Review + Giveaway - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

TITLE:    Attachments
AUTHOR:    Rainbow Rowell
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 323 pages
PUBLISHED:   Dutton, 2011
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher and TLC Book Tours for Review

FROM GOODREADS:    Beth and Jennifer know their company monitors their office e-mail. But the women still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers at the newspaper 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.



When Lincoln applied to be an Internet security officer, he hardly imagined he'd be sifting through other people's inboxes like some sort of electronic Peeping Tom. 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 but be 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." After a series of close encounters and missed connections, Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . even if he can't see exactly where it's leading him.


Written with whip-smart precision and charm, Attachments is a strikingly clever and deeply romantic debut about falling in love with the person who makes you feel like the best version of yourself. Even if it's someone you've never met.

MY TAKE:   I am really glad to have been invited to take a part in this book tour.  I'm doubly glad that I accepted as I might have missed out on this treat of a story.  

The author did a lovely job of telling this romantic comedy-drama through the eyes of the male protagonist Lincoln.  He is a shy young man who is just drifting through life when he accepts a job as "internet security" during all of the chaos and paranoia of 1999's pre-Y2K uncertainty.  What he doesn't realize is that he is basically being paid to read other employees' e-mails.  This leads to Lincoln falling in love with an unavailable woman who he has never even seen.

I think I have a unique perspective when it comes to this story as my husband and I "met" on the internet.  We grew to know and love each other through two months of emails and another month of lengthy phone calls before finally meeting face to face.  Once that occurred, we were and have been inseparable for the last five years.  So I really do believe that true love can happen in unconventional ways.

Rainbow Rowell has created very likable and believable characters.  The use of the emails lets us get a lot of information and backstory without having it "told" to us directly.  Humor runs rampant throughout the entire book with several laugh-out-loud moments.  The sometimes snarky observations that the two women share are hilarious and I found them saying things that I sometimes think.

I think this debut offering from the obviously talented Ms. Rowell is just the beginning of an illustrious career.  If you'd like to read more, you can find her at:

Goodreads
Facebook
Website
Blog
Twitter 
  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon and The Book Depository

The publisher has graciously offered a copy of Attachments to one lucky reader here at One Book Shy.

• Must be 13 or older
• Must be US or Canadian Resident
• Leave a comment with your email address and tell me if you've ever had an unconventional romance
• Contest ends 4/14/11
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email

Good luck and as always...

 
~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.