The Not-So-Perfect Man
By Valerie Frankel

     A Perfect Man; there ain't no such animal!

    Frieda Schast is tired of her older sister's matchmaking schemes. She is content with her widow status and is more than happy to just raise her son. She's not ready to get back into the dating game, or she isn't until the most mouth-watering man she's ever seen walks into her frame gallery.

    Ilene isn't happily married any longer. Her husband is overweight, more concerned with a desert menu than with her, and ripe for cardiac arrest. After watching her younger sister's husband die, she doesn't want the same thing to happen to her man. She's going to reform him or else.

      Betty is in awe of her beautiful siblings. She can never hope to measure up to their combined talents. Frieda has her own business, and Ilene is a go-get-'em businesswoman. All Betty has going on is her job in a bookstore. That won't interest a flea, let alone a man, but then again she could be wrong.

      The sisters all meet once a week to share a drink and the latest news on what's happening in their lives. Their conversations resemble a hodge-podge centering on hilarity, some man bashing, and even a few tidbits to do with their sex lives. Although all three don't always see eye-to-eye, the love they share for one another is loyal.

    Ms. Frankel's writing is true to life and will remind some readers of their own squabbles with siblings. The author also clues us in on what is going on in the male point of view, and that makes for some tense moments for all concerned. Explicit language could make some readers gasp but the storyline is touching and realistic.