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theavidreaderandbibliophile's review
2.0
The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry is set in Watersend, South Carolina. A small little town on the coast. Blake Hunter is traveling through the south looking for ideas for screenplays. His last two screenplays were a dud and he needs inspiration. He is in Watersend at a café and he sees Ella Flynn. Ella is going through a rough time. When Hunter (who gives a fake name and backstory) asks to talk to her, Ella decides to lie. She invents a different life. Hunter loves her story and can see it being made into a movie. Ella keeps telling herself that she will tell Blake the truth, but she just keeps digging herself in deeper. Ella and Blake get to know each other better (well, as well as you can when both people are telling lies and half-truths). They may even be falling in love.
Ella is currently separated from her husband, Sims. Sims feel in love with Ella’s best friend’s sister (convoluted). When Ella found out she destroyed his baseball collection (which is worth a lot of money). Ella is not living in a tiny, nasty apartment without her belonging and working at Swept Away. Swept Away is owned by Margot Sands. Swept Away deals with all things bridal (shoes, gowns, head pieces, etc.). Ella is currently working in the shoe department. When Ella was out with Blake, she made a sketch of a dress. Margot saw the sketch and asked to look at it (you know where this is going to go). Ella’s sketch with Margot’s name gets entered into a contest and Margot ends up a finalist. Will Ella have the guts to out Margot? Sims is not sure what he wants. He has seen Ella with Blake and he is jealous. What is going to happen between Sims and Ella? Blake does go home to his life with his assistant/girlfriend. Ella had given him a great idea which turns into a great screen play. But Blake misses Ella. What is going to happen with Blake and Ella (I am sure you can guess).
The Idea of Love was not an enjoyable novel. I knew what the outcome would be from the very beginning. I give The Idea of Love 2 out of 5 stars. Unfortunately, I was not swept away by this book (I was bored).
I received a complimentary copy of The Idea of Love from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
Ella is currently separated from her husband, Sims. Sims feel in love with Ella’s best friend’s sister (convoluted). When Ella found out she destroyed his baseball collection (which is worth a lot of money). Ella is not living in a tiny, nasty apartment without her belonging and working at Swept Away. Swept Away is owned by Margot Sands. Swept Away deals with all things bridal (shoes, gowns, head pieces, etc.). Ella is currently working in the shoe department. When Ella was out with Blake, she made a sketch of a dress. Margot saw the sketch and asked to look at it (you know where this is going to go). Ella’s sketch with Margot’s name gets entered into a contest and Margot ends up a finalist. Will Ella have the guts to out Margot? Sims is not sure what he wants. He has seen Ella with Blake and he is jealous. What is going to happen between Sims and Ella? Blake does go home to his life with his assistant/girlfriend. Ella had given him a great idea which turns into a great screen play. But Blake misses Ella. What is going to happen with Blake and Ella (I am sure you can guess).
The Idea of Love was not an enjoyable novel. I knew what the outcome would be from the very beginning. I give The Idea of Love 2 out of 5 stars. Unfortunately, I was not swept away by this book (I was bored).
I received a complimentary copy of The Idea of Love from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
alisonlaw's review
It's evident that [a:Patti Callahan Henry|207337|Patti Callahan Henry|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1248575753p2/207337.jpg] loves the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Her descriptions of the fictional town of Watersend will make you fall in love with the Lowcountry, too. Against this backdrop, readers meet two broken people who make up stories to conceal their personal failures. [b:The Idea of Love|23014609|The Idea of Love|Patti Callahan Henry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424450037s/23014609.jpg|42580748] poses the question: is love a real, tangible thing, or just an idea that we create and enact based on what we've seen in the movies? Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me an advanced copy of the book.
judithdcollins's review
4.0
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
THE IDEA OF LOVE by master storyteller, Patti Callahan Henry, a contemporary magical story of unexpected love and life (with a beautiful front cover drawing you in) -- of two people searching for something, and the lengths they go to find it. A journey of reinvention, and finding what really matters in life, mixed with wit and southern humor.
