Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven?

by Erica Orloff

Lily's gay best friend Michael has seen her through good times and bad (including her husband leaving her for a younger woman) with laughter and affection. Now, diagnosed with cancer, she wants to name Michael as guardian of her two kids.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Book Club, Ebooks, Romance

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2005

About the author

"Erica Orloff is a native New Yorker, novelist, blogger, mother of four, chronic insomniac, alt-rock loving, voracious reader (and prolific writer) who has written over twenty novels across a number of genres and pen names. She currently lives in Virginia where she rarely sleeps, roots for the Yankees and the NY Giants, knits in her almost-never free time, herds worms with her six-year-old Pirate Boy, and tries to hold onto what little sanity she has left." (http://www.ericaorloff.com/about.html)

Reviews

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insightful? Yes. Character uses her sense of humor to hide her fear of dying? Yes. Character is worried about what will happen to her child when she dies? Yes. Terrific relationship with male best friend? Yes. Ms. Orloff takes on a difficult subject matter and delivers an emotional and thought provoking read. But, I hate the way she writes. Too many sentences with only three, four or five words, one right after the other. The pace was too choppy and I felt like I was reading a book written for young adults. Ultimately, an uneven read for me.

[Jackie Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great book of friendship.. must read it..

[Emily Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Sherina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book! for the past one month i have read books with cliche stories; nothing original or exciting. this book was so fresh and original! i loved it SO much!
Do they wear high heels in heaven is a mixture of humor, comedy, sadness, friendship, love and a battle against cancer.
The book is so positive and sends a positive message to the reader.
I felt a surge of happiness when i finished this book. it tells the reader to enjoy life,be a good human being, love everyone around you, treasure every thing you have, be thankful for everything, forget grudges and revenge, value those who are always there for you, live like there is no tomorrow and to keep fighting never give up.
Very impressed with the book :) will be reading more from this author.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving story about family and friendships. I'm prone to crying over books when the emotions the author tries to evoke are very strong -- and this book was not an exception. I would definitely read this book again.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly cheesy, but relatable for the time. It is an older book and read a lot like Lurlene McDaniel books from middle school (I used to love those). Enjoyed the back story of Michael and appreciated his journey. Seemed rushed at the ending.

[girlgotnoidentity · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very light read. Funny yet mature and it offers so much about life I can't put it down even after the last chapter. A laughter-through-tears tale indeed.

[Mellanie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry so much!

[Sue Kepler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good life lesson.. get your house in order and love each day likes it’s your last.

[Ruby Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, when I bought this book I didn't even read the blurb. That's how much I loved the cover and the title *blush* Between the title and the cover I figured it was something about angels and didn't even think about reading the blurb and since my instincts rarely deceive me, I went with the flow. And I'm glad I did. Because I'm sure that I would've seen that "C word" part and freak out and then I would've miss a good book.

Lily, a single mom and a reporter, is asked to do an article about breast cancer and mammograms. She already has the article planed out. She know how it's going to sound like, what she's going to write about. But then the test results come back and the doctors tell her they need to perform more tests. When Lily find out that she has cancer she refuses to be a victim, saying that if she's going to die, she'll do it with style.

I liked Lily. Lily is a loving mother, a very good friend and a strong woman. She's the type of person that goes through life with a good dose of sarcasm and a strong will. She won't let what happens to her crumble her. If she falls, she gets back up. She's witty and funny.

Lily's best friend is Michael, an English professor. Michael is the best friend every girl needs. The one that stands next to you no matter what, the one you can call in the middle of the night because you have a problem, knowing that he won't hang up the phone and will actually listen to what you have to say, the one that will always remember your birthday and even if you're too old for funny gifts, he'll get you a gift fit for a 20 year old. Yes, Michael is gay, but I don't think that his sexual orientation comes between Lily and him. Only, of course, if they have the hots for the same guy. He takes care of Lily when she's sick and agrees to take over the custody of her kids after she dies. He's the best friend ever.

The book is different from what I usually read. It's bittersweet and it made me cry. Yes, CRY cry. It takes a lot to make me cry, but this book did it. I think everyone should read it.

