Review Detail

Quinn Hunts parents are divorced and for the longest time she didnt see her dad, Barry. But, for the past three years, she and her younger sister Charlotte (aka Sprout), alternate weekends at home in Seattle with their mother and with their dad in Portland. When his latest girlfriend, Brie, leaves him, the girls are sad. They actually like Brie and her son Malcolm.

One night when Quinn cant sleep, she notices one of Bries statues on her dads table, one that Brie really likes. Investigating further, Quinn finds mementoes of many of his dads past relationships still in the house. Unsure of what to do, Quinn calls Frances Lee, her half sister who she met once a long, long time ago. Together, Frances Lee, Quinn and Sprout decide to embark upon a quest to return the mementos and learn more about their father.

Ill start off by saying I liked The Secret Life of Prince Charming, but it is a little preachy. Deb Caletti, author of Honey, Baby, Sweetheart and The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, both of which I like, has put together a story with a moral: love is not skin deep. You have to look into the inner person to find Mr. Right. And Caletti keeps saying it for 300 pages, but she has couched it in a story that is interesting, fun, emotional and unique. It is the story of Quinn, Frances Lee and Charlotte. But it is also the story of Brie, Quinns mother Mary, Frances Lees mother Joelle and several other women in Barrys life. Interspersed in their story are the musings of these women about love and relationships, in general and Barry, in particular.

It wont give anything away by saying there are happy endings and sad endings in the book. A happy part, which Im sure you can figure out, is that Quinn gets to know her half sister, Frances Lee. In addition, the sisters come to understand part of what makes Barry tick. Whether or not they can accept it is something Ill let you read about. Deb Caletti is an author worth reading.