Honeymoon

The eponymous Honeymoon--Honey for short--of Jenkins's slick romantic comedy debut is a sassy successor to Bridget Jones. She is not a Jonesian singleton, however, and she's a lot more fun than a smug married; happily, she stands on her own two feet as a strong comic heroine. Seven years ago, Londoner Honey met Alex, an American businessman whom she immediately recognized as the Love of Her Life, although she spent only one idyllic night with him. Then he returned home and never called. On the rebound, she marries Ed, determined suitor and a nice guy whom she is certain is not her type. While standing on the balcony of her honeymoon suite in Manhattan, Honey looks across to the next balcony... at Alex, also on the first night of his honeymoon. This serendipitous meeting puts the bittersweet question into play: How does one seize the day, when the day appears to have passed? Despite constant self-deprecation, Honey is more maturely self-aware and intellectually brighter than previous literary creations within this genre, but she loses none of the frank raunch and charming self-involvement that readers demand. Then, too, there's a realistic and balancing dark side to some of her ruminations. Probably Jenkins's most winning device is to make both Alex and Ed so likable that it's easy for readers to sympathize with Honey's predicament. Jenkins sets the stage for a conclusion to this romantic quagmire that's anything but predictable. Film rights to Columbia Pictures. (Sept.) FYI: Londoner Jenkins has written and produced a Miramax feature called Elephant Juice; she is the creator of the British TV drama This Life.