Girls Night in (Red Dress Ink Novels) [Paperback]

The only person I have read is Jennifer Weiner and the reason I bought the book. I of course read that story and the Cat Lady story by Valdes-Rodriguez because I love cats! These stories were ok, but not as good as I expected. I will give a brief run-down of all the stories, just like I did with another short story chick-lit book-Girls About Town.

1. Party Planner-Meg Cabot-4 stars-This was pretty funny. Not especially well written, but funny non-the-less, told through emails.

2. Traveling Light- Carole Mathews- 3 to 3.5 stars- Was ok, but not memorable.

3. Cat Lady- Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez- 3.5 stars- Again just ok. A woman who writes notes to herself, suddenly finds herself in need of a cat. The writing of notes to your future self though was clever.

4. Changing People- Sophie Kinsella- 4 to 4.5 stars- I really did like this one. I have been meaning to read some of her stuff and she has graduated to the top of my list.

5. New York- Jill Davis- 2 stars- Kind of pointless, not engaging or funny. Glad when it was over.

6. Revenge- Emily Barr- 4 stars- Maybe it's the evil streak in me, but I did like this one. I know she didn't mean to do it, and what she had planned seemed fairly harmless, but you just never know what can go wrong.

7. Here Comes Harry- Jessica Adams- 1.5 stars- Did not care for this one. Again kind of pointless, not engaging, not especially well written and not funny. Skip it!

8. Know it All- Sarah Mlynowski- 5 ++++ stars- I absolutely loved this one. I was actually laughing out loud. The ending was perfect when she finally came to the realization she did. I suggest reading this first, middle and last to get you through a lot of the not so great ones.

9. In Agony- Isabelle Wolff- 3 stars- This started out slow, but had a good ironic ending.

10. Dating the Enemy- Lauren Henderson- 1 star- I did not like this one at all, obviously, with the star rating. Too Sex in the City, without any of the wit.

11. From This Moment- Megan McCafferty- 3 stars- This started off too slow (I could have done without all the driving around), but the ending was good and had a good story line.

12. What Goes Around- Louise Bagshawe- 4.5 stars- Another good revenge story!

13. Rudy- Lisa Jewel- 1 star- Pointless, pointless, pointless!!!

14. The Truth is Out There- Marian Keyes- 4.5 stars- I thought this was cute and clever. Another one to add to my list.

15. Here We Are- Linda Curnyn- 1.5 stars- I did not like the story or how it was written.

16. Siren Songs- Stella Duffy- 3 stars- It was ok, but not great. Wasn't banging my head against the wall praying for it to be over like the 18th one.

17. The Marrying Kind- Anna Maxted- 2.5 stars- It was ok, but did not add anything to my life, or cause me joy in anyway.

18. Don't You Know Who I Am- Adele Lang- 0 stars- I am hoping this was supposed to be some tongue in cheek kind of story, but it didn't work for me, and was more pointless and time-wasting then any other story I have read.

19. Good Men- Jennifer Weiner- 3.5 stars- Although the reason I bought the book, I was just so-so on the story. It was written well, but I got confused on the characters and who was doing what and why.

20. Dougie, Spoons, and the Aquarium Solarium- Jenny Colgan- 3 stars- Again, I feel like a broken record...it was ok, but not great.

21. Acting Strangely- Chris Manby- 3.5 stars- This turned out to be a cute story, but it just barely passes my "It was ok" baseline.

The few stories that are excellent are worth buying the book for, especially since it also benefits a charity.

"Girls Night In" is a really great collection of short-stories by some of the most talented and successful women's authors in today's market place. I was eagerly anticipating the book that would tie me over until some of my very favorite authors published a new book. With great stories from Jennifer Weiner (Good In Bed / In Her Shoes / Little Earthquakes), Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic Books/ Can You Keep A Secret?), Lisa Jewell (Thirty Nothing / Friend of the Family), and Anna Maxted (Getting Over It / Running in Heels / Behaving Like Adults / Being Committed) I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed. And I wasn't.... This collection is a great anytime read that you can pick up and put down without losing your place and the flow of the book. That's what's so great about short-story collections. You can read what and how much you want.

With the proceeds going to charity - this is a great chance to read something amazing and do some good at the same time. Give it a chance --- you'll be really happy you did.

Cheers!

Not only is this collection of short chick lit stories by many of the best authors around, but when you buy a copy, the proceeds go to the "War Child" agency, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children who are victims of war. Some of the authors who have written short stories for this collection are Jennifer Weiner, Sarah Mlynowski, Meg Cabot, Lynda Curnyn, Anna Maxted, Chris Manby, Lisa Jewell, Lauren Henderson, and more. With such a great author line up, who can resist this book? I sure couldn't!

Good Men by Jennifer Weiner explores the male perspective of a well-known character from the novel "Good in bed". Know it All by Sarah Mlynowski was a very interesting story. Shaun has a new roommate named Dee who seems to be psychic. Dee keeps seeing visions of Shaun's recent ex-boyfriend meeting a beautiful readhead. So what does Shaun do? Appears at the place they are supposed to meet and prevent it from taking place. Very interesting results take place. I enjoyed this story about letting go and moving on. In Agony by Isabel Wolff is about Jane, an Agony Aunt with problems of her own she can't solve. New York by Jill Davis is about a week in the life of Anne, a new employee at a glamorous magazine in New York City. Traveling Light by Carole Matthews is a story about Kane and Alice, two people who meet on a train journey and fall in love.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg - there are so many great stories in this book! 21 in all, each story carefully crafted by our favorite chick lit authors. Don't miss this one! This book is one of the September releases from Red Dress Ink.