One man is searching for a love story to save his career. A woman is searching for a love she had and lost, both pretending to be someone and something else, hiding behind a fasçade -- When the real "flawed" person may be just what the other needs. What if love is more of an idea than a real thing? If it was just an idea we carry around, why the weight of sadness?
Set in Watersend, SC in the coastal Low Country, Ella thought she had it all-- a beautiful home, a loving husband, her friends, her life, and her things. However, one day, her husband chose someone else and her life was over, or so she thought. How could she have missed the signs of a mistress, especially her best friend’s sister? To complicate matters, it is her husband’s house, so she had to be the one to move, into a dump furnished apartment with little money. Now no friends, no life, no husband, no home, no possessions. She dreams constantly of getting her home, her things, her husband back. Is it an idea of love she wants, or the cheating man himself?
Screenwriter Hunter (Blake) from LA needs a hit, and his last several movies are not cutting it. He has writer’s block and desperately needing a good love story for his next film. He needs inspiration. His personal love life has not been so smooth either. He decides to go about it pretending he is a travel writer of history books, a coffee table book, when he meets Ella at the coffee shop to draw out a story—fate steps in. However, the story he is writing is not really her real story but only a made up version.
Ella does not want anyone to know of her sad “loser” life, so she makes up this huge story that her loving husband died in a boating accident going after her hat, sacrificing himself for her, and now she is a grieving widow. She makes him think she is a successful wedding designer, and lives at the home where she lived previously with white picket fence, perfect. No way she would allow him to see where she really lives. She actually works at a bridal shop running errands for her boss. She has a portfolio, but her boss does not think she has talent, or does she?
They both are being untruthful with one another, with lies upon lies, but at the time, they do not count on seeing each other in the future – like a few white lies, who will know? However, the more Ella sees Hunter, the more she actually enjoys herself and at the same time, Hunter is getting a possible good story and likes this person, or the person he thinks she is.
Ella is living in a rundown furnished apartment with a neighbor who has a barking loud dog. When she goes over to the neighbor’s house, she meets Mimi. Mimi is an older woman who lives alone with her dog. She previously owned a successful bookstore in town and had it all. Now she resides in this broken down old apartment, but somehow she loves her life and has a great attitude – full of optimistic hope.
Mimi has learned to live with the now, not the future, or the past. She has experienced great loss in her time with her personal and professional life. Ella likes her outlook on life, and is drawn to the woman and becomes her friend, letting her in on her secret of lies. Mimi lost everything, yet she is getting along OK--She escaped to a world of books, so her books and friends filled her life, and they still do.
Mimi accepts the unacceptable. How can this woman be so wise? Does accepting mean you recognize, you can’t do anything about it. You cannot fix it. You cannot change someone’s heart. You cannot make someone love you. Only YOU have what you’re looking for. Mimi’s wise words, “There is always something you can do, say, create, read, breathe, eat, make, laugh, and then—who knows what—something always happens next.”
All Ella really wants to do is design wedding dresses at Swept Away, the premier wedding boutique in the Low Country. She had been there for six months and hired by Margo the owner to learn all the departments from the ground up. Margo is a designer and Ella had taken her designs more than once to Margo with her saying that’s sweet and nothing more. She was sick of brides every day, and she was sick of living in a crap apartment and she cannot imagine a happy ending. It was a curse.
However, she soon may find the old life and the perfect home may not necessarily add up to real love. There are other unresolved issues with her mother’s death and the way she treated her father Ella has to make right. When something happens at work and her personal life, she steps up to the plate to attain what she wants with confidence and passion. Could there be a future for this odd couple with their fake identities? Fun, fun . . Reinvention time, and possibly some life left for these two.
I loved Mimi's character, with her mean pound cake, and her bourbon which offers a cure for everything wrong in the world, and her visits with Ella.
