I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish this one because, while there were some things I genuinely liked about the email format in which it was written, the format overall left me wanting. The story picked up, however, and I found myself not minding the email format so much. After a little while, I found myself engrossed, wanting desperately to find out who attacked the neighbor and whether or not Mel and John would get together (OK, so admittedly I knew this was an inevitability since it's a romance novel, but it's still nice reading about those moments). I even found myself liking the main character, even though I had very little in common with her.
Mel was cool. Yes, she had that stereotypical chick vibe thing going on (obsessed with clothes and makeup, bemoaned not having found a man yet despite only being 27, etc.), but she was fiery, outspoken, funny, and stood up for herself. All of these previously respected personality traits, however, flew out the window when it was made clear that the character possessing them was completely bat shit crazy. Mel went absolutely nuts. I understand the guy lied to her, I understand she was still feeling the burn of the last time she'd been deceived, but come on. Even her best friend, finally reaching the point of wanting to strangle Mel, tells her to knock it off or she will succeed in completely chasing off an amazingly good guy who's perfect for her. I'm not saying women should tolerate lying, but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances and the falsehood (and its teller) must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and handled accordingly. Mel wants absolutely nothing to do with rational thought, however, because she's been jilted. This was when it stopped being funny for me. Up until that point, I'd found it hilarious...after that point, I just wanted to scream. As relieved as I was that people were calling Mel on her lunacy, I was also greatly disappointed that, when she told them off for trying to help her, they just shrugged their shoulders and moved on. I'm sorry, if I were trying to help a friend who was losing it, overreacting, and coming dangerously close to destroying what could perhaps be her single chance at happiness and she told me off...I would not take that too lightly. Being a supportive friend and minding my own business are personal credos of mine, but enabling "crazy bitch" behavior is definitely not my style.
On top of that, there was entirely too much conniving and nosy behavior going on in this book for me to truly enjoy it. It did, in part, add to the humor a bit, but overall it left me a little uneasy. No one really talked to each other in this book and I really respect people who know how to communicate, at least partially, with one another. So it's hard to be sympathetic toward characters with whom I hold little-to-no sympathy. That disconnect made this a hollow read for me.