Summary:
Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.
My take: 2 looks
Originally reviewed October 12, 2011
I know, I know. Only 2 looks? I almost put this one down, but it was so easy to read that I decided to skim through some parts and finish it. *spoiler alert*
If you can get past the fantastical meeting of these two, the “witty banter” between the Felix and Becky was cute and believable about 1/3 of the way into the book. Then it just became rote and sophomoric. Their relationship never seemed to grow or develop in the 15 or so years they were friends. They talked every day, then they didn’t talk for months. Becky felt secure in their friendship, then she suspects he’ll never call again. Mike is alive and well, gets cancer and goes into remission all in the same chapter. Does Felix love Becky platonically or romantically? Is Becky “cheating” on her husband because her best friend is a man?
It gets cumbersome, boring and completely predictable, right down to the “we love each other, but not that way” ending. At 339 pages, it’s about 100 pages too long. Maybe 150 pages. Maybe it should have been a short story…
Not recommended.
