Attachments - Rainbow Rowell

Summary: Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder, coworkers at The Courier, know the newspaper monitors their office e-mail.  But they still spend all day sending each other messages gossiping about their coworkers, and baring their personal lives like an open book. Jennifer tells Beth everything she can't seem to tell her husband about her anxieties over starting a family. And Beth tells Jennifer everything, period.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill still can't believe that it's his job to monitor other people's e-mail. When he applied as an internet security officer, he pictured himself protecting the newspaper from dangerous hackers -- not sending out memos every time somebody in Accounting forwarded an off-color joke to the person in the next cubicle.

Lincoln is supposed to turn people in for misusing company e-mail, but he can't quite bring himself to crack down on Beth and Jennifer.  He can't help being entertained -- and captivated by their stories.  But by the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late for him to ever introduce himself.  What would he say to her?  "Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you"?

With snapping dialogue and irresistible charm, Rainbow Rowell transforms an ordinary IT guy into a lovable and endearing romantic hero and proves that falling in love never happens the way you plan it.  Written with whip-smart precision and charm, Attachments is a fresh and energetic debut that marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.  (Summary from book flap - Image from amazon.com)

My Review:  This summer there was this lovely little trend on Facebook where people were sharing the top seven books that they love with little to no explanation (it speaks volumes that this trend was one of the highlights of my summer).  Attachments was one of the books that a friend of mine shared sans explanation, but the comments were so glowing so I gave it a go.  For a month or more.  It was sad.  I desperately wanted to read, but was just ridiculously busy and/or tired that I couldn't seem to find the time to sit and read for longer than five minutes at a time (having the kids home all. day. long. will do that to you). Reading in teeny bites like that had the unfortunate side effect of making the intentionally drawn-out parts of the story feel like they were taking eons and I never really fully connected with the characters.  Oh, I liked them all right, but just couldn't really "dig in". And you know what? I don't blame the author at all.  It was all my fault.

I wanted to give this book a fair shake so that I could give it a thorough and meaningful review, but life (including my four adorable hellions) conspired against me.  The only reason I'm even posting this review is because I suspect that I'm not the only person in the universe who has this particular problem (life getting in the way of reading).  The most I can say is that I loved the premise and felt it was well-executed, if a bit drawn out.  The resolution was sweet and romantic, but felt sudden and I would have liked to see things play out a little differently (how vague is that?). Ultimately, Attachments was a fun one-time read, but it wasn't particularly memorable.  Take this review for what you will.  I won't be offended. Hit and miss readers might feel as I do, but if you've got more time to dedicate to the story, you might love it!

For the sensitive reader: Some swearing.  Especially one specific character.  #pottymouth

My Rating:  3.5 Stars