A long time fan of Patti Callahan Henry, one of the top writer’s in the Southeast, of women’s fiction, have read all her books and she never disappoints; each time she delivers more than a chicklit, or women's fiction, there is always a heartfelt message and takeaway, which remains with you long after the books ends.
Fans of Dorothea Benton Frank, Mary Alice Monroe, Wendy Wax, Mary Kay Andrews, Beth Hoffman, Sarah Pekkanen, and Susan Rebecca White, will enjoy this warmhearted contemporary southern tale of unexpected love and important life lessons. Do not rely so much on others to make your happiness – create your own.
On a personal note: I had to laugh about John Smoltz (being an Atlanta gal most of my life prior to Florida) and served on the board of directors for years with YES! Atlanta, Youth Experiencing Success with at-risk teens, and sponsorship chairman for our annual Outback Steakhouse Braves Golf Tournament--have so many photos with the baseball star, and yes, unfortunately guys in the south do love their sports, and obsessed with baseball cards!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
THE IDEA OF LOVE by master storyteller, Patti Callahan Henry, a contemporary magical story of unexpected love and life (with a beautiful front cover drawing you in) -- of two people searching for something, and the lengths they go to find it. A journey of reinvention, and finding what really matters in life, mixed with wit and southern humor.
One man is searching for a love story to save his career. A woman is searching for a love she had and lost, both pretending to be someone and something else, hiding behind a fasçade -- When the real "flawed" person may be just what the other needs. What if love is more of an idea than a real thing? If it was just an idea we carry around, why the weight of sadness?
Set in Watersend, SC in the coastal Low Country, Ella thought she had it all-- a beautiful home, a loving husband, her friends, her life, and her things. However, one day, her husband chose someone else and her life was over, or so she thought. How could she have missed the signs of a mistress, especially her best friend’s sister? To complicate matters, it is her husband’s house, so she had to be the one to move, into a dump furnished apartment with little money. Now no friends, no life, no husband, no home, no possessions. She dreams constantly of getting her home, her things, her husband back. Is it an idea of love she wants, or the cheating man himself?
Screenwriter Hunter (Blake) from LA needs a hit, and his last several movies are not cutting it. He has writer’s block and desperately needing a good love story for his next film. He needs inspiration. His personal love life has not been so smooth either. He decides to go about it pretending he is a travel writer of history books, a coffee table book, when he meets Ella at the coffee shop to draw out a story—fate steps in. However, the story he is writing is not really her real story but only a made up version.
Ella does not want anyone to know of her sad “loser” life, so she makes up this huge story that her loving husband died in a boating accident going after her hat, sacrificing himself for her, and now she is a grieving widow. She makes him think she is a successful wedding designer, and lives at the home where she lived previously with white picket fence, perfect. No way she would allow him to see where she really lives. She actually works at a bridal shop running errands for her boss. She has a portfolio, but her boss does not think she has talent, or does she?
They both are being untruthful with one another, with lies upon lies, but at the time, they do not count on seeing each other in the future – like a few white lies, who will know? However, the more Ella sees Hunter, the more she actually enjoys herself and at the same time, Hunter is getting a possible good story and likes this person, or the person he thinks she is.
Ella is living in a rundown furnished apartment with a neighbor who has a barking loud dog. When she goes over to the neighbor’s house, she meets Mimi. Mimi is an older woman who lives alone with her dog. She previously owned a successful bookstore in town and had it all. Now she resides in this broken down old apartment, but somehow she loves her life and has a great attitude – full of optimistic hope.
Mimi has learned to live with the now, not the future, or the past. She has experienced great loss in her time with her personal and professional life. Ella likes her outlook on life, and is drawn to the woman and becomes her friend, letting her in on her secret of lies. Mimi lost everything, yet she is getting along OK--She escaped to a world of books, so her books and friends filled her life, and they still do.
