Cosy Saloon ***1/2

I feel like I've read Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes before, although I haven't. This is a comment heavily loaded both ways. On the positive side, it scores an E - for being an Easy read, having characters who are Easy to like, and on the whole rather Engaging. However, the storyline sounds rehashed. Now that I think about it, it sounds vaguely similar to P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern although that book was slightly more of a romance than this one. It's not really a biggie though, 'cos I reread ALL of my books so many times that after a while everything sounds familiar because it IS familiar.

What I like about Last Chance Saloon is short short chapters. Haha. Some are only two pages long, and so there is a faux sense of accomplishment about breezing through a chapter. What I don't like is that there are SO MANY chapters! Argh! At one point, I almost thought I was reading Proust because when I picked up the book again after one of my usual breaks, I found myself bracing as I glanced at the chapter number in almost the same manner that I usually find myself bracing when I pick up my Proust again. But only almost.

Chick lit has to cater precisely to a modern girl's diet. This one got the small portions right but its too many portions may make one give up the diet. Thankfully, the chef has enough virtuoso touches to make me pick up another Keyes' novella.