Thursday, April 7, 2011

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...

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~~~~~ 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.

23 comments:

  1. I really don't think that I have!


    Stephanie- thegirlonfire
    thegirlonfire27 t gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, when I was active duty Air Force I had to transfer to England for a three-year tour and leave my fiance (then) behind. He actually separated from the Air Force so we could be together, but it took a year. This was before computers and cell phones and included long, expensive overseas calls :) *Thanks* for the giveaway!
    theluckyladybug[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a new follower. I haven't had any unconventional romances but I would love to be entered in the giveaway!

    Jen
    Lratrandom@gmail.com
    Http://lratrandom.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know how "unconventional" it was, but I married my ex husband in a vegas wedding chapel,and we spent the majority of our marriage a part due to the military, is kind of unconventional??

    kimbers10[at]yahoo[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I saw your spotlight on Misha's site and wanted to stop by and say hello. Nice to meet you, I've enjoyed my visit.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds like such a fun read. Please enter me.

    As far as unconventional romance, I'm originally from India and, in our culture, arranged marriages are still common. So my uncle placed an ad in the Indian newspaper. Hubby answered the ad. He, along with some of his family, came to visit. I was engaged to my hubby after spending only about 4-5 hours together(only about 1 hour alone).

    My family and I returned to the USA and hubby and I spoke on the phone and corresponded thru snail mail. We were married 6 months after meeting and it will be 15 years this year.

    monagarg@yahoo.com

    I then

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't think any of my romances could be considered really "unconventional" Can I still be entered?

    Thanks!
    swaggirl01 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. GFC follower
    Nope, to be honest I haven't been in any relationships at all!

    girl23rocks at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the review, Jules!

    ReplyDelete
  10. GFC Follower

    I dated someone I met online, that's kind of unconventional

    snifflykitty@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love books written in email format. As for the unconventional dating, I've dated men I met from an online dating website. For me it was unconventional then as I was originally reluctant to try it. Now I no longer think so.

    Thanks for the giveaway!
    mybookandcouch@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. It sounds like an interesting story and I've never had an unconventional romance.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, I have. I thought I had met my future husband by accident. I was taken a guozheng lesson and my teacher made it longer than longer. He asked my now husband to come a little earlier than usual. He asked us both to have some tea. We figured it out at tea but before that we didn't know that our music teacher was matchmaking!

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes, I am American and dated a boy from Pakistan so that was one unconventional relationship, not a good one.

    And I married a Jewish man and I'm Presbyterian. Guess I have a things for different.

    Heather
    hrose2931 (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  15. This sounds like a charming story.

    My nephew and his wife met on the internet and have been married for about 20 years now.

    My husband and I were in chemistry class together in high school, but never dated or saw each other much. He moved away after our junior year and we kept in touch with a few letters every year through college. After college, I went overseas with the Peace Corps and he joined the Air Force. After 2 1/2 years, I came home for a Christmas and stopped to visit my cousin and her husband at a base in California. My future DH was at the same base for training. He came to my cousin's for dinner, he took us all out to dinner, and I left.

    This was the first time we had seen each other in 7 years.

    He was transfered to Maine and just happened to stop by my parent's in northern NY state on his way there. We visited for a day, he went to his new base and I went back to my assignment. Five months later he shows up at my assignment and proposed. We had never even dated. When I got back home 3 months later, we would see each other about every 3 weeks (it was a 10 to 12 hour drive). I finally gave him an answer and we have been happily married for 39 years.

    librarypat AT comcast DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  16. I don't have any good stories of unconventional romance! Just boring regular romance :-) That's so interesting that you met your hub online! I'm glad you enjoyed Attachments. Thank you so much for being on the tour and sharing it with your readers!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Now that I think about, it's all pretty conventional for me ---
    patricia dot mariani dot esq at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  18. i dont think that i have had a conventional romance

    katie_tp(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yep. Not only was I in a secret 2 year relationship with a guy that I worked with, but he was 18 years my senior. So, I guess that's pretty unconventional!

    nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Me and my high school boyfriend went to different colleges - 14 hours apart. We made it work and I used to drive cross country to see him! Pretty unconventional!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    TaraTagli at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I guess you could say that I've had an unconventional romance. I was working in a state employment office, and one day I was looking through the card files. I picked one out and read it, then said he would be perfect for me. When he came into the office I got him a job, and flirted with him. He ask me out on a date, and a week later we got married. Been married now for 35 years. How is that for unconventional. Please enter me. Thanks!

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  22. I haven't had an unconventional romance, but I love reading about them! The books sounds great!

    danceislove27(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yes, I've had! Though I would not share the details just yet, lol! This book sounds interesting! I'd love to enter the giveaway!

    ReadingOnARainyDay at GMAIL dot COM

    ReplyDelete

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