Book Review Nine: The Day I Shot Cupid

The Day I shot Cupid by Jennifer Love Hewitt, published by Hyperion.

Okay, I will admit it. I am Jennifer Love Hewitt's biggest fan. I am not ashamed. I have her CDs, almost all of her movies, have watched every episode of Ghost Whisperer, collected magazine articles and newspaper clippings in a binder and even tried to find her when I traveled to Burbank, California where she lives. I therefore, ABSOLUTELY HAD TO get this book when it came out. (psst, it's 20% off at Barnes and Noble right now).

Main facts: This is a self-improvement type book on dating and relationships. There are a few tidbits in there about Jennifer's love life. It's 196 pages, relatively short, and was read by me in about an hour and a half. There are two sections written by people other than JLH; Jamie Kennedy (her boyfriend at the time) and Stevie, her trainer. Jamie Kennedy offers encouragement for big butts on women and Stevie emphasizes a good workout regimen after a break-up. This book also has cute caricatures of JLH as a tiny woman with huge breasts, and a lot of humor about the silly things women do for love, and how she literally has to shoot Cupid in order to move on in the dating world.

My opinion: I love Jennifer, I seriously do (in a role model way, not in a creepy way) but I was disappointed. I wanted more stories from her experiences. I wanted some kind of tabloid juicy gossip about past relationships. I wanted to know if the clingy rumors were true about her and Ross! I wanted to know about the Carson Daly situation, and Rich from LFO. But I guess I'll never know, and it was respectful of her to leave names out (after all, she's no Kathy Griffin). She offered cute advice, something that would be helpful and inspiring to desperate, lonely women who are like those in He's Just Not That Into You. However, it was full of common sense information to me. I already know that trust and communication are important in a relationship. I already know not to force my man into marriage. I already know about meeting the parents and feeling comfortable with "us" and myself. But it was a cute read full of her delightful silly comments.

Example: How to spoon when your boyfriend doesn't want to, "Play it cool until he falls asleep and then Velcro yourself to him, quickly and with very little motion (think Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible) And then, if and when he wakes, turn quickly, like you were just stretching, and wait. When the little lamb sleeps again One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Velcro!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (pg 47-48). Haha, I found that passage hilarious.

Pretty much the book is inspiring to women and tries to teach us to be ourselves and not to be too serious about love. You'll fall in and out of love throughout your life, as long as you love yourself you'll be happy in the long run. Try to think positive about yourself, after all, we all have flaws. She even states that we all have cellulite.

The book is supposed to be either for men or women but there's a clear bias in favor of the women. She can just associate with them more, nothing wrong with that. If you ever need a little boost, love Jennifer Love Hewitt, or are suffering major heart ache and still don't know the "common sense" things about love, pick up The Day I shot Cupid.