It all started with a thesis: Beginning in the 1990s, it became difficult for women to get rings on their fingers; the closest many came to marriage was co-habitation, an invitation to live together. Yet engagements and weddings were still occurring. How did that happen? Author Cherise Kelly decided to investigate online, asking a series of questions and paying for exclusive rights to these tales. She then disguised real names, straightened out the grammar, and devoted two, sometimes three pages to each of the 50 “how I got him to marry me.” Her ultimate goal: To write one or a series of romance novels using these anecdotes as foundations.
Her discoveries: Sometimes, the tipping point to a marriage proposal is emotional. Like Crystal, who convinced her childhood sweetheart Paul of the security of marriage by, unwittingly, creating a jealousy-inducing scene with another man. Others find that befriending a man’s mother is the surest way to his heart … and a wedding. Any number of stories center on the hardship of marriage and the ever-present specter of divorce as obstacles: “Marriage is nothing but a label slapped on a relationship,” explained Stephenie Alexis’ boyfriend. A number of women report that ultimatums work: “The only way I’ll let you back into my heart and home is as my husband,” insisted Jessica to her reluctant Stu.
Finally, quite a few women simply stretched the truth or manipulated facts, feeling that the end of marriage more than justified the means. When you hear these words spoken after the wedding – “Well, it’s over, and I hope you’re happy ‘cause I’ll never do it again” – it’s hard to commit to these “happily ever after” stories. The author’s decision to simply report the facts for each couple without embellishment or story-izing makes for a somewhat tedious read
After ten or so of these 50 true stories of how women snagged their husbands, the experience tends toward the repetitious, if not ho-hum ordinary. Readers will encounter lots of talk (the power of female persuasion) that all sounds similar.
Reviewed by Barbara Jacobs for IndieReader