Hi, I'm Kate Bjorkman. What do you do if you've lived a real romance with a great guy and he loves you as much as you love him? Simple, I wrote a r...
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Dec 20, 2011
Shelley
rated it: 
"I'm giving this my best shot. I've got The Romance Writer's Phrase Book right next to the word processor in case I'm at a loss for words, as they say. If you are jaded about romance or have PMS or are on the downside of manic depression and can't stand to read about other people's happiness, then get real. This book is not for you."
A Christmas tradition. Kate is snarky, sweet, funny and a joy to read about. I love how it lampoons and celebrates romance novels all at once. More...
A Christmas tradition. Kate is snarky, sweet, funny and a joy to read about. I love how it lampoons and celebrates romance novels all at once. More...
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Aug 09, 2007
Kate
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Gawky Kate Bjorkman has a rapier wit, genius IQ, and coke-bottle glasses. She’s been in love with Richard, her former neighbor and brother’s best friend, since they were kids, and she describes their budding romance by poking fun at Harlequin novel conventions, which take the lovers into bliss, betrayal, and back again.
I was completely charmed by this intelligent, witty, romantic anti-romance and wish I had discovered it in high school, as I share not only the narrator’s name but her More...
I was completely charmed by this intelligent, witty, romantic anti-romance and wish I had discovered it in high school, as I share not only the narrator’s name but her More...
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Aug 13, 2008
Mary
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I give this book five stars simply because I absolutely love reading it. It is not destined for the classics list or anything, but it can put a smile on my face and make me laugh every time I read it. It seems that every winter when I get that inevitable cold and feel miserable I turn to this book for a quick pick me up.
I was first introduced to this book in my college Young Adult Lit class. The author, Louise Plummer, visited our class (she was friends with my professor, Ann Cannon ( More...
I was first introduced to this book in my college Young Adult Lit class. The author, Louise Plummer, visited our class (she was friends with my professor, Ann Cannon ( More...
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Jan 08, 2012
06RachaelF
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I really enjoyed this book. I felt like it had a really good theme and it kept me interested the whole time. Of course, I’m a teenage girl, and this book is as “chick flick” as it can get! However, it's really well written. It frequently deals with serious subjects or issues, but these issues are always resolved with the characters having learned something about both life and themselves. Which I thought was nice. And, fiction almost always ends on a hopeful, good note; not necessarily a happily-
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Aug 03, 2009
Reggie
rated it:
Note: Okay, I have to be honest. I bought this book just because of the cover. It was so cute! I saw the other cover of this book and it was flat out ugly. I wouldn't have bought it.
The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman goes in my list of top romantic comedies. It's just so funny! This book was different from all of the other books I've read because here, I felt like Kate Bjorkman was actually talking to me and telling me her entire story. It's fresh and contemporary even though it's a More...
The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman goes in my list of top romantic comedies. It's just so funny! This book was different from all of the other books I've read because here, I felt like Kate Bjorkman was actually talking to me and telling me her entire story. It's fresh and contemporary even though it's a More...
Jun 21, 2009
Brenda
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 17, 2009
Jackie
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How can you not love Kate Bjorkman? I love the play on structure and spoof on romance novels, without being to esoteric and mature for teens. I picked this book up as a comtemporary companion to read with Othello in my classroom, but in the end decided both texts were too challenging for struggling middle school readers. But, if I ever teach high school...
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Jan 17, 2012
Hannahcs
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this was an awesome book. Some of the parts were a bit uninteresting, but most of the book I loved. When I read this book I wanted to keep on reading it until I was done. When I was reading the book I would get to a really good part and then I would have to do something for either my mom or one of my teachers, so I tried to get done with it as quick as possible because I wanted to get right back to the book. Even though this was a great book, I would not recommend it as a group or class read alo
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Sep 03, 2009
Sandra
rated it:
Kate has a big time crush on her long ago neighbor and brother’s best friend Richard. Unfortunately, her beautiful and sophisticated best friend wants him as soon as she meets him when he comes to stay for Christmas at Kate’s house--with his even more beautiful and sophisticated girlfriend. The book is structured as Kate’s narrative love story, with suggested revisions along the way. It’s fairly realistic, complete with fairly explicit kissing scenes and typical teenage concerns bordering on
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Aug 22, 2009
Darcy
rated it:
I picked this up because the author came to speak in a class I had at BYU and was intrigued enough by her person to want to read one of her books. For the most part I was not disappointed. I felt that the style was unique and interesting. I liked the characters and the plot was realistic. I simply have to agree with other reviewers and say the ending was a little bit of a letdown. I don't know I have any faith in the future of the relationship and part of me thinks that she didn't really me
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Apr 16, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
I read this book when I was in middle school. I remember reading a lot of books in middle school, but this is one of the few that stands out. I remember loving this book. I reread it in two days in the midst of a very busy finals season. Needless to say, this is a quick read. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Yes, it is definitely a young adult read, but it is fairly witty and there is a little oomph to it. For an older middle schooler, early high schooler, I would recommend. (There are a
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May 02, 2009
Darla
rated it: 
(Genre:Young adult fiction) I have mixed feelings about this book. There were some things about it that I really liked. The writing style was fun and clever and I really like the heroine. The author made a great point in the story that falling in love is easy, but maintaining a relationship to keep it healthy is work. But there were also elements that I really disliked and I can't just dismiss them. One of those elements was the ending. Not only was it very unsatisfying for me, I felt like the c
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Aug 05, 2008
This book was refreshing for having a loving family with actually nice parents.
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Dec 09, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
Romance/Christmas/Satire
It's Christmastime and Kate's brother's friend Richard has come for the holidays. Kate has always liked Richard but he's brought a friend with him as well, Fluer, who is crazy beautiful. Kate decides to write a romance novel of her holiday using her Romance Writer's Handbook. Filled with prose and revision notes, Plummer infuses humor into her tale while making fun of the traditional romance novel. In the end, of course, everything turns out happily ever after More...
It's Christmastime and Kate's brother's friend Richard has come for the holidays. Kate has always liked Richard but he's brought a friend with him as well, Fluer, who is crazy beautiful. Kate decides to write a romance novel of her holiday using her Romance Writer's Handbook. Filled with prose and revision notes, Plummer infuses humor into her tale while making fun of the traditional romance novel. In the end, of course, everything turns out happily ever after More...
Dec 09, 2009
Katie
rated it:
Six feet tall with thick-lensed glasses, Kate Bjorkman doesn't think she fits her older brother's best friend Richard's idea of the perfect girl. But that doesn't stop her from crushing on him her entire growing up experience or hoping he'll return her feelings when he accompanies Kate's brother in a visit home to Minnesota for Christmas. Expected romance story conventions (Richard seems to have a girlfriend, and Kate's best friend is proving herself competition)made me think I wouldn't like thi
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Jun 20, 2011
Katie
rated it:
Ok people, if you are my friend and haven't read this (or any of Lousie Plummer's for that matter) you should definitely rectify the problem. I read this years ago and just picked it up again while staying at my parents' house.
Hilarious. Honestly, I think I liked it better this time around than the first time I read it. The main character, Kate, is writing a "romance novel" about her romance. She uses quotes from the "The Romance Writer's Phrase Book." Maybe I li More...
Hilarious. Honestly, I think I liked it better this time around than the first time I read it. The main character, Kate, is writing a "romance novel" about her romance. She uses quotes from the "The Romance Writer's Phrase Book." Maybe I li More...
Dec 08, 2008
Rachelle
rated it:
I read this book because the author used to be in my ward and I was interested in her writing. This book is so expressive of her witty, satirical sense of humor. It was like I could hear her telling this story. One part of the story is especially funny because the main character's mother tells about a big fight she and her husband had. The story is straight from Louise Plummer's life. I've read it in her collection of memoirs and heard her tell the story herself.... I think in Relief Society
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Jul 11, 2010
Punk
rated it:
YA. "The night felt magical. There must have been some foreshadowing in the air." Hee! Kate Bjorkman, high school senior, writes a romance novel about the Christmas she became Richard Bradshaw's girlfriend. First person narrative, with fourth-wall-breaking author's notes sprinkled between chapters.
Despite its format, this is your basic YA romance, though Kate's not your average romance novel heroine. She wears glasses, but they're not there just to make her look dumpy so sh More...
Despite its format, this is your basic YA romance, though Kate's not your average romance novel heroine. She wears glasses, but they're not there just to make her look dumpy so sh More...
Mar 21, 2008
Tawny
rated it:
Author: Louise Plummer
Title: The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman
Genre: romance
Publication Info: Delacorte Press. New York. 1995.
Recommended Age: 12 and up
Plot Summary: Kate Bjorkman has had a crush on her older brother’s friend, Richard, for years. She didn’t think anything would ever happen between them because she is six feet tall, doesn’t like to wear makeup, and can’t see a thing without her thick glasses. But when Richard and her brother come home for C More...
Title: The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman
Genre: romance
Publication Info: Delacorte Press. New York. 1995.
Recommended Age: 12 and up
Plot Summary: Kate Bjorkman has had a crush on her older brother’s friend, Richard, for years. She didn’t think anything would ever happen between them because she is six feet tall, doesn’t like to wear makeup, and can’t see a thing without her thick glasses. But when Richard and her brother come home for C More...
Dec 27, 2008
Kricket
rated it:
a old favorite published in 1995. kate bjorkman is not a typical romance heroine: six feet tall, bespectacled, a grammar & dialect afficianado...now crushing on her older brother's childhood friend richard, who has come to visit for the holidays along with said older brother, his wife, and a beautiful, mysterious stranger named fleur.
kate's selfish friend ashley also has eyes for richard and manages to invite herself along to all of the family holiday functions, even after kate tries More...
kate's selfish friend ashley also has eyes for richard and manages to invite herself along to all of the family holiday functions, even after kate tries More...
Jul 30, 2010
Holly
rated it:
Kate likes romance novels. But not the kind that are sappy and unrealistic. And since most romance novels are this way, she sets out to write a real-life romance, using her own life as the story. So with The Romance Writers Phrasebook as her guide, Kate begins writing her own novel, trying to leave the majority of clichés behind. She even admits herself that with her non-silky legs, her coke-bottle glasses, her gangly height, and her geeky tendencies, she’s not the ideal heroine anyway. It a
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Mar 31, 2010
Stacey
rated it:
I remember reading this book in junior high and absolutely falling in love with it. More recently I picked it up and it brought back so many memories if my teenage years. The plot itself is not extreamly original, but the writing is quirky and Kate is an intelligent and funny character that I found relatable as a teen. I'm not sure if it would capture the attention of teenagers today, but I would recommend it to someone looking for something outside the paranormal realm of YA fiction.
Oct 15, 2010
Jill
rated it:
I can't believe this wasn't on my list! I've been reading it every Christmas for several years. It's a lovely satire on teen romance with a ton of fun for language geeks like myself. It's not too easy to find in a library outside Utah, but can be picked up on amazon.com. Louise Plummer is a small-time LDS author, but has written other award-winning Ad Lit fiction. This is my favorite of her books. Super quick, very fun read. Uh - definitely a feminine read.
Jul 27, 2009
Kathryn
rated it:
Plot alone, I'd rank this lower (it was exactly what it purpoted to be: a holiday romance). I think the plot would have appealed to me more at age twelve, which is the book's target audience, so I can't complain about this too much. That being said, the style is fantastic and the Plummer's sense of humor jives exactly with my own, making this more than just a silly romance and more enjoyable than I would have expected.
Oct 25, 2010
Erica
rated it:
This book is written by my BYU professor that taught my memoir writing class. She is hilarious. She based much of this book on her own experiences. It is light and romantic, but the undertones are more serious and most of us can relate to being in love, a backstabbing friend, feeling like we want to be prettier, etc. This is a novel I get out about once a year and reread. It makes me laugh out loud.
Jan 08, 2010
Holly
rated it:
On Tuesday I was babysitting and the baby was asleep in my arms, so I read this book in one afternoon. It's a short and easy read. I was surprised to find this book was dedicated to my friend Kelli. The author, Louise Plummer, is her aunt, but I didn't know about the dedication.
My only problem with this book was that there were several striking similarities to the book I am writing. So now I think I would have to change those things if I were ever to try to get my book published.
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My only problem with this book was that there were several striking similarities to the book I am writing. So now I think I would have to change those things if I were ever to try to get my book published.
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Mar 03, 2009
Spring
rated it:
This book was fun to read. Kate is writing her own romance story for her senior project and it is fun to read her revisions and such. I was not pleased with the ending. At the beginning of the book she states how happy is she is, but then at the end of the story there is a conflict that is not fully resolved. But it is written as a work in process and was enjoyable to read for a teen romance.
Apr 11, 2011
Emily321
rated it:
This book was very cute. It started out kind of slow, but in the end I liked it. Its not some huge, fantastic love story. Its not something that involves magical people and humungo battles for love. Its just a normal love story. Thats why I love this book. For once, its just a normal love story:)
Jul 09, 2009
Angela
rated it:
REALLY enjoyed this book. Laughed throughout. Plummer creates REAL, believable characters and story lines. This book is written from the perspective of the main character who is attempting to write the story of her own romance using the "Romance Writer's Phrase Book." Hilarious!
Mar 10, 2009
Amy
rated it:
This book is about a teenage girl who decides to write a romance novel based on her experience over Christmas break. It's a little predictable, but there are also some fairly funny moments. I didn't give it a great rating because there is a little bit of swearing in it.
