Ashley Stockingdale, 31, has a respectable (read: boring ) job in Silicon Valley as a patent attorney. It's the kind of life that causes her mother to ask repeatedly, "Now what exactly do you do there, dear?" Given that in Silicon Valley the single men outnumber the women 2 to 1, Ashley can't help but wonder why a cute, eligible, Christian girl ("with absolutely adorable shoes") sits home most weekends. Even her church singles group fails to satisfy, endlessly watching The Matrix and "splurging", obnoxiously, on un-cool dinners at Applebee's and unhip franchise restaurants. So Ashley resolves to go for it ! If only she knew what "it" she's going for. Perhaps that ever-illusive promotion that would give her the glamorous career girl image she's longed for? Or maybe the wardrobe to end all wardrobes, turning her glowing, possibly-pregnant newlywed friends green with envy? Or, best of all, winning the affections of the handsome doctor she's met through her work with the youth center! Ultimately, Ashley finds that what a girl wants and what a girl needs aren't always the same thing. Join Ashley for the first of two lighthearted books about a single-girl's bumbling but loveable quest for meaning.
I hope that no one reads this book and thinks that this is what romance is or should be, or what Christianity is or should be.
Ashley Stockingdale has the emotional maturity of a twelve year old, as do all of the characters in this book. Her point of view on men, her reactions to the guys around her, to her friends, to her family, the way she handled conflict and difficulty all reflected the point of view of a very young, very inexperienced girl, however much she lamented being 32.
Even more difficult, however was how painfully trite Ashley's faith was. More often that not it was self-righteous, judgemental, horribly simplistic skimming the surface of life and herself. The "Christian" expectations she placed on herself and others reflected more of society's constructs than a genuine faith with any depth.
I think the primary flaw is that it was written by a woman trying to write a generation she clearly doesn't understand in the first person; placing her story in a very dated late 90s time frame; without any depth or real substance.
