Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Married

In McElhatton's ineffectual follow-up to Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single, Jennifer's longed-for marriage gives her more than she had bargained for. Jennifer's likeable wit and sass are lost for most of the book as she morphs into a submissive, Stepford-esque Midwestern housewife, complete with dyed blonde hair, $7,000 spa treatments, and sorbet-colored, country club designer attire. The story begins with tales of Jennifer and her tycoon husband Brad's botched honeymoon ("...illness, injury, and the unrelenting soundtrack of severe gastric distress..."), then trails into their farcical marriage. Brad's domineering parents give the newlyweds the mansion next door, which Jennifer is soon sharing with her new three-legged rescue dog and a ramshackle family of Asian housekeepers. Brad is rarely home, and when he is, he insults Jennifer's competence as a wife, leading to Jennifer's jarringly snarky lists and charts that fall throughout the book. The abrupt conclusion, when Jennifer's true personality starts to shine through the plastic shell, seems little more than a desperate ploy for the reader's sympathy. Where was that spark while Jennifer was being mistreated by Brad and his mother? Agent: Elizabeth Sheinkman, Curtis Brown. (Oct.)