Choose the best phrase to describe Sibby Goldstein’s life:1) Sucky.2) Really sucky.3) Major suck-fest.D) All of the above.I started my day with a boyfriend and a job. I ended my day with a bottle of tequila. I’ll let you connect the dots.Somehow, I wound up working as a waitress at an Italian restaurant. I have no idea what I’m doing. And I’m not just talkin’ about life.This should be interesting.
I quickly read all of the books, and I really want to read Emmeline’s story.(hopefully soon).
I can’t Stop Laughing
This book is hilarious! I laughed so hard my tummy hurt. This is the best romantic comedy I have read.
Sibby was such a good character. Her antics as an office girl turned waitress in an Italian restaurant keep the laughs coming and the pages turning.
The ending was good, I loved it.
This story is Sibby and Aiden. Crazy laugh out loud funny with some drama thrown in.
There are some things to enjoy here, but there’s also some stuff you have to be willing to overlook. I’ll start with the positives:
1. The banter between Sibby and her friends/co-workers and the hero, Aiden, is witty as hell. If you enjoy good banter (and I do), you’ll like the dialogue in this one.
2. Aiden is a damn-near-perfect book boyfriend. He’s hot and patient and not an alphahole, and he’s also smart and funny, so bonus!
3. If you set the romance aside, the parts of the book where Sibby is at work in the restaurant are pretty funny. It gives you a picture of the food service industry that’ll make you laugh and cringe all at the same time.
Now, for the not-so-glowy bits:
1. The word “hipster” is tragically abused. I’m pretty sure the word appears thousands of times throughout the book. We get it—Sibby is a cute little hipster who wears hipster clothes and hipster glasses. Enough, already!
2. There’s no sex. Well, there IS sex, but it’s not on the page. There’s not even fade-to-black sex. It’s more like, “he came over to my house”, followed immediately by, “the next morning, we got dressed.” It’s all left up to your imagination. I don’t really mind a clean read, but this book came up as a sponsored ad on Amazon along with a bunch of regular contemporary romances like those by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward and Melanie Harlow. That means that the author (or her publisher) specifically targeted those authors’ readers with her ad. And if you read Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward and Melanie Harlow (and I do), then you’re used to some steamy, right-there-on-the-page sex scenes. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver, authors and publishers. That’s my motto.
3. I think the old “oh, isn’t it adorable that she can’t walk through a room without falling or spilling something” thing is really overdone in romance novels. It’s not cute when someone is as tragically uncoordinated as Sibby is. I almost feel like she should be checked out for balance issues and inner ear problems.
4. And just like I’m tired of completely klutzy heroines in romances, I’m getting sick of the “I found my boyfriend in bed with a man on the same day I lost my job” heroine. The amount of times this has happened in romance novels would lead people to believe that there is a statistically significant number of people this happens to on a daily basis. In reality, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s kinda rare.
5. Sibby and her friends/co-workers are VERY immature. They’re 27 year-olds (and older) who act (and drink) like 19 year-olds. I kind of wanted to shake them and tell them to grow the hell up. Then I wanted to yell at them to get off my lawn.
6. Everyone in the book thinks Sibby is just so adorable and so hilarious. I just didn’t get it. I found her to be a little whiny and annoying, frankly. She was kind of a jackass to Aiden on several occasions, too. I think Aiden could’ve done better. I would’ve liked to set him up with a heroine from another book because I think he deserved it.
So, long-story-short, this book wasn’t without charm. It just wasn’t my cuppa. And it was certainly not the kind of read that should be targeted to fans of Vi Keeland, Melanie Harlow and Penelope Ward. No, siree. But if you liked the classic chick lit formula that was all the rage about a decade ago (or if you’re a food service worker), you’d probably enjoy this one.
And don’t forget to check out the Romance Rehab blog for more rants, raves, book lists and other fun romance-y stuff: http://www.romancerehab.com/
Queen of Klutz by Samantha Garman is Book One of a “Sibby Series.” Not a novel to provoke deep and serious thought, it is a pleasant, humorous, witty look at one woman’s attempt to make lemonade with the abundance of lemons showering her life. The “Klutz” of the title refers to the idea that if anything can go wrong in one person’s life, it will go wrong for Sibby. From what looks happenstance and accidental such as dropping a pen only to trip and fall a few minutes later in a public display of embarrassment, to the more awkward meeting Sibby had with her boyfriend when she stumbled upon him in bed with another man, everything that can possibly go wrong happens to Sibby.
