I just read in the November 2008 issue of Glamour magazine an article titled, "She Said She Had Breast Cancer--But She Lied," by Erin Zammett Ruddy, and it brought to mind this book.

For the most part, I enjoyed Kim Green's novel. Sometimes the author demanded a little more suspension of disbelief than I was comfortable with, especially in the end where everyone is shown having unconditional love for everyone in spite of their mistakes, big and small. In Ruddy's article, the "pretend" cancer patient wasn't forgiven as easily by everyone in the end. And she had a lot of explaining to do.

I thought, as a reader, that Green's glib ending oversimplified the effects of deceit, betrayal, grief, and pain that the characters experienced. Granted, this is a "light" novel, not a serious read. Even so, it didn't resonate with me.

I've struggled with the tough questions and I've come up empty handed plenty of times, but even a "light" read can have some depth to it. I don't know many people who can stop talking about their spouse's affair or gloss over it because of their affection for one another. But maybe I'm blind and everyone is more tolerant than I think.

If you are part of the "I can forgive anything" crowd, this book is for you. ( )

A book that tries too hard, Live a Little is a bit like a 30% rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Good in parts, but rather bad in the end. ( )

Don’t read this review until after you’ve read the book…I will wait. I read the reviews before I read the book and then I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. I spent the first 5 chapters trying to decide if I liked the book and the last 26 waiting for it to end. The story or should I say the Premise sucked me in. Raquel Rose; nee Rachael Schultz is (mis)diagnosised with breast cancer. Her whole life changes and she decides she likes the new way everyone is treating her so she doesn’t tell them about her (mis)diagnosis. There is more family drama in this book then on an episode of Jerry Springer and Maury (combined). She can’t fix her life so she tries to fix everyone else’s. The funniest part happened on starting on page 333 and was over quickly! I don’t know who is dumber me for reading the book or her family for not figuring out that she was faking. ( )

Funny, high-concept book about a woman who fakes breast cancer. Yeah, the premise didn't appeal to me either, but it was just so well-executed with so many moments that readers can relate to. The tawdry yet affectionate middle-aged sex scenes are amusing and real. ( )

Raquel Rose is a harried housewife with two teenagers who take her for granted and a rather distant husband. When she receives the news that she has breast cancer, her family does an about face. Her kids start helping out with the housework, are thoughtful and her husband is being attentive. Raquel appears on her sister's successful television show ' Living with Lauren' and raises a lot of money for breast cancer.

The trouble is that at her next doctor's appointment, she gets the news that her test results were mixed up with another Raquel and she does not have cancer.

Stunned, Raquel goes home and tells her family the good news. Or tries to - they don't believe her, they're sure she's just putting on a brave face. In the end she decides to go with the lie. After all, she raised $250,000 so far...and this would be a chance to turn around her life and reinvent herself.....and her family is being so good to her......and ........

Well, you can see there might be a problem with this. Does she get caught out? I won't give away anymore, but you are in for a comical read. Green's descriptions of people, places and situations are laugh out loud funny. Her fantasies of Viggo Mortensen, her overachieving sister, her best friend and the local society ladies are hilarious. Once in a while it seems to escape and go a wee bit over the top.

At first I was a bit wary of the premise - pretending to have cancer? The women battling cancer in the book are depicted as strong and use humour as one of the weapons in their fight. And although this deception is what gets Raquel into her predicament it's as much a story of family and finding love.

There are some mild sex scenes that some readers may either enjoy or not. All in all a good chick lit read.