With or Without You

July 11, 2005
A lover's infidelity prompts a homebody toward big adventures and new priorities in Brit Matthews's entertaining romantic comedy. Lyssa Allen works at a baby magazine and is dying for a child of her own, but when successive rounds of IVF fail, her live-in boyfriend, Jake, declares he's had enough. Of course, he's also gotten himself involved with "a nubile twenty-five-year-old with legs like Lara Croft whose urge to go through the motions of procreation is very much in evidence." Poor Lyssa! What will she do? Shack up temporarily with her younger sister, Edie (aka "Rabbit"), who has a whopping six children at 29—and then jet off to Nepal for a trek through the Himalayas. After all, if Jake's new (but sort of slippery and insincere) lady can climb Everest, can't Lyssa hump a pack along a trail? And wouldn't it be nice if her guide were "a vision of manly loveliness" named Dean? Pretty soon Lyssa's contemplating big life changes, even as her old dreams look like they could finally come true. Matthews throws a few wrenches into Lyssa's voyage of self-(re)-discovery, but never leaves any doubt that happiness is around the bend.

September 1, 2005
Lyssa Allen has one mission in life: to have a baby. But despite hormone injections in her bum and costly IVF attempts, her boyfriend Jake's sluggish sperm can't seem to get her pregnant. When Jake leaves her to shack up with a buxom coworker, broken-hearted Lyssa impulsively books a life-altering trek to the Himalayas, leaving her sad London life -and hairdryer -behind. There she finds her own Indiana Jones in the form of Dean, the trail guide, and together the two move mountains. How will Lyssa choose between old expectations and new possibilities? Though there are few subtleties and an excess of subplots, this will be a great beach read. Matthews (who recently sold film rights to her first novel, "For Better, For Worse") has written chick lit with an edge, making readers squirm a bit as she places her characters in uncomfortable situations and forces them to make difficult decisions. Fans of Matthews will want to read this one. Recommended for popular fiction collections. -Anika Fajardo, Coll. of St. Catherine Lib., St. Paul, MN

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
Lyssa Allen is devastated when her boyfriend, Jake, announces that he wants to move out after they've spent months fruitlessly trying to conceive a child. Frustrated with Lyssa's growing obsession with having a baby, he finds passion in the arms of Neve, an athletic, ambitious colleague at his advertising firm. Lyssa seeks solace with her sister, Edie, a frazzled mother of six, and with her colleagues at work. But when Lyssa's boss tells her that she is being moved from her staff position at a baby magazine to one focusing on divorce, Lyssa decides she has had enough. She quits her job and heads off to Nepal to trek through the Himalayas for a month in the hopes of changing her life and gaining some perspective. There she finds more than she bargained for when she becomes enamored of the handsome guide. Matthews is a master of compelling stories about women and men at crossroads in their lives, and her latest is a winner in every way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)