[Anjum Choudhury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is exactly what I needed right now. I have spent forever trying to get through a very difficult read, and so what I was looking for in this book was an easy read that I could get through in a couple days. This book took two days for me to read. It wasn't so enthralling that it kept me coming back to it, per say, I just really wanted to finish it, kind of for the sake of finishing a book quickly. That being said, it really was a decent book.

I actually like that this author had the balls to kill off her main character. Of course, it isn't something that I want to see in every book that I read, but it's nice occasionally to read something a little different like that. The end actually did make me a wee bit choked up. I didn't see that coming because I felt that the book didn't lay great groundwork with getting you particularly attached to the characters. I guess it did a better job than I thought. It felt that way because the book is quite choppy. There's large gaps in time that you don't exactly expect.

Michael's excerpts from his book about Sam were actually quite touching. They were so intense, and frightening. It's a time that I can't even begin to understand, so it's interesting to see all of his insights about being gay and the AIDS epidemic.

The end is so cheesy. That last chapter, I was really just saying to myself "you're almost done; just a few more pages; keep reading." I guess it's cool to see what everyone thinks of the afterlife, but regardless, it was a bit longer than it needed to be for what it was.

I would love to complain about how short the book felt, the lack of detail, the uneven pace and rhythm, but as I said before: that's exactly what I needed this book to be. There are going to be books of all levels, and granted, those factors made this book feel younger than it's target audience probably was, but I have no qualms against a book being an easy read. Easy, summer-style reading with actual emotion that isn't all fluff? I might just be able to get on board with that.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often read "chick lit" romances, just because most of them remind me of an episode of Sex and the City--and I'm not a fan of the show. I am so, so happy that I picked up Erica Orloff's DO THEY WEAR HIGH HEELS IN HEAVEN? though, because this story transcends typical "chick lit" books.

Lily has just turned the big 4-0. With two children, the teen-aged Tara and seven-year-old Noah, an ex-husband endearingly called The Spawn of Satan who has a child-bride in London, and a gay best friend, Michael, Lily lives a full life. She's also a columnist for the local newspaper, and even though her dog is now wearing a t-shirt that says "My Bi**h is 40", she has a very fulfilling life.

Her editor at the paper, Joe, wants her to get a mammogram done for Breast Cancer Awareness month. [...].
Except good humor isn't going to get her through this one. There's a spot on her breast that the doctors are worried about, and rightfully so. Lily has cancer, the bad kind that has already spread to her lymph nodes, and life is about to get a whole lot more complicated.

DO THEY WEAR HIGH HEELS IN HEAVEN? is, to put it simply, amazing. Filled with laughter, tears (have a box of Kleenex handy!), and the ups and downs of daily life, Erica Orloff has captured everything there is to love, friendship, and tragedy.

One of my favorite chapters in the book is the part where Lily comes up with questions for God, besides the high heels in heaven one. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there cancer, not to mention snakes and cockroaches? Why is a good man hard to find? Is Satan real? Does God really have a problem with gay people? Do dogs go to heaven? Most importantly, why does Lily have to die before she's old?

This book is a winner. The love between Lily and Michael, and that between Lily and her children, is perfectly told. You won't go wrong with this book, and the tears you'll shed while reading it are well worth it.

[Cher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought this was going to be too cliche or chick lit for me but I was pleasantly surprised at the overall way "single, 40 yr old mom of two kids, with dead beat ex husband and gay best friend, gets cancer and comes face to face with death" was handled in this book.

Yes, there are some "too predictable" moments but the way Orloff is able to pull off humor in anything-but-funny situations (cancer, adultery, gay hatred, abandonment, death, AIDS, etc.) was amazing.

This was one of those stories where at any given moment you can say, wow, this could happen to someone I know...this could happen to me! It does come across as "the condensed version" but I think any other way and the story would have gotten cliche.

This was a fast read and while entertaining it was also a very touching story of love...Lily lives life and makes me want to be as good a friend, as good an employee, as good a mother as her.

[Chasity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about a good book, wow ‘Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven’ was such an amazing story. After the past few years I have had, watching my mother who is also my best friend go through cancer treatment and going through the fear of losing her and everything else that goes with stage four ovarian cancer that had spread to her cervix, stomach, uterus, and bladder, I can definitely say this book touched me on a personal level.