Mimi accepts the unacceptable. How can this woman be so wise? Does accepting mean you recognize, you can’t do anything about it. You cannot fix it. You cannot change someone’s heart. You cannot make someone love you. Only YOU have what you’re looking for. Mimi’s wise words, “There is always something you can do, say, create, read, breathe, eat, make, laugh, and then—who knows what—something always happens next.”
All Ella really wants to do is design wedding dresses at Swept Away, the premier wedding boutique in the Low Country. She had been there for six months and hired by Margo the owner to learn all the departments from the ground up. Margo is a designer and Ella had taken her designs more than once to Margo with her saying that’s sweet and nothing more. She was sick of brides every day, and she was sick of living in a crap apartment and she cannot imagine a happy ending. It was a curse.
However, she soon may find the old life and the perfect home may not necessarily add up to real love. There are other unresolved issues with her mother’s death and the way she treated her father Ella has to make right. When something happens at work and her personal life, she steps up to the plate to attain what she wants with confidence and passion. Could there be a future for this odd couple with their fake identities? Fun, fun . . Reinvention time, and possibly some life left for these two.
“A release, a surge of energy, rose from Ella’s chest. The hole that had been there, the one she thought she needed to fill with him, now filled with something else. Strength and resilience. A sense of her own worth. It wasn’t him she wanted back; it was love she wanted. Love.”
I loved Mimi's character, with her mean pound cake, and her bourbon which offers a cure for everything wrong in the world, and her visits with Ella.
A long time fan of Patti Callahan Henry, one of the top writer’s in the Southeast, of women’s fiction, have read all her books and she never disappoints; each time she delivers more than a chicklit, or women's fiction, there is always a heartfelt message and takeaway, which remains with you long after the books ends.
Fans of Dorothea Benton Frank, Mary Alice Monroe, Wendy Wax, Mary Kay Andrews, Beth Hoffman, Sarah Pekkanen, and Susan Rebecca White, will enjoy this warmhearted contemporary southern tale of unexpected love and important life lessons. Do not rely so much on others to make your happiness – create your own.
On a personal note: I had to laugh about John Smoltz (being an Atlanta gal most of my life prior to Florida) and served on the board of directors for years with YES! Atlanta, Youth Experiencing Success with at-risk teens, and sponsorship chairman for our annual Outback Steakhouse Braves Golf Tournament--have so many photos with the baseball star, and yes, unfortunately guys in the south do love their sports, and obsessed with baseball cards!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
sunshine608's review against another edition
3.0
While not my favorite PCH book, this is a really cute story and a quick read. I didn't really care much for the main character Ella- I just didn't connect with her but I loved the overall simpleness of a good love story.
fuzzywuzzy's review against another edition
3.0
I like what she was gong for, but she didn't follow through on the love story at all. I don't feel I got to see a serious connection between them or the development of feelings. Her book "And Then I Found You" was phenomenal but the last two I've read by her have fallen short.
kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry is a sweet, light-hearted novel that is very charming. The unusual premise is fun and flirty but it is the characters that make it such an enjoyable read.
Hunter Adderman (aka Blake Hunter) has been traveling from place to place looking for inspiration for his next screenplay. His last two scripts were flops and he is now suffering from terrible writer's block. His journey has taken him to a small town in South Carolina, and he is instantly charmed by Ella Flynn, a woman he meets outside a local cafe. He is immediately captivated by her tragic love story and he writes a screenplay based on the tale she told him. The only problem? Ella's story is just as false as his but since the two are never going to see one another once Hunter returns to CA, they do not come clean about their white lies. Neither of them counted on their friendship turning into what might be love but can a relationship that is based on a series of untruths last once the truth is revealed?
Ella was blissfully happy and completely content in her marriage until a devastating secret turns her life upside down. She is trying to get on with her life but she is really just marking time until she can return to her old one. When she meets Hunter, the tale she spins for him is really what she wants her life to be. One lie leads to another and although she comes close to confessing the truth, Ella just cannot bring herself to ruin a friendship that brings her a little happiness. Unfortunately, she has to return to real life when her brief time with Blake ends and surprisingly, Ella finds the courage to stand up for herself and claim what is rightfully hers.
