Paula Takes A Risk by Randi M. Sherman

Paula Takes A Risk by Randi M. Sherman
Published By: FriesenPress
Release Date: February 2, 2012
Format: Hardcover & Paperback - 128 pages / Kindle - 200 KB / Nook - 143 KB
ISBN: 1770971556
ASIN: B0077277UK
Genre: Women's Fiction / Chick Lit


About The Author:

Randi Sherman, a native Californian, lives in San Francisco. With her tremendous grasp of the obvious, Randi has always had the ability to find humor in the mundane and share the laughter. She dares to examine and discuss everyday foibles, which obliges people to stop taking themselves too seriously.

Developing characters and writing have been a part of Randi's life since she was a teenager, umm-mmum-mumm years ago. She spent time performing stand-up comedy at Los Angeles club amateur nights and studied Improvisation in the Bay Area. Realizing that she preferred having an income, living indoors and eating regularly, she reluctantly put her dreams on hold and entered the corporate world, yet never left behind her sense of humor and creative storytelling ability, skills which were not always appreciated during budget and strategy meetings.

Now, after living indoors for a while and eating, albeit too much, her book, Paula Takes A Risk is here. Randi's unique wit, writing style and candor will surely make the reader sit up, stand up, roll over or assume an interested leaning position and take notice.

Randi would never claim to have a genius IQ, the body of a super model or always have the right thing to wear. However, she can spell the words, "smart" and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Randi maintains a trim, well-toned body that is cleverly concealed beneath twenty pounds of soft protective layering and she has the appetite of a bird. (By "bird" I mean vulture.) Her entire wardrobe consists of black, black and varying degrees of black, except for those items that are covered with lint because she put them through the wash with a tissue.

Things that Randi cannot live without: people to laugh with, her car horn, a gym membership where there are chubby women who break into a sweat while putting on a jog bra, wine, waist capes, and her partner, Carol.

Randi does not like mean-spirited people, liver, left-overs, communal dressing rooms, tight underwear, and people who point.

Randi is five-foot-seven.



AUTHOR WEBSITE
PAULA TAKES A RISK WEBSITE
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Randi M. Sherman's Paula Takes A Risk Virtual Book Tour Page On Chick Lit Plus


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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus.

Virtual Book Tour Event: On Saturday, July 21, 2012, in association with Chick Lit Plus, author Randi M. Sherman participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/author-guest-post-randi-m-sherman.html


Video - Paula Takes A Risk

Book Description:

After thirty-four years of just letting life happen to her, Paula Tenenbaum's mundane existence was suddenly interrupted. It was bad enough to be fired from her job because she was "average," but on that same day, her boyfriend also dumped her being "un-dynamic." Somehow, someway, Paula needed to make a change. But before she could figure out what her first step should be, her scheming neighbor Larry tapped into her silent desperation and dreams and challenged everything that she believed about ehrself. At first Paula was skeptical and scared, but quickly, she realized that she nothing to lose, as she donned the persona of the successful, and vibrant individual that she had always dreamed of being, navigating thru business, colorful personalities and the people that she had idolized from afar. Written with sharp humor, and huge personality, Paula Takes A Risk is the hilarious story about the metamorphosis of Paula Tenenbaum, who naively enters into an adventure that changes her life. This is a story certain to strike a chord in anyone who secretly desires change, but is afraid to make it.

Book Excerpt:

Paula was jolted awake by the sound of the telephone ringing. It took her a minute to realize where she was. She looked around, saw the empty bottles and realized that she must have passed out from drinking so much and spent the night on the living room couch. During the night, her violet jersey dress had worked its way upward and twisted itself around her neck. Paula noted a strange tingling sensation in her legs. She couldn’t move them. Had she done some neurological damage to herself due to her massive consumption of alcohol? Had she pinched a nerve? She panicked. Oh my God! I’m paralyzed now! She managed to calm down a little when she realized that the tingling was caused because the control-top of her pantyhose twisted over the smooth Spanx material and cut off the circulation to her lower body. She dragged herself to a sitting position, then tugged and struggled out of the tangled layers of spandex and elastic. By this time, the answering machine had clicked on. She could hear that it was her mother leaving a message with about twenty questions about the past night’s events.