There were plenty of tears shed while reading this book. She writes such an amazing, inspirational character in Lily, she never ever gave up. She lived her life to the fullest and that is really inspirational. I really enjoyed reading this book and think that everyone no matter what their personal situation is should take the time to read this book there are a lot of life lessons in it. It was beautifully written, emotionally touching, motivational book. I would definitely highly recommend it to anyone.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but I also thought it was weirdly written sometimes.
Like the main character founds out she has breast cancer. Well the part from finding out you have cancer and that you are going to die was totally not in the book. She discovers she has cancer and a few pages later she knows she will die.

Then you have the gay guy. his dad discovers he was beaten up because he was gay by his team and coach and tells his son he never wants to see him again. He never does, always hides in the basement when son go's home and suddenly his dad arrives at the funeral loving him so much. Only because Lilli wrote him letters? hmm. Not very believable.
Anyways even with those flaws I did enjoy the book.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! This story was funny, enlightening and sad. I really liked the characters Lily & Michael. They were amazing friends to eachother and stuck together through thick and thin. Anyone would be lucky to have a friendship like they shared. I really enjoyed the chapters that were Lily's newspaper articles and the ones that were excerpts from the book that Michael was writing. Though I shed some tears through the last few chapters, the very last chapter made me feel good about what could be.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I think Red Dress Ink puts out some of the best romances around. This book is a step away from that - a very good step. It's a story that could be anyone's life. Tragedy faces you and you have to find out how to deal with it. There definitely is some cheesiness at the end, wrapping everything up in a neat bow, but other than that, it's a book that really rips you open at the end.

[Naturegirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love the chick lit books that Red Dress Ink publishes, but I was a little diappointed in this particular one. Aside from there being tons of cursing, the perspective switches from a single mom with cancer to a gay guy looking for love and it wasn't always easy to keep straight on who was talking...no pun intended. An altogether depressing read...

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book but I felt like I had missed parts of it. About a woman who discovers she has breast cancer and her gay, male best friend and their relationship to one another. It seemed like she was diagnosed with cancer and then wham, she's dying. Could have been a much better book if done properly.

[Keeka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not by any means the best book I have ever read. It was, however, funny the whole way through--even though the subject matter is inherently depressing. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that it gave me very mixed feelings. Funny, sad, and quite well-written. I would definitely recommend it to most of the readers I know.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally sought this out because I'd read it was about the author's struggles with Crohn's. It actually ended up being about cancer, so it was, of course, heartbreaking. Good story, engrossing -- I read it in two sittings -- and I really enjoyed the characters. Super sad, but sweet.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This appeared to be a fluff read, the sort of book one might fight on a supermarket shelf. I was surprised to find it actually had some depth and heart. Guess it just goes to show you really can't judge a book by its cover.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read British chic books, this book I recomend. I like the character development (I really like the characters) and how they tell the story. Though the topic isn't funny it is written with lots of humor I understand.

[Pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book for me. I was some what sad because she had cancer, but I really enjoyed how she cared for her family and her best friend Michael. She prepared them for the worst and the worst did happen, but it was a beautiful story of strength and love and friendship.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book imensely. I am a Breast Cancer Survivor and so the storyline was close to my heart. Fortunetly, I did not have the vomiting that Lily had and thank God, I survived. I felt like Lily did, Why Me? Great book.

[Helen Southall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good, inspirational read about a woman fighting cancer and finding out that love is what is really important in life. Excellent character development and a quick motivational read without being maudlin. Definitely recommend.

[Sunday · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a great job handling the subject of cancer, love, death, friendship, and high heels. It wasn't overly sappy or sad. It seemed realistic, with not everything having a happy ending. I especially loved the last chapter. I kind of hope that is what it is really like.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. I laughed, I cried... I cried some more. Not your usual RDI book, but I love it even more because of that. Fantastic.

[Lauren Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny book with an interesting perspective on heaven...

[Amy Mawdsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, sad and touching. I laughed and laughed but as funny as it could be it was very emotional. I cried. Fantastic take on life, death and everything in between.