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Entertaining!: Melody Carlson's foray into chick-lit is quite a departure from her usual dramatic novels but as I have come to expect she has made the transition with style! Cassidy is a realistic and down to earth woman whose world has suddenly become a lot smaller as she is forced to return to her hometown, miserable and lonely. The contrast between Cassidy's downtrodden attitude and appearance is cheekily contrasted with her mother's sexy new image, one more suited to a girl in her twenties than a woman pushing towards sixty. Her antics provide laugh out loud humour for the reader and mortification for Cassidy. While I found the focus on body image emphasized a little too much for my liking, Melody has written an entertaining and, at times, poignant tale of the transformation of a woman a depressed woman and the life changing impact faith and the encouragement of friends and family can have upon a person's self worth. These Boots Weren't Made For Walking is beautifully done!

I know that there will be quite a number of Christian readers who will not like this book. The book is quite edgy so I can understand if some conservative readers might be turned off after reading the first few chapters. However, this is one of the best books I've read this year and I enjoyed it so much, we might have some words if you don't agree with me. (j/k!) I absolutely adored Cassie, her boots, and her story. This is chick lit at its finest. I could not put this book down. You have a character who you grow to love in spite of her flaws. All the elements of a mainstream chick lit book are here plus the added benefit of what it means to be a Christian. Cassie grows and matures throughout the book. The reader goes along for the ride and it's sometimes painful (the gym scenes are torturous) and hilarious at the same time (cougars! and the bear costume!) I really liked Will, he seems like a really good guy, and he also sounds really cute because he's described as being very nice. I did not like Cassie's ex, I'm glad she dumped him, and I cheered when he did. He had a really bad reason for breaking up with her too. The writing in this book is top notch. It is very descriptive and you really get into what it's like to be Cassie and to travel back to her hometown. The first person narrative really gets you into the story.

One thing I would mention is that Cassie does drink some alcohol in this book. However she is not drinking to get drunk and she does not even finish her beer. I bring this up because I had problems in another Christian chick lit book that involved drinking. In this book, I did not find the drinking offensive because no one pressures Cassie to drink. It's her choice and it does not become a huge factor that changes her life.

Melody Carlson is one of the best authors out there. Her teen books are fantastic, her adult ones even more so enjoyable. This book is VERY HIGHLY recommended. If you love chick lit, I guarantee you will devour this book. ( )

I could really relate to Cassie's plight of not knowing what to do with her life although her situation was different. Fun chic lit romance that's also clean. ( )

Light reading that's fun and has a message! The shallow Cassidy undergoes transformation as bad things happen to her. Several parts were laugh-out-loud funny. This would make a good made-for-TV movie! ( )