Sibby is not a lazy person. She worked hard to get a useless degree in theater that qualified her to land a job editing textbooks. She didn’t like her job, but it produced the necessary income to pay the rent on her rent-controlled New York apartment with enough left over to buy the necessities of life, food and alcohol. Along with friend Annie, a former university classmate, Sibby spends a lot of her mental energy seeking ways not to have a boring, sedentary life, the kind of life exemplified by her parents. In one day, her life changed dramatically when she was fired from her job, Sibby claimed it was just a “lay off,” and she returned home unexpectedly early to find her fiancé in bed with his good friend. With no job, no boyfriend, and no prospects for a worthwhile life, it was time to call Annie for a deep consultation fueled by Tequila shots about what comes next.
Luckily Sibby caught Annie at a time when Annie was not engaged with one of her lovers du jour. During a lengthy session in a bar while the two approached alcoholic oblivion, a helpful and impossibly hot fellow patron, Aidan, volunteered to teach Sibby some of the finer techniques involved in playing pool. When friend Annie became seriously engaged in a make-out session with Aidan’s friend Caleb, Aidan courteously offered to take Sibby home. Out of consideration for Sibby’s welfare, Aidan offered to stay over at Sibby’s place. Everything was platonic, of course.
Avoiding the need to earn income could only go on so long, a couple of days, and Sibby quickly acknowledged that she was qualified to do nothing. When Annie mentioned that she knew of an opening at an Italian restaurant for a waiter, Sibby agreed to give it a try. Her experience during university serving barbeque at a fast food place might not have qualified her for the job, but if she could get through the training program, she would be financially self-sufficient. The setting for the novel has been set. Sibby will have many adventures as she becomes more involved with her new job in the customer service industry. The restaurant setting provides a character study as Sibby interacts with workers and customers of various backgrounds.
Jesse is the no-nonsense manager of Antonio’s, a restaurant where logic has no place in operations. Zeb is her immediate floor manager, openly and proudly gay, but not a rival for Sibby’s immediate interest, Aidan. A professional student, Zeb will guide Sibby through the byzantine labyrinth of relationship building necessary to survive in the high-pressure environment of an upper-class posh restaurant. In a remarkable instance of serendipity, Aidan shows up as the assistant manager of the restaurant, second only to Jesse. Sibby must learn new skills in managing customers during rush hours as well as restaurant operations. She must also earn acceptance from fellow employees. Memorizing details of the three hundred items on the menu will occupy much of her time. Julian is the head chef with a terrible temper, one demonstrated by the hurling of cutlery items. Katerina is a fellow waiter who might be an undocumented Russia and might be friendly after three months. Katerina’s policy is not to speak to a new employee for the first three months of their employment. Natalie is half Asian and is very interested in Aidan but Sibby is not jealous. Her relationship with Aidan is strictly platonic.
During her off time, Sibby meets frequently with Annie and the two contemplate their evolving lifestyles. Annie, who never meets any of her lovers a second time, has possibly fallen for Caleb, Aidan’s close friend. Matt, the former fiancé of Sibby, has become her stalker, the reason for this is not clear. Sibby deals with very demanding and frequently weird customer requests as a parade of people attempt to define their identity by establishing their superiority to her.
This is an amusing take on life in customer service. Readers might be amazed that the personality types Sibby encounters as customers exist. Or readers might be one of those types. As an amusing light read, I rated this at four Amazon stars for the amusing notes on Italian food and wine at the beginning of each chapter. Priced at USD 3.99, it is available as a free read with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
4 stars for Queen of Klutz by Samantha Garman
Let me start by saying I LOVE SIBBY . She is hilarious , and even though she has this self deprecating way about her, it is still in a fun way . I love that she does not take herself seriously . She is truly a great character . Aiden is great, who wouldn’t want to be with a man like him .
Sibby’s life is on a downward spiral . She loses her job, her boyfriend of two years and some might say her dignity all in a few hours. Tequila always equals bad choice but in this instance she meets Aiden on the day her life is plummeting. Sibby takes everything in stride and decides it was time for a change anyway . She is on a journey to decide what she really wants to do with her life . This brings her to working in a restaurant , which is really the beginning of everything for her .
God I love this book . I can not wait to continue the series . I love Sibby and Aiden .
The comical story of a girl whose life has just been turned upside down. She makes being a hot mess hilarious.
When you left in the morning, your life was perfectly boring. You had a job, a live in boyfriend and you were okay with your life. Sometimes it takes a total shake up to get you where you were meant to be.
Sibby is super witty and a total klutz. Everyday activities for Sibby bring everyone else comic relief. She’s trying to find her way. No more boring office job and she’s secretly dating her hot boss. Life is looking up for Sibby.
This is Sibby’s story of finding happiness and love and overcoming her baggage. A light hearted read that will make you laugh and smile the entire time.