REVIEW: You Drive Me Crazy by Carole Matthews

Title: You Drive Me Crazy
Author: Carole Matthews
Publisher: Headline Review
Publication Date: February, 2006
Paperback: 438 pages
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating: 8/10

Description: Falling in love can be a bumpy ride...

The last place Anna Terry expects to fall in love is in the waiting room of her divorce lawyer's office. But that's where she meets Nick Diamond and Cupid's arrow strikes...

Anna's had more than her fair share of heartache. Her first marriage ended before her pregnancy was over, and her second husband has disappeared, leaving her with two children and not a penny to her name. Nick's luck hasn't been any better: his wife has run off with the local butcher and his second-hand car dealership is in chaos.

When Anna gets a job as Nick's secretary, what starts as a mild flirtation soon accelerates into overdrive --- but that's before their ex-partners show up and they're all in for a bumpy ride.

My Thoughts: I know it sounds crazy but meeting the love of your life in the waiting room of your divorce attorney’s office is probably the last place on earth anyone would expect to find their soul mate. Anna is experienced in the divorce game and with two children and now a second divorce looming, she is facing her fear of the unknown. As a way to pass the time, she strikes up a conversation with a man in the waiting room of her divorce attorney’s office. She paints herself as a childless young woman divorcing her mega rich husband rather than reveal the truth about herself: she’s desperate, broke, has no marketable skills and needs a job desperately.

Anna gets a job as Nick’s secretary (though he makes the tea better than she does) and it seems as their relationship has a lot of potential for something meaningful when their respective exes reappear.

I loved Anna and Nick’s vulnerability. Even though both have been exceedingly unlucky in love, neither one is bitter or hateful. They are both looking for a happily ever after and haven’t shut themselves off to it happening. The author does an excellent job of showing the reader both Anna and Nick’s point of view of what each is going through.

I especially loved seeing that Anna’s role as a mother isn’t something she can hide that it’s a part of her soul. She unwittingly exposes this side of herself in a hilarious meat cutting scene that made me laugh so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

I liked the supporting characters, Anna’s children, Poppy and Connor, her best friend, Sophie, Nick’s best mate, Sam. Nick’s parents were very entertaining as well. For obvious reasons, I did not care for the ex-spouses at all and was frustrated when their reappearance complicated Nick and Anna’s relationship, though I had to respect Nick and Anna for wanting to do the right thing.
Overall, this was a very entertaining story that I highly recommend if you are looking for a feel good story with characters who aren’t perfect in looks or who are mega rich, but are human with all of the defects that brings.