BOOZE & BOOK REVIEWS

Jane Morgan is a valued member of her law firm—or was, until a prudish neighbor, binoculars poised, observes her having sex on the roof of her NYC apartment building.  Police are summoned, and a punishing judge sentences her to six months of home confinement. With Jane now jobless and rootless, trapped at home, life looks bleak. Yes, her twin sister provides support and advice, but mostly of the unwelcome kind. When a doorman lets slip that Jane isn't the only resident wearing an ankle monitor, she strikes up a friendship with fellow white-collar felon Perry Salisbury. As she tries to adapt to life within her apartment walls, she discovers she hasn’t heard the end of that tattletale neighbor—whose past isn’t as decorous as her 9-1-1 snitching would suggest. Why are police knocking on Jane’s door again? Can her house arrest have a silver lining? Can two wrongs make a right? 

Miss Demeanor

By Elinor Lipman

Book Rating: 2.5 out of 5 boozy stars

This book was my book club's April Book of the Month. I went into reading it with high expectations. The book's blurb lead me to think that I was about to dive into a cute, hilarious read about a lawyer who is sentenced to home confinement after being caught having sex on the roof with her younger coworker. Instead, the book that sounded like it was full of humor and cute romance only made me chuckle once and the romance was awkward and rushed. 

The novel features a main character, Jane, with an identical twin sister, which means that of course every twin stereotype is thrown in. (Identical twins; always competing; everyone has to mention that they are identical; both J names; parents told to treat them as individuals and not twins...) Jane's problems throughout the novel are solved too easily and her growth from the beginning to the end seems very rushed.

The romance in the novel gave me pause. The character's relationship is bland and kind of weird in some parts. For example, the man wears a tux on the night they schedule to first have sex. That could have been hilarious, but instead it came off as extremely awkward and slightly weird. The romance is rushed overall and could have had a nice slow burn, but the main character does not even find the leading male attractive until after her twin sister flirts with him. Very strange.

Lastly, there is a lot of random plot thrown in about the woman who calls the police on Jane, and the people across the street who owned the pent house the woman lived in. Overall, this was a fast read that lacked substance and was honestly just missing so much humor that could have taken this read from a 2.5 to a 4.

What booze pairs well with this novel?

Vodka & Sprite 

(From "InShaker")


Ingredients

Recipe

Booze Rating: 2 out of 5 boozy stars

In my opinion this novel did not have much substance, therefore I paired it with a drink that requires very little ingredients and is pretty basic.  Like the book, this combination is one that many people love, but I just required more.