It was cute and a nice way to spend a few relaxing hours. There was a lot of humor in the book and I enjoy that. ( )

This specific book here is both the second book I read by Robin Alexander, back in February 27 2014, and the second book I’ve successfully reread by Alexander.

When I started the book, I was somewhat uncertain what kind of reaction I might have, what I might find – for, you see, while Robin Alexander has become one of the top lesbian fiction authors I read (somewhere, without thinking too hard about it, within the top three), Alexander was also the author I read three books by in 2014, then didn’t read another until 2016. It’s also one of the four Alexander books I’ve read and not yet written a review for, but that’s neither here nor there. Let’s move on.

At the beginning, not sure how far along I’d put the change point, but at the beginning I was confused by my original 2014 rating of 3.5 stars. Because this was one damn funny book. And then . . . I recalled why I had rated the book ‘so low’, well low for an Alexander book. This is a one person point of view book – and it somewhat suffers because of that issue. For, unfortunately, the main character really started to annoy me.

Before I mention the main character, I feel the need to reference my most recent prior Alexander review – all about humor and stuff like humor. A lot of the humor in this book really seemed like it was/would be better with these specific characters (like, say, that vibrating strap-on on-going scene); while others were . . . kind of meh – possibly because of the characters involved. Which, in its way, added a layer of knowledge and appreciation to the humor and characters in the other books – for, I realized, some of the humor was meh because I didn’t really care that much about the characters by the time the event took place (thinking here, as an example, the time a goose attacked Shannon – it’s vaguely humorous moment, but more of a weak smile; oddly enough the prior book I read by Alexander, the prior reread, had a swan attack the main character – and there I found the entire scene much more satisfying – to a large extent because I much more preferred spending time with the characters in ‘Next Time’. Right, let’s move on again.

Shannon Brycen, like Ryann from ‘Next Time’, has an important to the story straight sister (here Kalen, there Shelly). Their family dynamic is otherwise quite different, and I only mentioned because both books had that situation of a straight sister being something of a best friend to one of the main lesbian leads. Right, so, Kalen is described as being quite charming and extroverted – quite capable of being a people person. She’s older than Shannon and married to a man called Todd. I mention all of that to then say that Shannon is basically the opposite (though her looks are supposedly similar) – she’s a lesbian, introverted (a shy introvert), and very much a back-office non-people pleasing, non-charming woman with no real skills at picking up women (all of this is learned by the reader very quickly at a meal shared between Shannon and Kalen at the start of the book; for someone quite bad at picking up women, Shannon sure did end up in a lot more situations with woman than that would imply – see above where I made mention of a humor gag that involved a vibrating strap-on, I won’t elaborate more on that specific scene). And by back-office, I mean that Shannon is the hair salon business accountant (they have four . . . um . . whatever you call an outlet in the hair business).

In an attempt to change her position in life, Shannon does two things: 1) create a profile on a dating website (which meets stiff opposition and outright derision from Kalen); 2) attempt to become fitter, or at least have a make-over. The dating profile lead to several run ins with various lesbians, some online, some in person; while the make-over lead to getting a hair-cut at a rival hair salon and finding someone there to hire for her own hair place. Which is important to note because the gay man who cut her hair, it’s important to note he is gay, becomes a strong side character in this story.

Right, so, that’s the story – a thirty-something woman living in New Orleans who’d prefer to spend all her time in her apartment, is forced to get out and attempt to upgrade her life (part of the ‘forced to get out’ is the part where the sister and brother-in-law go on vacation, and Shannon will be forced to step in, if called upon, as the boss – in person). Some humor is had along the way.

There are, as would be expected, several other characters of importance – there’d have to be, no?, since I haven’t even mentioned a potential love interest yet. Right, so – sister Kalen, several potential dates, gay hairdresser (I’d use his name, but I forget it, Marion or something like that, Marvin?) and the combo of new next door neighbor Hailey and her dog Fuzzy. There are some great scenes involving Fuzzy. And Hailey’s the love interest who is seen almost exclusively through the eyes of Shannon.

There is a lot of miscommunication, disinformation, and outright lying in this story that adds obstacles to love (and detract from my ability to enjoy this book). There is also graphic sex, humor, and . . . um . . . other stuff.

I’m not really sure how or why, but the characters in this book just seem to be of a lesser quality than others created by Alexander. And by ‘lesser quality’, I’m specifically referring to their creation, there ‘there-ness’. The connection between the reader and them. I might be talking gibberish so I’ll, once again, move on.

Rating: 4.12

December 19 2017 ( )

I just reread this yesterday and loved it even more the second time.

Adorable, sweet, funny and very well-written, Pitifully Ugly captures amazingly well all the insecurities, fears and frazzled nerves that come with trying to connect with someone you really like.

I can't say enough good things about Robin Alexander's books. They're consistently pleasing and get what so much of lesfic does not: that true love, the kind that both pulls you in and lasts, is based on friendship first, romance second and physical intimacy last.

Some of my favorite passages that I highlighted in my Kindle*:

"I fought the urge to cry when I realized I didn’t even want to date me."

"You always hear of people having epiphanies. One morning they wake up and have a moment of clarity. I thought I was having one of my own. I’d been so focused on having someone to share my life, that it made me kind of pathetic. “Love me, love me, please pick me and complete my life.” I suddenly had a mental image of myself as a pooch in the pound barking and pawing at my cage door as prospective owners came looking."

"There’s no pretense, no smooth-sounding lines, just a woman honestly offering her heart and hoping that it will be taken by someone who’ll cherish it.”


*If you have a Kindle, you can go to kindle.amazon.com to keep track of all books and passages you have highlighted. Another neat feature I like (that remains anonymous, obviously) is that you can see what other people have highlighted on both the website and in your Kindle (if you have that feature turned on.) ( )

Robin's fun new book 'The Summer of Discontent' led me to this one. If 'Summer' was fun in a farcical way, this is ROFL-funny.

I love Shannon, her vibrating legs, and her hilarious internal running monologue (with disparate voices for her brain and her body(!)) She's shy, introverted and anti-social but load her up with a few chugs of alcohol and she's totally badass. :)

Shannon was really well done. And the development of her character was what made the story so appealing. Hailey, on the other hand, was a bit uneven. For someone who is in sales, I found her insecurity and indecision hard to buy. Granted she had some heavy issues. But people who take up sales careers are never shy or ambivalent about what they want. Maybe the author should have assigned her a different profession. And one time, she was downright rude to Shannon for almost no reason at all, avoiding her and running away. This 'misunderstanding', if it can even be called that, is a common trope in fanfic but has no place in published work. Because of Hailey's hemming and hawing, the romance was really choppy--on and off and on and off and on...it made for lots of angst but not the really enjoyable kind.

Why the 5 stars...hmmm...i liked it too much to subtract even a half star. So maybe a quarter star. So its 4.75

BTW, this book reminded me of another online dating romance book called 'The Blind Side of Love v2' by Ingrid Diaz. Its also lol-funny and angsty as hell--one of my all time favorites. I always mention it because its still free for downloading. Get it while its still up. ( )

This was a really cute romance. Shannon, after yet another disastrous blind date set up by her sister (Kalen), decides to give online dating a try. Choosing the nickname "Pitifully Ugly," Shannon meets some really kooky people - and someone who intrigues her, but seems rather hesitant to meet. To complicate matters, Shannon finds herself falling for her new neighbor, Haley, although Haley is straight (or is she?). The characters are all really likable, and I found myself laughing out loud in several parts of the story. This book was an enjoyable way to spend a nice afternoon. ( )