What would you do if you had discovered you had been waiting for a marriage proposal to transform your life?

Genie Michaels discovers she has been sleep-walking through life when her live-in boyfriend of four years proposes marriage to another woman on national TV.

Her plucky friend, Patti, decides to cover-up Genie's humiliation by pretending Genie is, indeed, engaged. What ensues from this lie is a fascinating roller-coaster ride of never-ending surprises that will leave even the most jaded reader riveted with delight.

When I confessed I had been sleeping in instead of going to the gym or writing because I had been up the night before reading THE SLEEPING BEAUTY PROPOSAL (just one chapter turned into three or four), he said, "That must be a good book!"

I can't wait to read THE PENNY PINCHERS CLUB. Any of Stohmeyers books would be a great gift for your chick-lit loving friend for Christmas! (Hint, hint ;-)) ( )

Genie is an admissions counselor at a Tufts-like university, and has a professor/boyfriend who won't commit - until he writes a best-selling novel and proposes on national television. But not to her! He refuses to discuss it and leaves for his native England, while she lets her family think she's engaged and they make wedding plans. Oy! This had a light touch, but seemed unbelievable. Oh what a tangled web... ( )

Really liked it. To see my full review, please check out my blog post here: http://amusedbybooks.blogspot.com/2009/11/does-she-get-her-wish.html ( )

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty: the gorgeous princess, cursed by an evil sorceress, will sleep in her tower until a handsome prince wakes her with true love's first kiss. So we're all Sleeping Beauties, modern society might have us believe -- breathing but slumbering until our very own Prince Charming arrives to pull us from our life-long sleep so our "real life" can begin.

Well, Genie Michaels isn't buying it -- not anymore. After her boyfriend, famous novelist Hugh Spencer, proposes on national television -- to someone else -- Genie clambers to save face as friends, coworkers and family all assume, logically, that Hugh has proposed to her. Under the guidance of best friend Patty, the Sleeping Beauty Proposal is all iced up . . . they are to continue the charade of her supposed engagement to Hugh with the idea that eventually, everything will catch up with him -- and his career as a sappy novelist (think Nicholas Sparks) will come crashing down.

And there are the boons of a fake engagement, of course -- like all the presents (though she feels terribly guilty about it, of course). And the attention paid to Genie, an admissions officer for a college outside Boston, comes at just the right time -- in light of Hugh's confession that throughout their four year relationship, he's never really been attracted to her (what a jerk!). With the help of her brother Todd and Patty, Genie begins to rexamine her life -- what's gone into the creation of it, where it's taken her, how everything has made her feel. For the first time, she looks at herself as a person -- and not just as the frumpy girlfriend of Hugh Spencer, a man most see as infinitely "out of her league." And when a house she's loved for an eternity goes on the market, dreams of homeownership -- and the sexy contractor working on the place -- begin to occupy all of her thoughts.

Sarah Strohmeyer's The Sleeping Beauty Proposal is first and foremost about a fake engagement, sure, but it's really a commentary on just what I mentioned earlier: the Sleeping Beauty myth. This idea that we can dream and play and laugh and build friendships and work and travel for a while -- as long as we want -- but eventually, we need to "settle down" and get serious . . . with someone. And until we meet "The One," our lives to that point are just background information, good for anecdotes and dinner table conversation with the future in-laws.

Strohmeyer is a fantastic, grounded writer who definitely understands her characters. Like The Penny Pinchers Club, I felt I was reading about friends. Genie's buddies, coworkers and family members all felt fleshed-out, and I loved the unpredictable nature of the story! Trust me -- where we end up is far from where we started. Many plot twists took me by surprise, though plenty more I could spot way down the road. Still, that didn't bother me -- like Genie, it was all about the journey! ( )

Sweet, endearing, unrealistic, yet empowering. A fun read. ( )