Maneater

Maneater by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Alrighty, I have another book to add to the reading list!! This time I got "financially creative" when it came to picking my next book....I decided to read one I could check out from the library, and I'm super glad I didn't buy it because the book wasn't very good. Now, interesting enough, this was made into a movie and I actually saw the movie on Lifetime (I think that was the station) a few months ago. I thought the movie was super cute so I just assumed that the book would be better (as is usually the case when a book is turned into a movie...i.e., Twilight, Harry Potter...you get the point). Well, this book wasn't anything like the movie, in fact the changes the movie made were MUCH better than what the book originally had.

The synopsis...spoiled rich girl (Clarissa) is about to be cut from Daddy's "payroll" so she decides she needs to marry a rich guy. Being that she has already, ummm, "made aquantainces" with all the rich guys in LA she had to look for fresh meat...queue Aaron Mason. He moves here from somewhere else and is rich and god looking and even has a club foot (Clarissa likes her men to have some kind of handicap, whether it's endearing or just disturbing I haven't decided yet).

So, she sets out to capture him, which she does. They end up getting married, and this is where the book and the movie go their separate ways. I will tell you what happens separately below:

BOOK: Since she has already decided that she has to have at least one child to ensure her social standing she, well, creatively gets herself pregnant (if you really want to know, read the book...I don't know that it's entirely possible the way she did it but the Author gets creative and very creepy points for thinking of it). Then, her husband informs her the next morning that his parents cut him off and that they are dirt poor...in fact they have to get ready and run out on the hotel bill. Needless to say she is a little upset and she finds herself and Aaron in a small apartment and him working as a PA for some director getting his coffee and morning paper. She then decides to go drop-in on his parents and break the news of their impending promotion to grandparents, they are thrilled, but she can't understand why they are so nice when they practically dishoned him at the wedding (or that's what she was told...), when she gets back they have a fight and she leaves, while he screams after her that she can't take care of herself, let alone a baby (he was excited, but dumbfounded as to how she got pregnant). An ex-boyfriend of hers who she is still friends with (Simon) tells Aaron that the baby is his, and when Aaron asks her she is so angry that she tells him it is Simon's baby and speeds off. Then 9 months of her avoiding him begin...they see each other at a few parties, and all the time he tries to make things right but she just won't go along with it.

MOVIE: They get married, she gets pregnant the regular way and Aaron is thrilled. She decides to surprise his parents and tell them she's pregnant, hoping they will put Aaron back on the family payroll...they are excited. She gets back and Simon has told Aaron that the baby is his, Aaron is angry...they fight, she leaves. There is some communication between them and she isn't quite the mean witch to him that she is in the book. After months of trying to re-connect he finally gets her to listen and she admits to him that the baby can't be Simon's. They make up and the baby is born.

The real difference is that in the book she is made out to be a total witch...in the movie she is a little more personable, just stubborn. Also, the book has a lot of nasty language...Again, I liked the movie much, much better!!

In the end, she ends up finding out that "Aaron" has his own secret...and it explains why the parents she went to see were so sweet to her. You'll have to read the book (or I would suggest watch the movie) to discover what the secret is and what happens after that. Funny enough, I would say that the book version would be almost rated R, but the movie version, barely PG-13.

I think I'm done with books from this author...I think her favorite word is the "F" word and there's nothing I hate more than reading a book with that scattered all amongst the pages.