"The Botox Diaries" by Kaplan and Schurnburger

Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schurnbuger were the writers of "Mine are Spectacular", one of the first chick lit books I had read, and still perhaps the greatest title of all time. This is my third attempt to read it, and it took a long time to get through. No pizazz. But this was their first attempt at writing together and it shows, when compared with "Spectacular."

I had no real idea where this book was heading until the last 70 pages, and that isn't such a good thing. Jess and Lucy are BFF who are in their 40's. Lucy is married to Dan but having an affair with TV star Hunter. Jess is a full-time Mom with a part-time job that gets her involved in putting on a fundraising play. She reconnects with her first husband Jacques, "dates" a gay guy named Boulder for a reality show and falls in love (last page) with a debonair executive who she meets in a cute way.

In all, the book is about family, how some come in and out of our lives, and we makes mistakes and either recover or move on, and how romance happens in unexpected ways with people we have known all along or someone new.

Not much soul until the end. Page 271 Lucy realizes it is time to grow up. She trades in her Prosche for a Volvo. "Wrong image. Traded it in...The Volvo is so much more family, don't you think? i thought this would make a statement to Dan."

Jess is in-like and looking good. Lucy tries to figure out why Jess is looking so good, then realizes (page 294) "Nope, it's your new Mr. Wonderful. Goddammit, we'll never be able to replace men. One good kiss from the right guy still makes you more radiant than a year of dermabrasion."

On the same page, the kids, from all walks of walk (millionaires to ghetto) are in the dressing room for the pep talk before the curtain opens. "The children have their arms around each other, no longer divided by what school they went to or whether they came from up- or downtown. They're one cast, one big group of friends. And suddenly I realize however the show goes, it's already been a success."