Something Borrowed

June 14, 2004
An unexpected love affair threatens a long-lived friendship in this soap opera–like debut from Atlanta ex-lawyer Giffin. Since elementary school, Rachel and Darcy have been best friends, with Darcy always outshining Rachel. While single Rachel is the self-confessed good girl, an attorney trapped at a suffocating New York law firm, Darcy is the complete opposite, a stereotypical outgoing publicist, planning a wedding with the handsome Dex. After Rachel's 30th birthday party, she knocks back one drink too many and winds up in bed with Dex. Instead of feeling guilty about sleeping with her best friend's fiancé, Rachel realizes that Dex is the only man she's really loved, and that she's always resented manipulative Darcy. Rachel and Dex spend a few weekends in the city together "working" while Darcy's off with friends at a Hamptons beach share, but finally Rachel realizes she'll have to give Dex an ultimatum. The flip job Giffin pulls off—here it's the cheaters who're sympathetic (more or less)—gives Dex and Rachel's otherwise ordinary affair extra edge. Rachel would be a more appealing heroine if she were less whiny about her job and her romantic prospects, and rambling dialogue slows the story's pace, but this is an enjoyable beach read—one that'll make readers cast a suspicious eye on best friends and boyfriends who seem to get along just a little too well. Agent, Stephany Evans.

June 1, 2004
In this debut novel-a bit of bridal lit just in time for the wedding season-good girl Rachel finally breaks the rules in a big way when she sleeps with best friend Darcy's fianc . Rachel knew Dex first (they met in law school), but she introduced him to Darcy, whose friendship has conditioned Rachel to accept being second best. Rachel and Dex's affair continues even as the wedding draws near, and it becomes clear that Dex is going to go through with the nuptials, leaving Rachel to suffer through the day as maid of honor. Things aren't all bad, though: Rachel begins to see Darcy for the superficial manipulator that she is, and when Rachel confronts Dex, she starts to realize what she's been missing by not going for what she wants in life. A surprise twist at the end seamlessly wraps up this fast-paced, enjoyable read. Recommended for most popular fiction collections.-Karen Core, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2004
Chick lit is already a crowded genre, but Giffin's compelling debut truly stands out. It is as much about the meaning and value of friendship as it is about love, and it takes some risky chances that pay off. Rachel is celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her friends, including her lifelong best friend, Darcy, and Dex, Rachel's handsome friend from law school and Darcy's fiance. One thing leads to another and Rachel ends up in bed with Dex. Suddenly, all of her repressed feelings for him rush to the forefront, and Dex says he feels the same. But thoughts of Darcy nag at Rachel. Perfect, pretty Darcy has always gotten everything she's wanted, as well as things that Rachel wanted, like her admission to her first-choice college. But Rachel and Dex can't deny their attraction, and Rachel wonders if they might possibly have a real future together. It's a gamble to cast her heroine in a potentially unsympathetic light, but Giffin manages to create empathy for her likable characters without cheapening the complexity of their situation, making for a genuinely winning tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)