Coupon Girl

by Becky Motew

Hi, you ve reached the voice mail of Jeanie Callahan. I'm auditioning right now for the lead role in the The Sound of Music. Hopefully, I am not throwing up or fainting. Oh yes, if you re a business owner and would like to offer your customers coupons, leave me a message. BEEP.

Did you ever wish you could redeem your current life for a completely new one? Believe me, I m right there with you. And if I ve learned anything from selling coupons, it s this: 10% off won't cut it. You have to go big. Large. Whole hog. I say it to my customers every day. I just never knew taking my own advice would prove so difficult...

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance

322 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2007

Reviews

[Melissa (Always Behind) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Jeanie Callahan sells coupons. Working her territory, Jeanie convinces business owners to buy and offer coupons that will increase their sales. She’s always looking for new angles to acquire customers, and a challenge given by her boss is the extra push she needs to forge ahead to new opportunities. So she auditions for a community theater production of The Sound of Music, which turns out to be both a blessing and a curse for business and for love.

Coupon Girl is filled with humor and strange characters. Jeanie doesn’t have a typical job, and the details of her daily tasks are interesting but get a little old after awhile. There’s not much of romance included for a chick lit novel. Jeanie does have a relationship with her play’s director, but it never goes anywhere. This is a bit disappointing, but the fun tidbits about the play’s auditions, rehearsals, and production are fun and clever. There are some definite laugh-out-loud moments with the play. Again, Coupon Girl is atypical for the genre, but still endearing and a worthwhile read.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is apparently part of a series called “Making It,” stories about young career girls. Coupon Girl was such a fun read, as well as a peek into an unfamiliar world, that I’m tempted to add the other titles to my list. Jeanie, the main character, sells advertising promotions, or coupons. She pays visits to all the local characters–the orthodontists, the pizza makers, the ice cream scoopers and talks them into running a buy-four-get-one-free promotion, or whatever. Meanwhile, she tries out for a local production of The Sound of Music. Egos and mishaps abound.

Now when I open up the mail and find coupons for tooth whitening and carpet cleaning, I know that somebody had to walk in that business and convince the owner to offer a deal, that the owner hopes the offer will attract new customers.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny and different. Jeanie is in the business of selling coupons to business when she decides to try out for a part in the local community play. Her thinking is she can make sells to the other actors in the play and get the jump on the competition. Follow Jeanie on her route selling coupons and her time getting ready to act in the play. Will make you laugh and enjoy your time with her. I would read more by this author

[Melia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scatty with characters that I just couldn't connect with (including the protagonist), maybe because there were so dang many characters. The storyline was all over the place and not entirely easy to follow. Then again, I didn't mind since I didn't truly care what happened to any of the characters. There were some amusing bits, but certainly not enough for me to seek out any potential sequels (I saw in a previous review that this book is the first in a series) or any forthcoming books by the author.

[Jenine Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of this book is pretty horrendous and cheesey, but the story itself is a pretty amusing bit of fluff.
The main character was pretty easy to identify with, and the other characters were likeable or fun to hate. There are a few different lines to the plot, which all end up neatly wrapped up by the end.

[Jody Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read -- parts were kind of standard office-set chick lit, without as much biting humor, and other parts reminded me of the movie Bigger than the Sky about community theater. The characters were a little more eccentric than the typical chick lit, but I appreciated that.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this was light and funny. Loved it.

[Dawn]

This was a fun read, and very chick-lit. It has some language in it, so be aware of that. It is a nice summer read, as it's a light story.

It's a book that I would read again.

[Pam]

03/13/08 rec via bookmooch

[Naoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

very funny at the end.

[Michal · Rating 3 out of 5]

just for fun

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy, light read. I wouldn't recommend as a great book but was entertaining enough to read to the end.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, not great. Not what I expected, so in that respect I enjoyed it. But it was a bit scattered.

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I've read too many Stephanie Plum books, but I felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny. Lots of wackiness, but this is another book I won't pass along to family or friends.

[Oleen Del Rosario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny.

[Sara R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a fun book about being a woman in today's world.