Review: Clutch: A Novel by Lisa Becker

clutch: a novel is the laugh-out-loud, chick lit romance chronicling the dating misadventures of Caroline Johnson, a single purse designer who compares her unsuccessful romantic relationships to styles of handbags – the “Hobo” starving artist, the “Diaper Bag” single dad, the “Briefcase” intense businessman, etc. With her best friend, bar owner Mike by her side, the overly-accommodating Caroline drinks a lot of Chardonnay, puts her heart on the line, endures her share of unworthy suitors and finds the courage to discover the “Clutch” or someone she wants to hold onto. ~ Goodreads


Source: Copy provided in exchange for an honest review

Review:
I enjoyed reading Becker’s Click Trilogy. She has a real knack for writing about the modern age dating experience with honesty and wit.

Clutch was a cute read but lacked the emotional punch I need to connect or root for the characters.

Caroline, a handbag designer and entrepenuer, and Mike, her best friend and bar owner, move to LA after graduating Yale. We follow both, but mostly Caroline’s, dating life while she looks for *the one*.

Each chapter is named after a handbag that relates to the guy she’s dating, which was a fun touch. The problem, for me, was that there were SO many guys that I stopped caring. I was pretty clued in, almost immediately, that these idiots weren’t going to last. So to wait for Caroline to get up to speed, and know that there was going to yet another one, got to be frustrating.

When we finally made it to the *Clutch – the one* – it was so abrupt that I kept looking for more pages or an epilogue. Without giving too much away – we got to see Caroline’s aha moment but not the guys and I was left wondering why now? And there was really no logical reason for it to take this long.

Despite this one just missing the mark for me, I enjoy Becker’s writing, and quite a few reviewers gave it high marks for humor. So maybe check out a few more reviews first. For fans of dating mishap stories/quick romantic reads/chick-lit.