I tried to avoid Mimi. Her presence seemed to call forth every rejection I'd ever experienced-the teachers who'd looked at me as though I held no promise, the boys who didn't like me back. Around her, I became fourteen again.
Melissa BankHe gives me a kiss that barely touches my lips โ it means nothing or everything. After heโs gone, I think, Happy birthday to me. Jack says, โThat was the guy?โ โThat was him.โ Jake shakes his head. โWhat?โ โHeโs not for you,โ he says. I say, โHow do you know?โ but what I mean is, How do you know? โHeโs like Ashley Wilkes,โ he says. โAny one of these guys is Rhett-ier than he is.โ Again, I ask my benignly inflected, โHow do you know?โ โHow do I know?โ he says, tackling me into a bear hug. โHow do I know? I know, thatโs how I know.
Melissa BankThe writing is clean. I really wouldn't have changed a word. Most of it is true, too, except that the hero quits drinking and the girl grows up. On the last page, the couple gets married, which is a nice way for a love story to end.
Melissa BankI live by Edith Whartons rule to get rid of anything neither useful nor beautiful. So I put the TV out on the street.
Melissa Bank