Something Borrowed

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiance. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.

About the Author:Emily Giffin graduated from Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. She practiced law in New York City for several years before moving to London, where she began writing full time. She now lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons. Something Borrowed is her first novel.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

An unexpected love affair threatens a long-lived friendship in this soap opera-like debut from Atlanta ex-lawyer Giffin. Since elementary school, Rachel and Darcy have been best friends, with Darcy always outshining Rachel. While single Rachel is the self-confessed good girl, an attorney trapped at a suffocating New York law firm, Darcy is the complete opposite, a stereotypical outgoing publicist, planning a wedding with the handsome Dex. After Rachel's 30th birthday party, she knocks back one drink too many and winds up in bed with Dex. Instead of feeling guilty about sleeping with her best friend's fianc , Rachel realizes that Dex is the only man she's really loved, and that she's always resented manipulative Darcy. Rachel and Dex spend a few weekends in the city together "working" while Darcy's off with friends at a Hamptons beach share, but finally Rachel realizes she'll have to give Dex an ultimatum. The flip job Giffin pulls off-here it's the cheaters who're sympathetic (more or less)-gives Dex and Rachel's otherwise ordinary affair extra edge. Rachel would be a more appealing heroine if she were less whiny about her job and her romantic prospects, and rambling dialogue slows the story's pace, but this is an enjoyable beach read-one that'll make readers cast a suspicious eye on best friends and boyfriends who seem to get along just a little too well. Agent, Stephany Evans. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this debut novel-a bit of bridal lit just in time for the wedding season-good girl Rachel finally breaks the rules in a big way when she sleeps with best friend Darcy's fianc . Rachel knew Dex first (they met in law school), but she introduced him to Darcy, whose friendship has conditioned Rachel to accept being second best. Rachel and Dex's affair continues even as the wedding draws near, and it becomes clear that Dex is going to go through with the nuptials, leaving Rachel to suffer through the day as maid of honor. Things aren't all bad, though: Rachel begins to see Darcy for the superficial manipulator that she is, and when Rachel confronts Dex, she starts to realize what she's been missing by not going for what she wants in life. A surprise twist at the end seamlessly wraps up this fast-paced, enjoyable read. Recommended for most popular fiction collections.-Karen Core, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Valerie Frankel

A winner; it has rare emotional depth. — author of The Accidental Virgin

Marian Keyes

Compelling, engrossing -- I absolutely loved this book and read it in two sittings because I could not put it down. — author of Sushi for Beginners

Meg Cabot

A deftly written and convincing tale of friendship gone comically -- at at times poignantly -- awry. — author of The Princess Diaries

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez