I was excited to win a copy of this book as I had enjoyed Something Borrowed, and surprisingly, enjoyed its sequel, Something Blue, even more. They're smart, likeable, chick lit and she asks questions about moral behavior. But Giffin's subsequent books haven't had as much pop. She tells decent stories, and I want to root for her characters. But I wish she would tune her writing up, and she has some bad habits and a few writerly tics she indulges here.

In this novel, a successful TV producer finds the teenaged daughter she placed for adoption on her doorstep, looking for answers. Her female characters have some conflict and complexity; her male characters are more one-dimensional. Here, there's the bad boy with the heart of gold who loved our heroine from the start, and the older, wealthy, ideal boyfriend who (spoiler?) maybe isn't quite right for her by no fault of his own. The teenaged daughter has a new boyfriend of her own, a poised and sunny prep school boy with whom it's love at first sight and whose only flaw is his planned disappearance after graduation to college in the west. Is it a throwback to say the men need a little work, here, to be more than foils to the women?

Giffin has some idea of the importance of place, and also of music. As a former St. Louisan, I can vouch for her spelling "Eichelberger" correctly (note to publishers: no apostrophe in "Schnucks," the local supermarket chain, OK?) but the name drops read as superficial. You can look online and find that everyone just west of the Mississippi loves Ted Drewes. Where you go to high school is a critical question in St. Louis, and honestly, I don't know enough about Chaminade to know if those guys would date a girl from DuBourg. But DuBourg being co-ed, usually students date each other....there's not much of the personality of St. Louis, let alone New York, where the producer lives. In contrast to Giffin's books, check out early novels of Sarah Bird (The Boyfriend School) for a personality-filled dunk in 80s Austin with lots of well-loved name checks. Also, would a musically savvy teenage girl today list her top 5 bands as Wilco, Radiohead, REM, Van Morrison, and the Velvet Underground? or is that the list of a somewhat older writer recalling some critically acclaimed bands?

Giffin has gotten into the habit of having a character or two from her previous novels appear and dispense wisdom, which could give some intriguing continuity, or could just be annoying, and it happens again here with the couple from Baby-Proof popping in.

Two reality checks--can a prom dress be stuffed into a tote bag inconspicuously? Those suckers are pretty bulky....Also, when our teenage heroine tries on picturing herself performing oral sex on her new and perfect boyfriend, was anyone else a little creeped out?

On a good note, I thought her sensitivity to opening an adoption and using positive adoption language was well done--when she didn't, it was because characters weren't thinking in those terms. She got at some of the complicated emotions that might spill into opening a closed adoption. In the end, this was a fun light read with some realistic mixed feelings and unrealistic messages about romantic love. Emily Giffin, you've done better, and I think you can again.