Blake's life is just as messy as Ella's and revitalizing his career is hopefully just the first step in getting his life back on track. A few years earlier, he was on top of the world until a drunken decision brought everything crashing down around him. He is now divorced and although he does not miss his wife, Blake is desperately trying to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter. Once he returns to L.A., he is on his way to reviving his career and after taking Ella's advice to heart, he begins to make a concerted effort to fix his troubled relationship with his daughter. But it is not until he finalizes the screenplay that Blake realizes how he truly feels about Ella, but will she forgive him for his deceit?
The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry is an entertaining novel that has a surprising amount of depth and substance. Ella and Blake are well-developed and although flawed, they are quite appealing. The storyline is cute and refreshing unique. A quick read with characters whose friendship provides them the opportunity to reflect on life and love which ultimately allows them to love again. Perfection!
The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry is a sweet, light-hearted novel that is very charming. The unusual premise is fun and flirty but it is the characters that make it such an enjoyable read.
Hunter Adderman (aka Blake Hunter) has been traveling from place to place looking for inspiration for his next screenplay. His last two scripts were flops and he is now suffering from terrible writer's block. His journey has taken him to a small town in South Carolina, and he is instantly charmed by Ella Flynn, a woman he meets outside a local cafe. He is immediately captivated by her tragic love story and he writes a screenplay based on the tale she told him. The only problem? Ella's story is just as false as his but since the two are never going to see one another once Hunter returns to CA, they do not come clean about their white lies. Neither of them counted on their friendship turning into what might be love but can a relationship that is based on a series of untruths last once the truth is revealed?
Ella was blissfully happy and completely content in her marriage until a devastating secret turns her life upside down. She is trying to get on with her life but she is really just marking time until she can return to her old one. When she meets Hunter, the tale she spins for him is really what she wants her life to be. One lie leads to another and although she comes close to confessing the truth, Ella just cannot bring herself to ruin a friendship that brings her a little happiness. Unfortunately, she has to return to real life when her brief time with Blake ends and surprisingly, Ella finds the courage to stand up for herself and claim what is rightfully hers.
Blake's life is just as messy as Ella's and revitalizing his career is hopefully just the first step in getting his life back on track. A few years earlier, he was on top of the world until a drunken decision brought everything crashing down around him. He is now divorced and although he does not miss his wife, Blake is desperately trying to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter. Once he returns to L.A., he is on his way to reviving his career and after taking Ella's advice to heart, he begins to make a concerted effort to fix his troubled relationship with his daughter. But it is not until he finalizes the screenplay that Blake realizes how he truly feels about Ella, but will she forgive him for his deceit?
The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry is an entertaining novel that has a surprising amount of depth and substance. Ella and Blake are well-developed and although flawed, they are quite appealing. The storyline is cute and refreshing unique. A quick read with characters whose friendship provides them the opportunity to reflect on life and love which ultimately allows them to love again. Perfection!
cupcakegirly's review
2.0
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I normally enjoy this author's books, but unfortunately, this one was just okay. I didn't connect with the characters and was disappointed that the story on the back--the one about Ella losing her husband in a tragic accident--wasn't the real story. As with all of Henry's books, this one was well-written but the story ended up not appealing to me.
I normally enjoy this author's books, but unfortunately, this one was just okay. I didn't connect with the characters and was disappointed that the story on the back--the one about Ella losing her husband in a tragic accident--wasn't the real story. As with all of Henry's books, this one was well-written but the story ended up not appealing to me.
amyma's review
3.0
The story in The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry started out with a little white lie on two people's parts, two people who figured they would never see each other again. But, they're drawn to each other and those little white lies keep compounding into bigger lies. I listened to this book and it was definitely enjoyable, but not one that I was thinking about when not listening.