told her we have sesame soy dressing, spicy lime vinaigrette, and blue cheese. She made a face and asked, 'Is that all?' 'Yes,' I told her, 'those are all of our dressings.' 'Don't you have any other dressings?' she says. I mean, what the hell? What does she think? That I'm holding out? I was tempted to say, "No, we actually have an entirely different assortment of dressings that I don't tell people about the first time they ask, because they don't deserve these great secret dressings. But now that you have proven your worth, I will show you to the VIP room, where the array of salad dressings will dazzle and delight you.” - Heaven Albright as a waitress.

Or even:

“Love is pretty much a decision anyway. Just like happiness. You can decide to either love someone or not, be happy or not. The rest is just commitment to the idea.” - Heaven Albright

There are a LOT of music reference in there. Like, Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and other famous people that are not famous enough to be known by an ignorant person like me. Oh, and as a side note, I'm pretty sure the book title came from the song 'smells like teen spirit' by Nirvana. Not that anyone cares.

If you like reading and are looking for something light and have nothing against romance/comedy, this book is definitely for you.