Chat Love - Justine Faeth

Date of Reading: 08/07/2013

Author: Justine Faeth

Publisher: The Small Press

Place: Texas

Year: 2012

From: The author in return of an honest review

      

           A 'Beauty and the Beast' fairy tale or in modern terms a Rhett Butler - Scarlett story is, what can I say, always enchanting. And so does Faeth's 'Chat Love'. From beginning to end we are glued to the pages (or to the laptop screen, as in my case), and the figure of Lucia gets entangled with our own lives. One that is always seen but never much noticed.

The intimate narrative style of Faeth often reminds me of Kinsella, but she lacks in the act of perfect plot making. Searching for the Mr. Right everywhere and at last finding him in the Byronic colleague, is a common but fascinating theme. The tiny glitch was that from the moment Jackson is introduced, we get the flow of the story and there is no surprise. Even the episode of Jack in the chat love website is too easy to guess and there is nothing original. Whether the title is suitable for the novel is debatable, but most of the chat love dates felt like a digression from the main plot (without contributing anything) rather than an entertainment.
           Even within these limitations, Faeth has produced an outstanding work of chick lit. I did have a good time with the kindle edition.
          Lucia Fabbo is a 28 year old Italian beauty who hasn't found her Mr. Right yet. Her dates are collapsing one after the other while her friends walk towards the altar or enjoy seducing the opposite sex. Her younger sister is pregnant and the pressure is mounting up.
         As the last attempt she turns to chat love, a site where people who look for serious relationships talk and arrange dates. She had a crush towards her British colleague Jackson, but as he is not a faithful husband material the case cannot be prolonged. That won't retract Jackson though. Gradually they come to know of each others stories, but a relationship is still at bay.
          Lucia continues with the chat love dating and the novel continues with the humorous situations she encounters. She gets a friend to share her thoughts too -- a mystery man named Jack. They get fond of each other and he is turned out to be none other than Jackson who is also surprised by these turn of events. 

Justin Faeth

           But Lucia is afraid of another heartbreak (which happened with her former relationships) and it takes her sometime to realise the love towards another who too had suffered like her once. The lovers are united and the story ends with the amazing proposal of Jackson.