Kate Saunders, Bachelor Boys

Cassie Shaw grew up next door to the Darling family, who gave her the warmth and affection that her own family lacked. She would do anything for the Darlings, especially for Phoebe, whom Cassie has loved as a mother all her life. Now Phoebe is dying of leukemia, and she’s worried about her two sons, Fritz and Ben. She asks Cassie to find suitable wives for her boys so that they’ll have someone to take care of them when Phoebe is gone. Cassie has no choice but to agree with Phoebe’s plan, but secretly she has reservations. Fritz and Ben are both incredibly handsome and charming, but they’re also unemployed and living in their mother’s basement. How can she turn these unkempt bachelors into marriage material — especially when all her efforts at matchmaking seem to go catastrophically wrong?

I don’t have too much to say about this book. It’s fairly typical chick lit, and I found it a quick and entertaining read. Cassie is a likable narrator and comes across as very self-aware — though that doesn’t prevent her from making some absolutely terrible decisions. I’m not sure how I feel about Fritz and Ben, honestly. The book attempts to redeem them, but they are consistently portrayed as immature and careless in their everyday lives. The bright spot of the book is Phoebe, and the other characters are at their best in their relationships with her. Of course, her sweetness and charm make her inevitable death all the more heartbreaking, and I actually teared up in a few places. So I can’t exactly characterize this book as a “light” read, but I did enjoy it. I didn’t completely buy into the romance, but the book is entertaining enough for an afternoon or two.