“So, how did it go? How did he propose? Call me back as soon as you get this message. I’m so excited for you. We can plan to go shopping for wedding dresses. White is fine, but you need to remember that you are thirty-four years old and ...”

Paula fell back on the couch and pulled a cushion over her head. The reality of the past twenty-four hours hit her like a freight train. Paula felt a heavy gray cloud of depression approaching. And why not? She was unemployed. She had no money in the bank. The man she thought she was going to marry had unceremoniously dumped her. She was hung-over. And now she would have to explain it all to her mother. She closed her eyes and wished it would all go away.

My Book Review:


Paula Tenenbaum is a thirty-four year old single woman who leads a conservative, no frills life. She had wanted to become a writer, but for the past three years she has been an uninspired, unmotivated and ambitionless copy writer for Brooks Marketing. For the past year she has quietly been seeing her boss, Bradley Connor, VP of Marketing. They have gone to great lengths to keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the company, but she thinks that their relationship is serious enough that he will propose to her soon. In a blink of an eye, Paula has found herself both fired from her job and dumped by Bradley, all in the same day! Bradley said that she was "average at best," that she should stop being a witness to life, waiting for something to happen to her, do something - be dynamic and a risk taker. Devastated, depressed and full of self-pity, what will Paula do with her life now?

Larry English, is a forty-year old divorced man who dreams of making money with "get-rich-quick-investment-schemes" that never pan out. He is an obnoxious, greedy, selfish, lazy SOB who thinks the world owes him a living! He has spent the last five years living recklessly until he gets himself in debt for over $250,000, he's bitter and doesn't care, so he files for bankruptcy and keeps a low profile until he can reemerge with a fail-safe investment scheme that will allow him to renter the investment world. His mother recently passed away and he inherited $200,000 from his mother's estate. With his shady past looking him in the face and people he's screwed over, he has no idea how he's going to use the money. Will Larry come up with another investment scheme now that he's in the money?

Paula and Larry have been neighbors for three years, occasionally hanging out with each other, but never romantically involved. Larry thinks that Paula would be the best person to involve in his plan to re-enter the investment world. Larry proposes that they form a business partnership: English, Tenenbaum and Associates. They would assume the personas of established, successful investment brokers. He tells her that it would be an adventure, her chance to take a risk, and the perfect opportunity to change her life. Will her risk taking pay off, or will it be just another unsuccessful get-rich-quick-scheme?

Paula Takes A Risk is a fast paced entertaining story that will keep you laughing as you turn the pages. Written in a witty humorous style, the author provides the reader with an entertaining storyline written in the third person narrative with alternating chapters between Paula and Larry. The reader is introduced to the ordinary mundane lives of Paula and Larry, and is brought along for the ride as they embark on a madcap adventure to reinvent themselves.

The author does a great job of providing a cast of characters who are realistic and have flaws that the reader can relate to. I found myself running the gamut of emotions with Paula: I wanted to shake her, yell at her, commiserate with her and encourage her. I was not a fan of Bradley or Larry, both men are despicable SOBs that need to be knocked down a peg or two. The character that I thoroughly enjoyed the most was Paula's mother, Dorothy. That lady kept me in stitches, she was such a fun character to get to know, I think she lightened up the story with her in-your-face, upfront personality.

In a unique and witty style, the author weaves a tale that is entertaining and engages the reader to consider if their own lives resemble anything that is reflected in Paula and Larry's lives. Who doesn't wish for a dream life? Are your dreams out of reach? Are you a risk taker, or do you live a conservative safe life? Are you willing to make changes?


Paula Takes A Risk is one heck of a fun read, the author's sense of humor will keep you in stitches. If anything, the surprising and redemptive conclusion makes this story worth reading!



RATING: 4 STARS ****