Last Chance Saloon
Desperately single thirtysomething men and women populate Keyes's breezy  novel. Childhood friends Tara, Katherine, and Fintan muddle along, dealing with  the indignities and inconveniences we all face--and then some. Tara's perfectly  horrible, freeloading boyfriend Thomas watches her diet like a hawk and remarks  cruelly on the size of her posterior, comparing her unfavorably to younger,  thinner women. Katherine is a professional success, but her personal life is  nonexistent. Every one of her prior relationships--six in all--has ended  disastrously, with Katherine getting dumped. Each time, she retreats further and  further into her shell, until her most intimate relationship is with her remote  control. Fashion industry insider Fintan has found true love with his Italian  boyfriend, Sandro, but a health crisis threatens their happiness. Tara,  Katherine, and Fintan, as well as their quirky cast of friends (people with  names like Lorcan and Mandii), live, love, and learn the hard way, the only way  they can. Not quite as obsessive as Bridget Jones and that damn diary of hers,  Keyes manages to convey a painfully accurate portrayal of what it means to be  single today, tempered by a few of life's less humiliating and more important  lessons, like the value of true friendship. Funny and irreverent, Keyes'sLast Chance Saloonis a terrific vacation read.--Alison Trinkle--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.