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22 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Smile fondly as you remember your youth, whether decades ago or just yesterday. Oct 31, 2009
By Old Granny
"Granny"
What if people were truly rational and always made good choices without having to go through all the messiness of EXPERIENCE and real life. Could we just skip the embarrassment, please? No, thank you. That would eliminate all the fun of observing the characters in Jamie Lynn Braziel's Declaring Spinsterhood as they stumble and fumble through the same kind of experiences that we survived, or fervently hope we will survive. Whether the reader identifies with the delightful but confused Emma or steadfast (and confused) Brian or even Emma's mother (who wants Emma to be happy in the socially approved manner) this well written and delightful journey through the hazards of misreading other people as well as ourselves is fun to read and experience. Braziel has produced a book that is lucidly written with a clear understanding of human strengths and a generous dollop of forgiveness for human frailties.
20 of 23 found the following review helpful:
Declaring 3 1/2 Stars Oct 14, 2009
By Lynn ODell
"Red Adept Reviews - A Blog"
Plot/Storyline: 2 1/2 Stars
The plot is a whimsical tale of Emma Bailey's frustration with her match-making family. There are several humorous scenes and funny comments sprinkled throughout this story.
There is one scene of rather shocking violence that was a bit out of place in this otherwise lighthearted work. However, it did add some spice to the other somewhat repetitive events.
My biggest problem with the storyline was how rushed it seemed. A character would say something like, "Why don't we go over to your house?" and the next sentence would have them sitting on the couch at the house in question without any transition. At one point, Emma and her ex-boyfriend, Steve, are eating ice cream in a soda shop and he suggests they leave, but no mention is given of finishing the food, paying for it, or anything to conclude the scene.
During a very climactic scene, Emma `remembers what the bulge in her purse is'. Well, I hit my previous page button, thinking I missed something, to try to figure out where her purse was in the scene and when she mentioned `a bulge.' I couldn't find it and wasn't willing to search for it. Perhaps I missed the reference earlier in the scene, but as this was a pivotal event with the purse being extremely important, more attention should have been called to it.
The ending was very abrupt and a bit unbelievable.
Character Development: 2 1/2 Stars
Emma's character was fairly well developed. She was funny and likable, if a bit too emotional for my taste. She did seem a bit childish in her behavior toward Brian, her neighbor and friend, but at least she was consistent.
At first, Emma's mother appeared to just be a well-meaning busy body, kind of quirky and funny. However, she later descended into madness. I cannot imagine the wife of a pastor and mother of two children banning her daughter from her house just because the daughter declared she would never marry. Even in anger, that just seemed way over the top.
Brian was a very weakly developed character. He just seemed confused throughout the entire novel. His actions at the end were also very abrupt and out of character.
Steve, the ex-boyfriend, came across as an annoying jerk, exactly as the author intended.
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Most of the dialogue was realistic; however, there was an oddity here and there. At one point, Emma made a little wisecrack to Brian. He apparently didn't hear her and asked her what she said. The response was: "Nothing," she quipped. The `quip' was obviously in her previous statement.
The descriptions were very well done, concise and relevant. The simplistic sentence structure fit the overall mood of the work making for a nice, easy read.
Editing/Formatting: 5 Stars
Both were of professional quality.
Rating: PG-13 for one Violent (Somewhat Graphic) Scene
26 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Bad Read Jan 24, 2010
By D. Morton
I didn't enjoy this book at all. I've never felt compelled to write a review before, but this book was such a waste of time, I just had to share my thoughts.
I found the main character pretty annoying - she put up with a lot of crap from her family, and never really stood up for herself. In the one scene that she does try to stand up for herself to her family (particularly her mother), she ends up backing down in the next! I also found the mother a difficult character to stomach. She was more concerned with appearances and her own definition of happiness than in her daughter. It was very annoying to read. What kind of mother would not believe her own daughter when she's told that the blind date she set her daughter up with was a letch who needed to be fought off at the end of the night?! Granted, I'm sure that there are people out there that similar situations have happened to, but I just found it difficult to reconcile the fact that the daughter couldn't stand up to her mother and family, but managed to stand up to her ex-boyfriend for the whole period of their relationship when it came to sex.
The main love interest seemed like an all around good guy, but kind of a wimp. I thought he should have spoken about his true feelings a lot sooner (and ended the book a lot sooner, too). I also found one extremely violent (and somewhat disturbing) scene to be "tacked on" it was almost gratuitous - there could have been far better ways to advance the plot, I think.
Like some of the other reviewers have said, I found the writing style to be somewhat clumsy and uneven. Facts just seemed to be dropped in, whether it made sense and flowed with the story or not.
Overall, I would give this book a big miss!
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
not my cup of tea Apr 12, 2011
By g3
I was attracted to this book by its title, because I am unmarried and hate the word "spinster", so I was expecting a defense of the single life. Instead, I got a pretty lame story about a woman who got pushed around by her domineering mother, and who was in love with a man but unwilling to tell him. The characters were all celibate before marriage and they go to church faithfully, yet the book includes a lot of sexual titillation and implausible situations where sexual activity could occur but does not, due to the forbearance and/or clueless-ness of the characters involved. Of course, at the end, the scales fall from the central couples' eyes and they recognize that they love each other, and then marry and presumably live happily ever after. If you want a trite love story with annoying characters (daughter with no backbone & hateful mom who is portrayed as bothersome but lovable) & with no sex but plenty of innuendo, this is for you. Not my typical kind of read, but I'm sure this work will appeal to those who like romances.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
boring Aug 14, 2010
By M. ZUG
"MZ"
The book was a yawn. Not funny in any places and too predictable. Also it seems like a christian lit. I would like to know that before reading. Too many church meetings, and the mother being angry because her 30 year old daughter spent a night handcuffed to her male friend!!! Please!!! Everybody is getting married within minutes of dating (probably because they want to have sex and can't otherwise). The story was stertched over nothing for too long and then just rushed in the end.
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