http://grerp.blog-city.com/the_unlike... ( )

I love this book! It was borrowed and lost a long time ago, but it recently returned. It is funny and touching and just wonderful! ( )

Kate Bjorkman is a senior in high school in Minnesota with a passion for linguistics, and for her big brother's best friend, Richard. When Richard comes to stay with her family for Christmas along with the beautiful Fleur (who is just too hard to hate), problems break out in the Bjorkman household because though Kate wants Richard, as she always has, she doesn't know how to show it. She turns to her best friend, Ashley, who can get any man she wants...and she wants Richard, too.

This story is very real, full of real misunderstandings, real emotions, and a firm grasp of real teenagers in puppy love. It is written as a manuscript of a romance novel complete with chapter revision notes and ridiculous phrases borrowed from 'The Romance Writer's Phrase Book' - which are hilarious. I enjoyed the 'self-conscious author' approach, and I think the open rejection of romance novel tropes lends the story touching reality. At the same time, however, I resented romance novels being portrayed as inherently over the top and dumbed down. Anybody who has seen my library knows of my deep abiding love for romance novels, and I can't stand the reputation that they've gotten for being sex-filled pages of drivel and tripe - mostly from people who have never read a romance in their lives, or certainly haven't read one and given it a chance.

The depiction of romance novels is irksome, but the description of her family, of her feelings, and of her adolescent awkwardness are funny and touching. An excellent read, and definitely recommended for teenage girls who want to know that normal (or even geeky) girls have romances come true for them, too. ( )